the biggest one-month drop on record. that drop was double what analysts expected. joining me now ron ensana. any hope these numbers can improve? normally summertime is a time when we see people moving and getting relocated before the kids head back to school. this is really discouraging. >> we have record-low interest rates, mortgage rates and the housing affordability at its highest since the early 19 60s. the problem is not the cost of credit, it's the availability of credit and homes have plunged because lenders have tightened standards at the behest of the fdic and the federal housing administration and we have also seen some things happen that are disturbing. the expiration of that home buyer tax credit was the tipping point at which these home sales have fallen off a cliff in the last couple months. >> so, that was helpful for stimulating the sales. so what can be done now? do we have to see that again? >> to put it in a rather, in the vernacular, it couldn't hurt. it certainly, in my estimation, while it would increase the deficit, it would still be good to reinstate the tax credit and, quite frankly, interest rates are as low as they may get. the fed can't do that much more to influence the house buying, but we might need some other forms of stimulus for housing. >> ron insana, thank you, sir. >> if you have the cash and the credit, you may buy a house. we may not see prices like this any time in our lifetime. >> we are asking everybody to vote to ask what is the most important quality for a home for sale these days, register your opinion and add your comment. logon to tv.msnbc.com. what is the most important quality in a home. tell us what you think. primary voters have spoken and the results are mixed for establishment insider candidates. we've got a round up of those key races this morning. mark murray joins me now on set and alaska too close to call. >> absloutly too close to call. lisa murkows skki is trailing b about 2,000 votes. we're not going to know for at least another week. about 16,000 absentee ballots to be counted. this thing is definitely going into overtime. >> a week? >> even murkowski can pull this out, the most amazing and stunning result so far this primary season. everyone thought murkowski was cruising to her victory and the polls and the conventional wisdom point in this direction and low and behold here comes this tea party, sarah palin' backed candidates who is now up about 2,000 votes ahead of her. >> let's take everyone to arizona now and senator john mccain. millions of dollars spent there and looks like he is going to be just fine. >> almost the exact opposite. john mccain who we thought was vulnerable spent so much money and he hammered his opponent and modified his positions. john mccain was really able to chanthal voter anger, particularly in the issue of immigration in arizona. and on the other hand, lisa murkowski campaigned on her accomplishments and her record and i think results from last night show that it is better if you're a candidate to channel that anger rather than tout your accomplishments and record. >> let's take everybody down to florida, which is always a fun state to watch when it comes to politics. >> fun state to watch and on the democratic side you have kendrick meek who won the senate primary last night and marco rubio and then independent charlie crist and i don't know how this race is going to break out. it's anyone's game and it will be interesting and anyone decide the balance of power in the united states senate and depending on what charlie crist does. is he caucused with the republicans and democrats? this is going to be a great story. >> let's go ahead and take a listen to what marco rubio said earlier on "daily rundown" and then we'll talk on the other side. >> people will say or do anything to talk in an election. they refuse to offer any concrete public policy and then they call that being a moderate and being a centrist. that is not being a modrist or centrist, that is being an opportunist. >> isn't it also called being a politician? >> it is. people want a genuine person running for office and maybe more of an idelog but marco rubio is trying to paint charlie crist. that's probably your best strategy. >> right, leave all options open, basically. >> that's how he's going to go after him. for charley crist, the math is simple. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. the whistleblowing website wikileaks has announced over twitter that it will release secret cia documents and this after wikileaks released secret pentagon documents related to the war in afghanistan and that's not the end of the controversy. a swedish prosecutor is looking to a molestation allegation against the website's founder julian assagne. jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. julian saaange accused by two women and do these really have merit? >> we have no idea what the swedish prosecutors may or may not have in any kind of evidence or witnesses against him and what sounds like a he said/she said kind of situation. but, you know, the people of wikileaks have become absolute masters in seizing a moment and using it for public relations, their own public relations and they appear to have done that in this case becauses as soon as it was revealed he had been charged, wikileaks itself came out and said this was probably the result of a smear campaign by the u.s. u.s. officials, of course, deny any involvement in whatever is going on in what potential prosecution against julian assange. >> jim, let's talk about what potentially is coming today. they're saying that they have these cia documents. what are you hearing and is the cia responding yet to what they think they may have? >> well, it's unclear to anybody in the u.s. government exactly what wikileaks is talking about. they have, as you know in the past been able to get their hands on some pretty sensitive, high lly classified information and put them up on their website. more than 70,000 highly classified military documents on the operations in afghanistan. as of today, i'm looking at their website right here, right now and they still haven't released any new information that they claim. it's not the first time wikileaks said they're about to dump some u.s. intelligence out of their website and didn't do it. now, u.s. officials say it appears that what wikileaks is talking about today is separate and apart from 15,000 military documents on the war in afghanistan. but, again, so far, no good on wikileaks, we haven't seen a thing. >> jim, thanks very much. a murder mystery in london that has all the making of a true spy thriller. a decomposing body found in a duffel bag dumped in a bathtub of a central london apartment. there are reports that the victim was stabbed, possibly several times and maybe even dismembered. the apartment is located about a ten-minute walk from the headquarters of mi6, the british secret service. martin fletcher joins us live now from our london bureau. maybe you can explain how this man was discovered in his own home. >> well, thomas, it appears that he had been missing for some time because the organization he worked for sent somebody around to his apartment to see whether there was any sign of him there and they said that the police had told him that the man may be missing for up to two weeks and then the police broke into the apartment and they found, as you said, a body lying in the bag, possibly missing for days. the question is who did it and the plot thickened when it turned out that the man worked for britain's foreign office and worked for the government's secret listening service and on a year's assignment with mi6, britain's secret service and another little twist which makes it more of a spy thriller. the company that owns this flat is called new redena in russian and bulgaria it means motherland. no one really knows what is going on. the front office has refused to comment. they said that they never comment on people who work for them, or even if they work for them, has all the elements of a spy thriller and the police are investigating as a murder. they said they found his body with multiple stab wounds, thomas. >> martin fletcher in london for us, thank you. hurricane danielle, the storm churning in the atlantic is advancing. take a look at this, she is moving west, northwest with wind speeds of 85 miles per hour. yesterday danielle was downgraded to a tropical storm overnight. and over night upgraded to hurricane status and now 80 miles from the leeward islands. tom vilsack offered to resign, but the white house wouldn't allow that to happen. last month sherrod left after allegations she gave a racist speech. vilsack quickly decided to place sherrod on administratiive leav. vilsack offered sherrod a job at the usda yesterday and she rejected that position. as an emotional debate rages over building an islamic center and mosque near ground zero in new york, more than 40 civic and religious groups including a group of families who lost people in 9/11 will have a coalition of freedom and diversity. michael bloomberg delivered an impassionate defense of the planned mosque. ron allen joins us from new york. what did the mayor have to say? he has been passionate and forthright about this issue. >> since this debate began several months ago. he's doing so at a time when there are more and more leaders across the country and in new york who are coming out in favor of compromise. the assembly speaker here the governor of new york, david paterson brokering some kind of compromise where the developers would move it some place else but at a dinner the muslim holy month, mayor bloomberg said that compromise is not an answer. here's what he had to say. >> there are people of every faith, including perhaps some in this room, who are hoping that a compromise will end the debate. but it won't. the question will then become, how big should the no mosque zone be around the world trade center site? there's already a mosque four blocks away. should it be moved? this is a test of our commitment to american values and we have to have the courage of our convictions. >> there's also, it has also not been widely reported, but the building in question is already used by hundreds of muslim faithful for friday prayers and has been for the last couple years. some asked if that should be some questions about the situation. those calling for compromise and what they're essentially saying this project is supposed to be about healing and closing the riff between muslims and nonmuslims and it's not doing that, but stirring more controversy every single day. tom sns. >> ron, the governor, tave davi paterson, is takes some steps to fac facilitate some kind of compromise. he reached out to the archbishop. >> archbishop timothy dolan who has said that the project should, perhaps, be moved. those two leaders have been talking basically amongst themselves. david paterson offered to the developers to come in and talk to them about a possible compromise that has been out there and there has been no response to that. the developers seem intent on building their project where they want to do it, they have every legal right to do so and despite the public human cry, they seem determined to go forward. real questions about whether they could make this happen. they are in the question of raising money and that has been lagging. what effect this may have on fund-raising. it may help who say we have to do this in support of the muslim community and it may hurt the other side, as well. >> ron allen in new york for us, thanks very much. still ahead, why authorities in chile are keeping the 33 trapped miners in the dark about possibly being stuck in that mine until christmas. plus, the massive egg recall could mean money out of your wallet. we'll break it down for you, explain why. and elin nordegren breaks her silence. here's what she's revealing about the night of tiger's car crash. iranian military officials are trumpeting a new weapon. the country has successfully tested an upgraded version of their surface-to-surface iranian missile. it has extended accuracy and range reportedly to strike a target from 120 miles away. this announcement comes days after iran unveiled its first bomber drone. for 33 miners in chile trapped underground for 20 days a massive mine has arrived but no one told them it could take four months to reach them. chilean officials are talking to nasa on how to keep the men physically and mentally. will the men ever be told how long it could take to free them? >> no, they will not be told. thomas, good morning. authorities do not want them to know because they are very much concerned about their mental health. in the meantime, as you can see behind me, those are the camps where the families have been staying for 20 days. the families are senting them positive notes, telling them the good things that have happened here in the past 20 days and the government is providing them psychological counseling to keep them strong throughout the ordeal. thomas? >> and, angie, i would imagine that the families have also been warned, as you're saying, that they're sending notes down of positive affirmation and probably not telling them what is going on with the operations to free them and how long it may take. >> that's right. they're just sending personal things. like, you know, my son is doing this and the baby is doing that. giving them courage, you know, telling them we must believe in god and we must have faith and, also, by the way, the miners say that they want to be out by september 18th, that's independence day of chile. these guys have become national heroes in this country. >> well, the rescuers and everybody there, god speed on getting those men out safely. that's for sure. thank you, angie. the manhunt for an eskcaped colorado inmate with a history of violent crimes and escapes. we'd also like to know what you think of any of the stories we're covering today let me know at twitter.com/underscore thomasroberts. time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. stewart angsbooth was a hot ticket at this year's comic on. he's cultivating a market and it's paying off. for more, watch your business sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. [ female announcer ] start your morning... hey. what are you doing up? i thought i'd take a drive before work. want to come? [ female announcer ] or make his day. yeah. [ female announcer ] maxwell house gives you a rich, full-flavored cup of coffee, so you can be good to the last drop. but my doctor told me that most calcium supplements... aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. citracal. you took my eggs ! it's an "egg management fee." what does that even mean ? egg management fee. even kids know it's wrong to take other people's stuff. that's why at ally bank we offer rates among the most competitive in the country that won't get eaten away by fees. it's just the right thing to do. the death of professional golfer erica blasberg is ruled a suicide after three months after her body was found. her doctor faces misdemeanor charges after taking a suicide note from the scene. thomases haste discovered her body on may the 9th she had a plastic bag over her head and she suffocated and also had toxic levels of prescription drugs in her system. elin nordegren is speaking out about her marriage to tiger woods, it is officially over. she opens up to "people" magazine after being silent for nine months. sandra spoke exclusively on "today" show on the four-day interview and how she was blindsided by her husband's infidelities. >> she had no idea this was going on, as embarrassing that is to admit that, she was busy being a mother and, lastly, this was a real marriage for her. >> peter alexander joins us now from the barclay's golf tournament where tiger woods is expected to speak with reporters in the next couple of hours. peter, really, he'll take questions today? >> yeah, he said that he's likely to do that. expected to happen an hour and a half from now when he finishes up a practice round. important to note, this is his first tournament as a newly single man. he may speak and, for the first time, we're hearing from elin nordegren who spoke to "people" magazine in the first and only interview about the topic of her husband's scandal. she has been remarkably silent for their marriage and certainly for the last nine months during this scandal taking place. this interview took place over 19 hours and four days. as the first reaction of tiger's betrayal and that parade of reported mistresses, absolute shock and disbelief. i felt stupid as more things were revealed. how could i not have known anything? the word betrayal wasn't strong enough. i feel like my whole world has fallen apart. for that world she has been living in, all incompassed by this scandal. she suffered weight loss in recent months and she's suffered insomnia and in the recent days leading up to the divorce being finalized she told "people" she began losing some of her hair. she insists never any violence in her relationship with her now ex-husband, tiger woods, she spoke about the circumstances surrounding that mysterious car crash thanksgiving night saying the speculation that i would have used a golf club to hit him is just truly ridiculous. she also wouldn't specifically address the details of her settlement with tiger. we know they have joint custody of the children, 3-year-old, sam, and 18-month-old, charlie. we don't know exactly how much money she's getting. estimates suggest it could be more than $100 million. what she told "people" magazine, though, money can't buy happiness or put my family back together. thomas, while we're on the course today and have had a chance to see tiger play as thousands of fans will see him play at the barclay's over the course of the weekend, the one other point elin made clear is, she has not watched one minute of golf since the scandal broke about nine months ago. >> i understand. i think pe"people" printed extr editions of this, i think it will be a hot seller. >> you better believe it. the cia says the most urgent threat is not in pakistan or afghanistan but else. lindsay lohan, she's out of rehab, but her treatment for addiction is far from over. we'll bring you the details next in "the scoop." [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time... time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. until the combination of three good probiotics in phillips' colon health defended against the bad gas, diarrhea and constipation. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. welcome back, everybody. the cia is raising new alarms today about the terror threat from yemen. for the first time since 9/11 "washington post" reports that analysts believe that the al qaeda group in yemen is a bigger threat. michael joins me now in studio to talk about this. kind of surprising because yemen has been a hot bed and all of us remember the "uss cole" bombing and 39 sailors were injured. have we taken the eye off the ball in yemen? >> i don't think we have, really. we have been focused on iraq and afghanistan and very successful in western pakistan and afghanistan and pounding al qaeda's central leadership there. in yemen we don't have the structure that we have in afghanistan and iraq and it's more difficult to reach out and touch people in yemen. in yemen, al qaeda has been regrouping and we're trying to catch up to them. >> al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, as it's called, it's a yemen-based group we're being told that it's on the upswing. if you're saying we haven't taken our eye off the ball, how are they able to reorganize and do so in a place where we know that we're in trouble? >> well, part of the reason is the yemeni government continues to flail around, they have not been able to establish real control over their country and deit is deteriorating over time. tribal problems over time and not really related to al qaeda but that provides more opportunity for al qaeda operatives to reestablish themselves in yemen and establish the foothole. part of it has to do just the displacement of people to yemen where they're finding a little bit more operating room. >> another group, let's talk about al shabab, a group that has pledged its allegiance to alcada and extremely dangerous and extremely militant and also extremely violent. give us information about what we know about them. >> al shabab first came on our consciousness last year when a bunch of sumolly residents disappeared and we're in somalia working with this organization. they have shown great capability to wreak violence. now they're killing parliament a and now sustained terrorist attacks and this is an organization of growing concern in the intelligence community. >> they are believed to have legitimate u.s. passports for travel,est t travel, correct? >> they are over there and initially recruited they get involved in the sumolaul sumauo. >> when you talk about somalia being a mess, there isn't structure. >> there hasn't been a government in somalia for 20 years. the place is a mess. the clans there which are tribal groups have been fighting among them selves for 20 years and that has given an opportunity for the islamists to come in and show, hey, we're a new answer for somalia and bringing the islamic religion to you and throw out the war lords and fighting clans and that provided an opportunity for al qaeda to get in there with them and establish some very serious capability there. >> as the obama administration said, we need to refocus on yemen and get back to work on that one, for sure. as we do know, we lost 17 sailors and that was a tragedy ten years ago. >> that's right. yemen and somalia and other parts of north africa remain a critical area of importance for american counterterrorism officials in the months and years ahead. >> michael sheenen, thank you, sir. >> thank you, thomas. former president jimmy carter on the ground in north korea. he arrived in pyongyang to free an imprisoned american. he has been held in north korea since january. north korean officials accuse him of illegally crossing the bordner to china. carter will spend one night in north korea and return home with gomes on thursday. the justice department plans to appeal federal judge's decision that federal money can't be used for stem cell research. a department spokesperson says the appeal will likely be filed this week. much of their progress will be lost due to monday's court hearing. >> this appears to me at a backward step at a time when the public at large are making steps. >> it is illegal to use federal money for the research because human embryos is are destroyed in order to extract the stem cells. egg prices are on the rise and that's thanks to the recall of half a billion eggs this month. wholesale egg prices are up roughly 40%. consumers are likely going to see that spike at the grocery store. the fda says there's not enough evidence to support claims that vaccinating hens against salmonella would have prevented a massive egg recall. british officials say that hen vaccines have helped them maintain the safest egg supply in europe. the national highway traffic administration is looking at jeep grand cherokee suvs. the models from 1993 all the way up to 2004. the consumer advocacy group requesting the probe says the placement of the fuel tank makes it more prone to rupture or leak in the event of an accident. chrysler, the makers of the grand cherokee, are fully cooperating with that investigation. maybe you heard about this, but actress lindsay lohan has been released from rehab and now rumors are swirling about a mega book deal and movies. what is really next on the horizon for the troubled star lit? we get the scoop from erica. courtney has some time off. lindsay being released early. she only served 23 day of this mandatory 90-day rehab sentence. >> actually the ucla medical center has a policy where it only admits patients that have a dual disorder. they have to have a mental disorder and a substance abuse problem. the doctor that diagnosed lindsay recently said her mental disorder wasn't as severe as previously thought. therefore, she has been released after only 23 days. the new judge on the case, alvin fox, of course, decided that that should happen immediately and now she is free to make her money. >> also, is there outpatient care that she is supposed to attend? >> she is going to be required to have some outpatient care and have some also follow up, but dena lohan has been all over the news warning us that this would happen. her daughter was in there and shouldn't be in there for as long as she should have been. >> i hope that there is going to be a swell of good will towards her and she will put it to good use. our second topic, paula abdul. we're not talking "american idol" we're talking about her own dance show on cbs. what is she doing? >> a new american version of "got to dance." and paula has been all over twitter recruiting new soloists and duos and dancers of all ages to try out for her new show. it's in partnership with cbs and we heard a little bit about it earlier from the new producer of "american idol," because he was apparently trying to recruit paula back to "american idol," but that is not going to happen. paula is executive producer and judge of this new show. >> all right. while we're talking about dancing, we will talk about some time dancer and all the time profootballer, chad ocho cinco. what is he in trouble for today? >> he needs to stay off twitter. he was fined $25,000 for tweeting during a preseason game against the eagles. the nfl has a policy where the players shall not be using any electronic devices and cannot use any kind of social media 90 minutes before a game through to the end of the post-game media. and ocho did not listen to that policy, he was all over twitter and $25,000 now less rich. >> and he did tweet his apology, though. i'll read it for everybody. dear nfl, i apologize for tweeting during the game but that was two months of my bugatti payments you just took from me. i won't do it again. >> he's also in trouble because he was tweeting about a certain lady friend of his and he's got his own reality show now with vh-1 called "the ultimate catch." so he is not supposed to be in love with anyone and evelyn was not one of the 85 contestants on his show. vh-1 is also a little angry at ocho cinco today, as well. >> you have a good scoop for us that concerns kirstie alley. >> she may be the next contestant on "dancing with the stars." we're really excited and she'd be pair would the oh, so sexy maxim. so, that's very good news. >> that is interesting news. but what about the situation, though, is he going to be on it? >> oh, dear, what a great opportunity for him to continue to showcase his abs, right? >> yeah, you know, working them out. he should be called the opportunity instead of the situation. >> absolutely. >> all right, thank you so much. great to have you on today. >> thank you. >> infor the latest in entertainment news logon to scoop.tod scoop.todayshow.com. some things that are considered news in this world but there are only a few stories that make us say -- >> no way! >> an unbelievable and policiy confusing call at a new jersey race track. two of the horses in the seventh race at manmouth park, new jersey, the horses with the names wife in them. here's the announcer larry. >> lady mu todda, my wife knows everything, center of the track, the wife doesn't know. into the final furlong, my wife knows everything. the wife doesn't know. they're one, two, of course they are. my wife knows everything in front and to the outside the wife doesn't know. my wife knows everything, the wife doesn't know! my wife knows everything, more than the wife doesn't know. >> my wife knows everything, my wife doesn't know. can you imagine? larry is a 43-year-old single guy, the announcer. a member of the u.s. army parachute team had a bit of trouble during a drop at ranger stadium in texas on tuesday. the golden knight took a bit of a wrong turn and ended up wrapped around the flag pole and it looks really dangerous, but the parachuter was able to climb down to safety but wasn't hurt. had a really good view of the game, if he was staying up there. look at that. what are the odds, right? so, authorities in new york have begun investigating the case of a reclusive 104-year-old harri here heiress that may be getting ripped off. you're watching msnbc.od. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. also available in small, easy-to-swallow petites. citracal. and word is people really love got our claims service.ffice gecko: 'specially the auto repair xpress. repairs are fast and they're guaranteed for as long as you own your car. boss: hey, that's great! is this your phone? gecko: yeah, 'course. boss: but...where do you put...i mean how do you...carry... waitress: here you go. boss: thanks! gecko: no, no i got it, sir. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. [ armstrong ] in 20 years of cycling, even when i was ahead, i was always behind. ♪ behind cars... behind trucks... behind those guys... tailpipe... [ clucking ] ...after tailpipe after tailpipe... [ engines rev ] ...until now. ♪ the 100% electric... no-tailpipe nissan leaf. innovation for the planet. innovation for all. welcome back, everybody. just moments ago a team of experts arrived that skie site titanic. on monday the group set off from st. john's newfoundland. kerry sanders has been onboard from the very beginning for all the action. >> with the camera set up the way they are, we can tilt it all the way up. this will sit on the plate. >> with this remotely operated vehicle and its hd, 3-d cameras the archeologists hope to map the entire titanic debris field. that could be up to six square miles. >> csi titanic? >> very similar. we'll go down there and look atarcat everything on the bottom and we know where it started off on that ship and then try to piece it all back together again. >> reporter: when the white star line launched titanic, this ship of ships four city blocks long, as long as a freeway, nine stories high was thought to be unsinkable. buts as hollywood has recounted many times, on april 15th, 1912, as she sped at 20 knots en route to new york, titanic's maiden voyage ended in tragedy. the ship sank in less than three hours. more than 1,500 passengers and crew died and now, down below, that wreckage is beginning to disintegrate. >> kerry will continue filing reports from onboard the ship there as they continue their mission there, so we invite you to stay with us for his reports. the manhattan district attorney is looking into whether a reclusive heiress is being recounted. wait until you hear her life story. we bring it to you, next. ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o [ child giggles ] welcome back, everybody. the fbi has joined in the manhunt for an escapee colorado prison inmate. douglas james alward escaped from a max. security prison southeast of den ver. this is the fourth time he has alluded authorities. he was serving a 20 to 40-year sentence for attempted murder, assault, burglary and kidnapping. a $15,000 reward is being offered for information today's investigation into the finances of a very reclusive heiress. this is the last known photo of clark taken in 1930, when she was just 24 years old. she is now 104 years old and living in a new york city hospital. her staff says they haven't seen her in about 30 years and she has little known family. she made headlines last month when it was discovered one of our mansions a home in connecticut had been empty for more than half a century and now up for sale. msnbc.com has learned the elder abuse unit of the new york district attorney's office is looking into this case. he's been writing about this intriguing story and now we learn that the elder abuse unit of new york is getting involved. where has the case taken them? >> it started as an interesting feature story about empty mansions. what's happened is we reported last week the accountant for miss clark had a criminal conviction and the attorney and the accountant have sold some of our property. quietly her strat var yus violin was sold and painting was sold for $23 million. in raised some concerns. now we have the district attorney in new york city looking into it and also adult protective services is sending a caseworker to check on this woman. the typical case may involve someone who is poor or homeless. here we have someone with approximately half a billion dollars but concern raised and adult protective services is going to check on her too. >> half a billion dollars in estimated well estimat estimated wealth. >> her father, william andrews clark was a united states sno senator, but first he was a copper miner. the land that became las vegas, he owned. this is his own surviving daughter. there were children from the first marriage, they split the fortune up and everything was sold out. she's lived quietly all these years. they have fantastic homes in santa barbara, in connecticut and she has the largest mansion on fifth avenue, largest apartment on fifth avenue in new york city. she hasn't been seen here. she's been in hospital rooms for more than 20 years. >> give us an idea, as i've been following your reporting, you say she's in a modest nursing facility. she's 104 but what do we know about her health and does she suffer from alzheimer's or dementia where she's not competent to know what's going on with her finances? >> family members who spoke with her on the phone said she was very clear, alert, but she had secluded herself so many years ago it made her vulnerable to lack of information. she is able to deal with information that is presented to her. she had set herself aside. a woman who in her middle age, with all of this wealth was at home eating sardines out of a can and watching cartoons. she had chosen to is see includ herself from life. the question, is has she made herself vulnerable to being taken advantage of. >> the people she has working with her now, they've belong been am her employ, when we talk about people selling her property? >> i spoke with her attorney some months back and he won't talk to us anymore. he did say he was the first of her seven attorneys in this firm to have met her. a previous attorney would talk with her through the door. others would come and do work for her, talk to her through the door. she was a shadow behind the door to them. we know the accountant has met her and reads mail to her. this attorney says she has met her only twice. she has nursing care in a hospital in new york city. we're not divulging what hospital. all access to her, access from distant relatives that has been cut off is controlled by the attorney and the accountant. bill, you're reporting on this has been fascinating. i appreciate you taking time out to talk to me about this. log on to msnbc.com to read the entire series of articles on the clark mystery complete with a photo narrative. and it is fantastic. they say a picture is worth a thousand words. here's one that helped catch a criminal. at first glance this looks like a nice family vacation picture, right? take a look. then john and katherine myers were posing with their kids but in the background you can see a man crouching over his bag, which he snatched. they saw the bag was missing and checked the camera and sure enough there was the photographic proof. they showed this to police who recognized the suspect. he was arrested, still holding the bag. amazing. so that's going to do it for me this hour. i'm thomas roberts. contessa brewer will pick things up at the top of the hour. >> nice to see you. big discussion for rescue officials in chile, whether to tell the trapped miners they could be stuck there until christmas. sarah palin influencing who wins and who loses? joining me to talk about the palin factor in elections. and the hurricane swirling in the atlantic and forecasters won't rule out a direct hit on our northeast coast. we'll have the latest on where danielle is heading. stay with us. it's the only complete multivitamin with ginkgo to support memory and concentration. plus vitamin d to help maintain healthy blood pressure. [ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's. good day, i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast. america's financial troubles have sparked a tug of war over who is best equipped to bring prosperity to the usa. sales of new homes dropped sharply last month. the slowest pace on record and the prices down too, dropped 6% from june. almost 5% from last year. both political parties are taking aim, looking for the target to blame for that bad news. >> the idea that we'll go back to the republican policies on the economy, which is what boehner is arguing for, is