for thoerps injured. i want everybody to understand that we will spare no effort in learning how this outrageous act took place. and in working with german authorities to insure that all of the perpetrators are brought to justice. >> nbc news producer andy ekker joins us from germany. so the obvious question is how this happened and why this happened. what do we know about the investigation? >> well, the u.s. air force in germany just said minutes ago that the bus was transporting security forces assigned to raf in england and they were on their way from the airport to ramstein air base, which is in southwestern germany. they were on their way to support overseas is contingency operations which is probably afghanistan or iraq. but that's speculation at the moment. the u.s. air force nrs germany and police are refraining from identifying this as an act of terrorism at the moment stating the incident is presently under investigation. but in the recent past, there have been several terror threats towards germany in general and against u.s. service members living in germany so that this could have certainly been a terror attack. >> and we know that in addition to what we've heard from president obama, german chancellor angela merkel is condemning the attack. what is she saying? >> she's saying that they're very, very sorry about the incident and they will do everything to find out what the motives of this shooter, who is a 21-year-old man from kosovo living in frankfurt, what his motives are, and they are investigating this as quickly as possible. >> all right, andy, thank you very much. live for news mainz. the "news nation" can also following a highly controversial ruling by the supreme court today. the high court ruled in favor of a fundamentalist church known for staging anti-gay protests right outside military funerals. just a short time ago, the court ruled 8-1 in favor of the westboro baptist church. they are based in topeka, kansas. the ruling says the group's actions which include protesting with signs that read, for example, "thank god for dead soldiers" are protected by free speech under the first amendment. the high court threw out a $5 million damages award to albert snyder, the father of a fallen marine who sued church members after they picketed his son's funeral. snyder says the group robbed him of a chance to bury his son, lance corporal thath matthew snyder with dignity. justice correspondent pete williams joins me outside the supreme court with more on what the justices wrote. tell me more about what justice roberts had to say. >> reporter: the court says this was undoubtedly hurtful speech but nonetheless they said today the protest took place legally. it was in a public place and it was on issues of public importance. and then chief justice roberts for the court wrote speech is powerful, it can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow and as it did here, inflict great pain. on the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. as a nation we have chosen a different course to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate." there was one dissent is, samuel alito said this was a private figure, a father of a marine. it doesn't deserve it the full first amendment protections. but the court also left open the possibility that local communities can impose reasonable restrictions on where these protests take place. and in fact, in this protest in maryland at the heart of this case involving lance corporal snyder, the protesters were a thousand feet away from the church where the funeral took place. they obeyed all the laws. the court did leave that possibility open and also said today that this group finds america to be a morally bankrupt and the chief justice said many americans may feel the same way about this group, but its message is nonetheless protected. >> it's interesting the point about the reasonable restrictions, margie phelps, the daughter of the minister of the church said we read the law. we followed the law. the only way for a different ruling is to shred the first amendment. any more details what would be reasonable for different states or cities to keep this from happening or i don't want to say keep it from happening because that's not the goal, but in a sense to protect the families? >> reporter: in the past, the supreme court has upheld over the decades restrictions, what are called time place and manner restrictions when and where you can have a public message. you can't have a loud protest outside a hospital. but the phelps have caused a real change in the law around the states. 43 states have now passed laws that restrict protests around churches or funerals specifically in response to what the phelps family has done. so those laws seem to be based on. the supreme court ruling today still? good shape. >> pete, do you get the impression there was surprise with this ruling? >> reporter: well, i think in the minds of first amendment scholars there was really nothing else to do here. the real question was, would the supreme court find some way to carve out a military funeral exception to the first amendment. and obviously, that's something the court didn't even come close to that. >> pete williams live from outside the supreme court. thank you. we hope to have more reaction within the hour from a member of vote vets.org. in the meantime, let's go to libya where pro and anti-gadhafi sforss are fighting for control of key cities there. dozens were taken to the hospital today after his forces attacked the oil facility in the port city of brega. it's unclear who has control of the city. both sides are claiming victory. right now u.s. warships are inching toward the libyan coast. nbc's jim maceda is live in tripoli. jim, another harsh warning from gadhafi regarding what he's willing to do to those who continue to fight against him. >> reporter: absolutely. this was really vintage gadhafi today. he came, he knew exactly who he was speaking to. he knew that there are dozens of foreign reporters in the crowd. and he let us all have it. he came out defiant. he said at one point that libya would fight to the very last man and very last woman. he spoke for two and a half hours probably at half an hour at least if not 45 seconds, half an hour to 45 minutes of chanting flags waving. at times you felt you were more at a pep rally than a news conference. the headlines very much on message. he says there's no power struggle at all in this country. he said there are no protests so how can you talk about people shooting it at protesters who aren't even in the streets and that there are no internal problems in libya. the problem he says has been created, fueled by two main forces, the united states and more broadly the west who are interested in oil and oil only in libya and al qaeda, not in collusion with the west but al qaeda wants to bridge that gap that is libya in that crescent there in the northern africa to create a kcaliphate. he spent a lot of time talking about this conspiracy. one thought this was a perfect speech on a day where his counter offensive was actually launched. >> jim maceda, thank you. coming up, serene nap williams is hospitalized and undergoes emergency surgery. the latest on the star's condition. plus the birther movement alive and well. yet another state proegs legislation that would make president obama prove he was born in the united states before his name is put on the ballot even though he has proven that fact. and ailing apple ceo steve jobs makes a surprise appearance at the unveiling of the much anticipated ipad 2. the latest on steve jobs and how good is this new ipad 2? host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? host: does it take two to tango? ♪ ♪ anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. crisp, clear, untouched. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. just got more powerful. introducing precise pain relieving cream. it blocks pain signals fast for relief precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. precise. introducing honey bunches of oats, raisin medley. there's nothing like it! the only cereal with 1, 2, 3 kinds of raisins and crunchy multigrain flakes. you gotta try new honey bunches of oats raisin medley. now back to the highly controversial ruling from the supreme court just today. the high court ruled in favor of that fundamentalist church known for staging anti-gay pro testifies outside military funerals. just a short time ago, the court ruled 8-1 in favor of the toe peek cag kansas-based church. the ruling says the group's actions which inclue reading or holding signs that say offensive things, for example, thank god for dead soldiers. now to react more to this story is joining me now is the chairman for vote vets.org ash win medea. >> thanks for having me. >> we appreciate you joining us. your reaction to the decision here. >> well, i think that on the law, the decision is correct. it was an 8-1 ruling. and our constitution does protect speech and public discourse even if it is hateful like the church's is here. i think that the solution to it though is more speech. that is speech from people who oppose the church's action. who can then in turn protest the church or write letters to the church or call the church and tell them to knock it off and let the families of veterans mourn these deaths in peace. >> that's an interesting reaction because obviously, this case was based on what happened to or at marine lance corporal matthew snyder's funeral. the members of this fundamentalist church were told to stay at least a thousand feet away. and there was a counter protest. as a result, this fallen hero's funeral procession had to be diverted for the very reason you point out, that others came out to have their voices heard. as the father of matthew snyder pointed out, didn't give him an opportunity to provide his son the dignity he deserved for fighting for this country. with that said, is that the only solution to call out voices to be heard on the other side of this? >> well, that's a good point that you raise in that you know, we don't necessarily want to protest and create complete spectacles out of the funeral. what i mean is that people it can also write letters and call this church on their own outside of the funeral context to let them know they disapprove of it. what is the other solutions, the court left open the possibility there can be general restrictions against protests around funerals that are passed by legislatures or passed by city councils provided that they don't target any groups in specific. and so if you know, length late tors want to act they can say we don't protests within 1,000 or 2,000 feet of funerals but it has to apply to everyone equally. >> we had some technical problems getting you on. i'm happy our audience was able to hear from you. >> you serena williams is in a los angeles hospital. "people" magazine reports she underwent emergency treatment there monday for a hematoma days after doctors discovered a blood clot in her lungs. it was reportedly discovered by doctors treating her injured foot. her spokeswoman also told people doctors are continuing to monitor her situation. joining me live now is dr. ari bits from the university hospitals case sflekding in cleveland, ohio. thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure, tamron. >> i understand that serena could have been or might be in a high risk category. she recently had surgery. she falls into some areas that would perhaps make her prone to this blood clot in the first place. what can you tell me from reading about her condition that you understand here? >> well, i don't know much beyond what has been played out in the media. she certainly in some respects is in a low risk category. she's a young person, active. some of the things you mentioned did play a role. if she certainly she had an injury last year. she had had i understand multiple operations on her leg. if she was immobile for any long period of time after that, that could have set her up for it along with other factors like flying, particularly long flights and also any kind of predisposition she may have towards forming clots. a lot of young women are on birth control pills and that can elevate your risk, as well. >> how serious of a situation is this in your estimation when we look at blood clots in someone's lung, it stounds obviously frightening. >> pulmonary embolism is the result of clots forming primary in the legs and pelvis and break off and go to the lungs. a lot of what happens there isafter depends on the patient's overall condition beforehand and how big of a clot load. was this a small or big clot. she sounds like she's been relatively stable from the aspect of the embolism. you can be anywhere from not having symptoms at all to being short of breath with chest pain to going into shock from this. >> she was at an oscars party sunday night. and photographed with the paparazzi looking healthy and now tuesday, she tweeted out, tough day. after we learned of this treatment here. >> yeah, i mean, people can have a stuttering course. it is very hard to make the diagnosis in some cases. i'm a little bit unclear about all the details. it sounded like they were treating her for the pulmonary embolism and she developed a hematoma possibly at the of where she had surgery on the leg. that is usually not a major complication. >> arie blitz thank you very much. you can now add georgia to the list of states looking to pass a so-called birther bill despite hawaiian officials confirming the president's citizenship. georgia is joining ten other states in proposing legislation requiring presidential and vice presidential candidates to problem citizenship before being added to the ballot. just yesterday, mike huckabee suggested in a radio address that his world view was shaped by kenya even though he did not visit kenya till his 20s. >> don't you think we deserve to know more about this man? >> what i know is troubling enough. one thing i do know is his having grown up in kenya. his view of the brits, for example, very different than the average american. his perspective as growing up in kenya with a kenyan father and grandfather, their view of the maumau revolution in kenya is very different than ours because he probably grew up hearing that the british were a bunch of imperialists. >> the executive director of huckabee's political action committee says the governor misspoke. i'm joined by earl hutchinson contributor for thegrio.com. the spokesperson for huckabee's pac says when the governor mentioned he wanted to know about the president, he wasn't talking about the president's place of birth. the governor believes he was born. hawaii. he would like to know more about where his liberal policies come. so if we take mr. huckabee at his word, it was misspeaking. but here you've got georgia added to the list of looking at these birther bills. you can't misunderstand that, can you? >> you certainly can't. let's face it, mike huckabee's been on the circuit a long time. he's very smart. he's very politically savvy. he's very knowledgeable and he certainly knows what a constituency is and playing to a constituency. you know, there was a poll a couple weeks ago that showed about 50% of those in the gop, gop mainstream have doubts about president obama where he was born. even if he's an american. so we keep having this debate over and over again. this controversy over and over again. and you have a wide body of sentiment out there within the gop that believes president obama is not an american. now mike huckabee's comment, misspoke. i don't think so. there's one other thing. even if we take him at face value and say he misspoke about kenya, excuse me, indonesia? president obama was very young then. his world view was not shaped by kenya or indonesia. his world view of events was shaped by his being born and raised in the united states. >> it's interesting. you've written a couple articles why the birther movement refuses to die. i want to the read something mark hatfield says. he says most people feel it's an issue to a significant enough portion of our population that it needs to be addressed by the state. it is in a sense a response to the sitting president and his inability or unwillingness to release his original birth certificate despite it the fact beat know a digital document pointing out the president's live birth has been presented and copies of it sent out so many times that hawaii had to consider charging for it. why does the birther movement refuse to die? >> this is nonsense. the president has answered this every which way. hawaii state officials answered it. they have released on many occasions all the information that's required. the president was born born and raised in the united states. that's been well established. why are they doing this? it's political political political. whether it's i mike huckabee, whether it's now ten states and my guess is in the next few months, it it will be more states, it's aim is to discredit, to demean, to revile the president of the united states. >> are you saying these people know that the president was born in the united states. >> yes. >> but to keep the political rhetoric up, they. >> exactly. exactly. it's not just -- it's political rhetoric in part but let's face it, we're coming up to a heavy duth presidential political year in 2012. i expect this, to continue to see this red herring drummed up, tossed out there, massaged, manipulated every which way to do one thing and one thing only, to discredit and impugn the president of the united states. it's nothing but character assassination. nothing more for political purposes. >> earl hutchinson, thank you for joining us. you can read his articles on the grio.com. coming up, developing news about a family hijacked at sea. for the first time, pirates have kid.napped children and they've now reach the shores of somalia with this family. plus, john galliano is ordered to stand trial after making anti-semiticra, and one elementary school says no to vice president biden. we'll tell you what that's all about when "news nation" returns. time for your entrepreneur of the week. care rare curtis owner of the soulless bag line knew celebrity endorsements would be big for her company. foregoing an agency, she got her products into the hands of the real hollywood power brokers, personal assistants. her purses caught on with stars lighting up revenues. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on msnbc. i do a lot of different kinds of exercise, but basically, i'm a runner. last year. 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[ bell dings ] you've got one of a kind eyes, so individualize with exact eyelights eye brightening mascara, liner, and shadow collections from covergirl. find your custom colors with light-reflecting metallics and say hello to brighter eyes! ♪ green eyes -- here's the look for you. blue eyes have their look and hazels too! for a stunning effect on eyes... individualeyes! with the exact eyelights collection from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. but you can still refinance to a fixed rate as low as 4.75% at lendingtree.com. plus, get the best deal or we'll pay you $1,000. call lending tree at... today. welcome back to "news nation." somali pirates who for the first time have kidnapped children at sea are threatening to kill them and their family. officials say the danish family of five whose yacht was hijacked yesterday have been taken on to somali soil. a pirate warned if there was any rescue attempt, they would meet the same fate as four americans killed by pirates last week. joining me now is security analyst tim hart. thanks for joining me. >> good afternoon. >> now that these pirates have taken the family to somali soil, how difficult has the situation become? >> it makes it extremely difficult. what will typically happen now is that they'll be moved on shore and perhaps because they fear special forces rescue attempt, they may be split up. moved around different encampments, smaller villages which are further away from the coast to so they can settle there and really prepare them for the ran some negotiation. >> it's interesting as i point out, this is believed to be the first time children were kidnapped. these kids are ages 12 to 16. one might assume that these pirates would not want to be involved in something with children in that it would heighten the attention internationally and probably put even more pressure on them. do they have an indifference to the fact they're holding children now? >> it's important to mention they obviously have taken yachts. previously there was a 3-year-old child taken a few years ago called the tanner. however, that was stormed very quickly by french special forces. this would be children being taken on shore and undergoing a long negotiation process. if anything, you know, it will assist them in their negotiation to try and urge the governments to deal with this faster. >> and we know these pirates in the past asked for millions of dollars. the joe hansen family was aware of the pirate threat in the waters off the east of east africa but believed warships were patrolling and they would be protected. might the pirates even ask for more money in the light of the fact they're holding children? >> it's a possibility. however, you must remember that compared to large merchant ships they deal like with all yacht crews can, they don't have a huge corporation behind them or i an number of stakeholders involved. they can only appeal to the governments themselves. they certainly think it's the motivation however in terms of getting moran some. more people. but for a larger ran some, it will make things more difficult. they may fear a rescue attempt a lot sooner as there will be more appeals for humanity in this case. >> thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. still ahead a pregnant woman mysteriously disappears as her husband is deployed to afghanistan. we have details on this investigation. plus, the army revamps its fitness training program for the first time in decades. what changes are being made. and find out how millionaires are making a business off their homes that are near foreclosure. this is lara. her morning begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. i've been looking at the numbers, and i think our campus is spending too much money on printing. i'd like to put you in charge of cutting costs. calm down. i know that it is not your job. what i'm saying... excuse me? alright, fine. no, you don't have to do it. ok? 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[ male announcer ] with xerox, everyone has someone to go heart healthy for. who's your someone? campbell's healthy request can help. low cholesterol, zero grams trans fat, and a healthy level of sodium. it's amazing what soup can do. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze. but with zyrtec® liquid gels, i get fast, 24-hour allergy relief. so i feel better by the time we tee off. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. welcome back to "news nation." the senate sends president obama a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, but another budget battle is looming. i'll talk with kay hagan and michael bennett coming up. and and is ceo steve jobs emerges from medical leave to unveil the new ipad. some millionaires are now renting out their mansions by the room to avoid foreclosure. and today's news nation gut check. in the wake of a gay student's suicide, rutgers university is now allowing males and fee mays to room together in dorms. will this really help combat homophobic bullying? the search is on for a missing virginia woman. bethany ann decker was last seen january 29th after weeks of not being able to contact her it, her family reported her missing last saturday. right now her husband is serving in afghanistan and authorities are trying to figure out a timeline between when she was last seen and when he deployed. reporter craig melvin from our nbc station wrc in washington, d.c. has the story. >> reporter: kim nelson has not heard from her daughter since january 29th. neither has anyone else. >> i'm praying and have faith that she's safe, that wherever she is, that she knows that we love her. >> decker is a 21-year-old senior at george mason university and a mother. this is her 17-month-old son and this is her husband, emil, a soldier currently deployed to afghanistan. her family say they have been married about a year and a half. >> he has been here in the country on leave and was with miss decker back in january. so we need to come up with a timeline as far as their contact with each other before he was sent back to afghanistan. >> lowden county police say they are trying to arrange a face-to-face conversation with emil. bethany was last seen at her apartment complex on orchard grass terrace. tuesday, neighbors described what they frequently heard. >> sometimes like midnight they fighting or something, they're having problems. it was almost every night. >> kim nelson did not talk about her daughter's marriage but insists an there's no way she would leave behind her son and go off the grid. >> she would be texting us, calling us. if she wasn't speaking to me, she was calling siblings. >> there's another reason she is sure bethany did not leave. her daughter is five months pregnant. tuesday as deputies on atvs combed this wooded area for clues, kim know son prayed. >> we have faith that god's going to bring her back safe and sound to us. >> we have an update on this story. joining me is wrc reporter john schriffin. what was said at a news conference? >> tamron, the family, the mother as well as the grandparents of this missing girl were at the press conference today and investigators say after our story aired last night, the husband emil decker of this missing woman was found. he is over based in afghanistan with the army. he found word and called investigators this morning around 10:00. investigators would not speak about what exactly was said during the conversation but are saying the husband is cooperating with this investigation and they are at work with the army trying to bring him back here to virginia so they can talk to him face to face. >> did they reveal any more details regarding their investigation, where they could be looking at this point? >> reporter: the problem is that investigators were tipped off to the fact that she was missing so late after someone actually last saw her. she was last seen january 29th but her family did not report her missing till three weeks later. now investigators say they were laut to get this ball going but now they're trying to talk to any friends, talk to students at george mason university where this missing person was a senior. but the family is saying they don't believe she ran away and there's some red flags. when her husband was deployed to afghanistan on february 2nd, they said she actually was not there for his deployment. typically when he went off for training exercises, she would always be out there with signs or balloons to send him off. this time, february 2nd, she was not there. the other tipoff was that her car was still found parked in her parking lot area around her apartment complex, which lends her family to believe that she did not run away. so they made a frantic plea to the public here in northern virginia to ask for their help if anyone has seen her, they definitely want to make sure they can find her safe and sound. >> we'll keep our audience to update on this missing person's case involving bethany ann decker. she's been missing and five months pregnant. about 90 minutes ago, apple unveiled the next generation of the hot selling ipad but there was probably more excitement when apple's ceo steve jobs walked out to unveil the new ipad 2. jobs has been on medical leave since january and has been the focus of a lot of speculation about his health and ability to continue to lead this company. joining me now c-net senior editor natalie morris. i said today only one thing could upstage the ipad 2 and that would be jobs. what did he have to say. >> here's it the ipad 2. this is his baby. for him to stay away from an ipad launch for his health would have just, i guess, i wanted to say kill him but i guess that's notice bad taste. >> i got you. >> it's a brand so closely tied into steve jobs himself. >> what did we learn about this new ipad 2? >> it's thinner even than the iphone 4, which is amazing. it's lighter which is nice because when you're laying in bed trying to read a book, it tends to want to topple. it's faster. it's got multicore. so dual cores. that's two cores on a chip which is geek speak for super duper fast. >> what were some of the complaints about the first generation of the ipad? >> that it doesn't run flash. it's still not going to run flash. it has two cameras. that's nice. now you can video chat with someone if you want using the front facing camera. i'm not convince ed we need that. how often are you going to be out and say let me take a picture of that. >> i do it with my phone now. i'm surprised how many times i use the other cameras. >> we'll see art projects. >> it's going to be the same price. still starts at $499 and goes up throughout account wi-fi and 3 g versions. >> the competition is stiff with the i tablets. we'll see what happens with the new generation of ipad 2. recent figures show one in four u.s. homes is now in some stage of foreclosure and that every economic class is impacted by the prices. that's prompted the owners of some multimillion dollar emergen ways to hang out room for rent signs. kerry sanders report from the superrich community of palm beach, florida. >> tamron, the lifestyles of the rich and famous isn't what it used to be. the champagne wishes and caviar dreams are a little bit more peanut butt er ater and jelly. the owner of this mansion is turning his castle into a rooming house. at 16,000 square feet, brian tuttle's eight bedroom 11 bath mansion was his dream home. onyx imported from bolivia, hand painted frescos and intimate dining room for 16 of his friends. but when this developer's fortune evaporated in the housing crisis, he says he had no choice but to get inventive. he now rents out six of his eight bedrooms. >> either i admit weakness and recover or i give up. i said i'm not the kind of guy who gives up. i made the tough decisions you have to make to survive in today's economy. >> the rooms brian gave up now belong to six tenants who pay 2600 to $800 a month. utilities, swimming pool, everything included. danielle a secretary pays $600 a month for all of this, an unbelievable deal. her co-workers are jealous. >> they're like you live there? really? >> you saw it on craigslist. >> i said i had four different friends read it. i said what does this sound like to you? they said it sounds like a playboy house. i brought my mom down. we checked it out and i got lucky. >> this month's smart known magazine spotlights what a quiet trend from florida to new york to seattle. millionaires turning rooms in their houses into moneymakers. >> i think this trend is going on a lot more than people realize. it's not out there prominently because wealthy homeowners don't want people to know they've fallen on hard times. >> the men and women whose only desire was to get the work. >> it was is the same thing back during the great depression. every american city and town had boarding houses. >> no, it's not. >> yeah. >> in redmond, washington, this family manor includes a stocked trout pond, a prust basketball court and a museum of collectibles. the family of four has been renting out an extra room in their home for the last four years. >> with our takens that have stayed here, we never even had a lease. so it's always been if you want to move out it, you can move out whenever you want. back in florida, you may have noticed brian tuttle, a divorced father, only rents to women. >> i only rent out to girls because i have a 16-year-old daughter and she comes over here a lot and spends the night. >> it also makes it easier to choose a mean at the inhome theater. here chick flicks rule. >> who's the winner here? >> we are. >> cheers. >> brian tuttle's take about $4200 a month. now, when he advertises on craigslist that there's a room for rent, he specifies there are rules, including no dating between the landlord and the tenants. tamron, some homeowners associations do have rules that prevent renting out a house. but few have rules about renting out rooms in a house. >> right, kerry. that's an interesting story. up next, the senate votes on a budget measure that would avoid a temporary government shutdown. but another spending showdown is just two weeks away. i will talk with senators hagan and bennett, but first, there's a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. voters in delaware have decided mot to name a new elementary school after joe biden. the public was asked to choose the name. they voted to name it han by elementary after one of the city's earliest farming families. the army plans tons toughen its fitness test for the first time in 30 years adding exercises like running and obstacle course in full gear and dragging a body's weight. the army wants to make sure soldiers have the strength, endurance and mobility for battle. those are the things we just thought you should know. when your eyes are smiling... you're smiling. and when they're laughing... you're laughing. be kind to your eyes... with transitions lenses. transitions adapt to changing light so you see your whole day comfortably... and conveniently while protecting your eyes from the sun. ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. with heart-related chest pain or a heart attack known as acs, you may not want to face the fact that you're at greater risk of a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps protect people with acs against heart attack or stroke: people like you. it's one of the most researched prescription medicines. goes beyond what they do alone by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking and forming dangerous clots. plavix. protection against heart attack or stroke in people with acs. [ female announcer ] plavix is not for everyone. certain genetic factors and some medicines such as prilosec reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. people with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines, including aspirin, may increase bleeding risk, which can potentially be life threatening, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. tell your doctor all medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you've had a stroke. if fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. these may be signs of ttp, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, reported sometimes less than two weeks after starting plavix. you need to do the preventative things that you need to do for your heart health. for me, it means an aspirin regimen. before you begin an aspirin regimen. speak to your doctor. i'm martin bashir. coming up at the top of the hour, rachel maddow joins us for a frank discussion on the war on the middle class. plus, whether you love or hate charlie sheen, were his parental rights trampled upon when authorities took his sons away last night. we'll be talking to attorney gloria allred. >> the white house says president obama is ready to sign the new stopgap budget bill that will averts a government shutdown on saturday. the senate approved the bill earlier today by a vote of 91-9. it cuts $4 billion in spending and keeps the government running for two more weeks. president obama wants congressional leaders to start meeting with his administration to come up with a solution to fund the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends september 30th. joining me now is democratic senator kay hagan from north carolina and michael bennett from colorado. they're here to talk about education reforms they are proposing. first, thank you for joining us. we appreciate your time. i want to ask you about what's happening, of course, regarding the stopgap situation. we know that vice president joe biden will talk with lawmakers from both sides to try to come up with compromise. the republicans want to see $60 billion about $60 billion in cuts. senator hagan, do you believe that some leeway will be made here or are we just kicking the can buying two weeks here? >> you know, we've got to come together. the american people didn't elect us to come up here and shutdown the government. i think we will come together and it's very important that democrats and republicans work to solve these issues. >> senator bennett, are the cuts proposed by the republicans too deep, too significant, $60 billion? >> well, i think the problem is less the size of the cuts than where the cuts are being made. they're all being made in discretionary domestic spending which is a small fraction of what we spend as a government. you know, this place is nuts. and the idea that we ought to be patting ourselves on the back because we're able to keep the government open, which we need to do, obviously, everybody in colorado wants to keep the government open, but that's not what we were sent here to accomplish. as kay was saying, my view, i think what the vice president is going to hear from people up here is we need a comprehensive plan that deals with the long-term debt, the long-term deficit that this country is facing. and that at least is what the folks in my state want to see. not to mention the fact that they obviously want to keep the government open. >> obviously. i've got to talk to you about what you are proposing regarding education. i was looking as the some of the points both of you have made as moderate democrats. senator hagan, one of the things you would like to see is an improvement or a change from no child left ind behind. some of the mistakes that were made with that policy. >> you know, we've come together to reauthorize no child left behind. it hadn't been done for about four years now. we've got to focus on changing this. we've got to be sure we're not doing the washington as usual. we've got to focus on the sounds. we've got to have accountability based on student progress. innovation like the race to the top. we've got to be sure we have a process in place to turn around those low performing schools. and retaining and paying our teachers is the absolutely most critical component. these are the principles we put together, and we've got a large group of moderate democratic senators that says this is the way to go. we're going to reach across the aisle, get bipartisanship approval on reauthorizing this bill. >> it's so interesting you bring up retaining and compensating our teachers. we know what's happening in wisconsin and other states where teachers, senator bennett, feel they are under attack. you know, there was a time where i believe it was stephen colbert joked about grabbing your pitchforks and running behind the people of wall street, these bankers and now quite honestly there are teachers who feel that the governors who want to focus on cutting bugs are can looing at them. i want to bring up a new number from the nbc news "wall street journal" poll showing 77% think teachers and other union public employees should have the collective bargaining rights as workers. do you believe teachers are under attack? >> i was a superintendent of schools in denver before i came to the senate and i've spent a lot of hours in classrooms, a lot of hours in schools. and what i know is that there isn't anybody with a harder job in america right now than our teachers, entirely our teachers in urban or rural areas that are under stress. what i believe we need though is a conversation that's actually different than the one that's going on in wisconsin and other places which is a conversation about how we are going to attract and retain teachers to this country's classrooms over the next decade. we're about to lose a million teachers that are going to retire from the classroom. we're already losing 50% of our teachers in the first five years of their career. and i believe this will be controversial, but we need a 21st stunt approach to attracting and retaining teachers in the classroom or we're going to see outcomes that are outrageous for american children. only nine of 100 children living in poverty can expect to graduate from a college in this country. that is an outrage. when i walk into a classroom and see fourth grade students doing the work that my first grader is doing in her public school, it enrages me. >> i don't know how those words you just uttered could be controversial. i would think that all of us as americans would like to see great improvements in our education system. it benefits us all as americans. i appreciate your time. senator kay hagan and senator michael bennett, we hope to talk with you more about these proposals you have. >> thanks for having us. still ahead, rutgers university tests out mixed gender housing after a gay student commits suicide. the school is hoping the move will prevent anti-gay bullying. it is today's news nation gut check. .. they're made from whole roasted nuts and dipped in creamy peanut butter, making your craving for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, by nature valley. for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, i'm sam chernin, owner of sammy's fish box. i opened the first sammy's back in 1966. my employees are like family, and i want people that work for me to feel that they're sharing in my success. we purchase as much as we can on the american express open gold card so we can accumulate as many points as possible. i pass on these points to my employees to go on trips with their families. when my employees are happy, my customers are happy. how can the gold card help serve your business? 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[ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's. just got more powerful. introducing precise pain relieving heat patch. it blocks pain signals for deep relief precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. nation gut check. rutgers university in new jersey will soon allow men and women to room together in an effort to help stop anti-gay harassment. the new program comes after the suicide of freshman tyler clement whose roommate and another student are accused of broadcasting an encounter between him and another man on the internet. the university says it's a way for gay and lesbian students to find a more accepting is roommate. it won't ask students if they're gay or lesbian. the program goes into effect this fall but doesn't apply to freshmen. more than 50 schools offer this type of housing for students. there has been criticism online with some saying college students aren't mature enough to handle the drama that opposite gender roommates can bring. it brings us to this question. what does your gut tell you? are coed rooms the right way to fight anti-gay bullying on college campuses. that does it for this edition of "news nation." martin bashir is just moments away. omnaris. omnaris. to the nose! did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nosebleed and sore throat. 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