european banks right now, too, and whether they're doing all right. >> in fact, the european markets had a rough day today as well. they were way, way down. how much of that is influencing what we're seeing? now the dow jones is down almost 400 points. >> right. actually, things are coming back just a little bit because europe closed. but that's a lot of it, because people were saying that banks in europe might stop lending to each other, which was a lot of what happened in 2008 and 2009 that made things so bad. so there's a little bit of worry that we're going to go back to that crisis. >> in fact, when you're seeing france and germany with stagnant economies, there is some concern they're not -- they may not be in position to bail out countries like greece which has ongoing debt concerns. kristen, let me turn to you. here you are watching not only the american economy on thin ice, but the global economy as well. it's problematic for the president when the stock market's tanking and all eyes are turning to him for reassurance and he's headed for some i'm sure what is much-needed r & r. >> right. a lot of critics say that it's just bad optics. in addition to everything that you mentioned, the unemployment rate has been stuck above 9% and as we mentioned earlier, the handling of the economy, the president's approval rating for the handling of the economy is at a new low, 26%. so he certainly has gotten a lot of criticism, republicans calling on him to cancel his vacation, saying that he should get back to the work of steering the economy back on track. white house officials have been pushing back against this type of criticism, essentially saying the office of the presidency travels with mr. obama wherever he goes. they have also said he's going to be unveiling a major jobs plan after labor day so they say this is in part, a working vacation as well. but certainly, a lot of people on the right and left, contessa, saying this vacation is not coming at a great time. >> one other ingredient now to add into this pressure cooker is syria and this new demand by president barack obama and his administration that the syrian president, bashar assad, step aside. what is the president expecting? >> that's right. this is the strongest stance that the white house has taken to date. we have been following this story for quite some time. the folks in syria rising up against assad's regime. according to human rights watch, as many as 2,000 people have been killed there in syria, so today the white house came out and said it is time for assad to go. they also announced new sanctions. here's what secretary of state hillary clinton had to say earlier today. take a listen. >> the transition to democracy in syria has begun and it's time for assad to get out of the way. we understand the strong desire of the syrian people that no foreign country should intervene in their struggle and we respect their wishes. >> so the white house hoping that this will put more pressure on assad to step down. they say that what's happening in syria amounts to human rights violations. they also point to the fact that syria is becoming increasingly more isolated. only iran now supporting assad. so they're hoping that with this new call, he will step down, but the president will be watching the situation in syria as well as the markets very closely when he arrives here. >> that's just one more thing now on his plate, but joanna, when we're looking at the stock market, we are seeing the dow jones industrials down 423 points. looks like the sell-off at this point is massive. what i said to you before we even began this hour is that the nasdaq is, you know, when we see a triple digit drop on the nasdaq, we're looking at it down now about 5%, it's got to be troubling when people are looking for reassurance, for calm. >> right. the markets have definitely been more volatile over the past week than in decades. so one thing is people should probably not panic if they're looking at their 401(k)s. that's a time horizon of about five years so you shouldn't just sell off because of this, but definitely, if you're looking at this and worried about the drop in stocks, you should think about talking to a financial adviser or reassessing how much, how risky your portfolio is. >> the advice you always hear is if you're losing sleep about it, then there's a problem and it's time to get some professional help and re-evaluate. thank you so much. kristen welker, my thanks to you as well. so we are looking at another setback in the job market. first time unemployment claims climbed by 9,000 people last week to 408,000. let's show you the scene in atlanta. thousands lined up this morning looking for work at the congressional black caucus job fair, one of several being held around the country. >> i look for a job every day. every day for the past four months, no luck. >> i'm trying to support me and my son. it's very hard finding a job. you're going in and out, you can't find anything. >> i hope i can find someone in here, a company here that could use my skills. >> joining me from detroit is congressman hanson clark, democrat from michigan. the cbc held a jobs fair there as well on tuesday. congressman, the unemployment rate for african-americans was high when president obama took office. it was at 12.7%. july of this year, the unemployment rate for african-americans, 15.9%. it's truly grown. what can he realistically do about it if congress isn't willing to support him? >> well, first of all, the unemployment rate in our community, i'm born and raised here in the city of detroit, in the inner city, it's always been high, even when the economy was booming. african-americans, especially black males, they were still unemployed. so the congressional black caucus of which i'm a member and the president, we both agree in order for us to have a strong economy, individual americans have to be financially secure. now, that means more than just getting a job. let me just share this with you, though. having a job really isn't the ultimate goal that i'm trying to push. that's a temporary measure. black folks in this country need to build wealth again. many years ago here in the city of detroit, african-americans owned businesses in the community. now no one in the neighborhood owns really anything. the little money african-americans had were tied up in their homes. they lost all of that in the foreclosure crisis. now people are in debt. so we need to aggressively cut consumer debt. >> we know that african-americans were hit especially hard in the housing crisis. what you're seeing on the left-hand side of your screen there is the atlanta jobs fair sponsored by the congressional black caucus. i just wanted to mention that the 22nd through the 23rd, it's going to miami, then the 30th through the 31st, it will be in los angeles. congresswoman maxine waters, your colleague on the congressional black caucus, has been especially outspoken. she was on "morning joe" and says the cbc feels left out of any jobs agenda. let me play it. >> the economy, the loss of jobs, the pain is real. we're talking about indisputable facts. so we've got to be in the discussion. we want to be part of the solution. we cannot continue to go on watching everybody talk about what the solutions are without us being included in it. >> congressman, the president is blaming congress for the impasse and says my hands are tied, if you want to blame somebody, blame the recalcitrant congress that can't get anything done. >> you know, i'm not here to lay blame. i'm trying to put people back to work and give people some security and hope. barack obama is the president of the united states. he's not the president over a certain community. he's not the representative of metro detroit. that's my job. so we as members of the congressional black caucus, we must be strong advocates and let the white house know what our people need and fight for that in congress. but also, let me just share this with you. we as african-americans, we've got to change our own attitudes. we got to get rid of this victims' mentality. we've got to be aggressive, see the value of getting an education, staying in school, and realizing that we have something to offer for ourselves in this country. >> to that end, is there also a responsibility to see your own role in the political process and not to let the economy discourage people from getting involved in the political process? >> you know, it's easy for me to say that, but even with the skills that i have personally, and i'm effective as a member of congress in washington, i gave up hope years ago. i was unemployed, i was on food stamps, and i had given up all faith that i would ever work again. so i can understand how people can have that mindset. but it really is a victims' mentality we must overcome so that we value staying in school and understand that we really can get the education and training we need to be productive. i will say one thing, though, is that we as members of congress have got to fight these cuts that are being proposed, because in the past, when blacks were heavily discriminated in employment, it was through government jobs, working in the post office, being a teacher and a firefighter were one of the few decent jobs that african-americans could have equal access to. >> reverend jesse jackson -- >> we cannot allow those cuts to go through. >> he calls it the entry into the middle class, civil service jobs, and very important for moving people off poverty rolls. congressman, so good to talk to you. i really appreciate your message today. thank you. >> you're very welcome. we can do this. let's keep the faith. >> okay. so the president won the '08 election in part because of the enthusiastic turnout of african-american voters. he was saying we can do this. we can change this. the question today, could unemployment put a damper on that enthusiasm of voters in the next election? i would like to hear from you. get me on facebook or twitter. new information surfacing in the case of a missing american woman in aruba. the associated press reports the suspect in robyn gardner's disappearance tried to redeem an accidental death travel insurance policy on the missing woman. janet shanlian is live in aruba with the latest. what do you know? >> reporter: well, it's really interesting. that information you just reported from the a.p. has not been independently confirmed by nbc news but sends up all kinds of red flags to investigators. two days reportedly after his traveling companion, robyn gardner, went missing, gary giordano, instead of focusing on the search for her, was instead starting the process of redeeming the proceeds from an accidental death penalty that he took out on her, that he took out on both of them, through the form of travel insurance, ahead of their trip. that comes as word that authorities are also now looking at his digital camera which is said to contain very disturbing pornographic photos of robyn gardner. that camera, his cell phone and laptop has been sent to the curacao for analysis. yesterday, here in the prison will he will be held for another two weeks, he was questioned by authorities with his attorneys present for several hours. his attorneys said he is no longer allowed to speak publicly on behalf of his client. all along, he has insisted his client is not guilty but all of these things are adding up and they are looking at this very closely. next week, they will also be launching a more extensive investigation solely to try to find the body in aruba. without that, they have very little evidence in this case to go on. in two weeks, the prosecutors will back before a judge asking for an extension of time which is 60 days as they prepare a case against him. the bar will be set much higher at that point and unless they have something more than right now, right now it all seems circumstantial, there's a possibility he could go free. that search coming up in the next few days will be of a critical nature. >> janet, thank you very much. appreciate that. at least three people have died this summer from a rare infection, a brain-eating amoeba. details ahead. why the fbi is warning late night talk show host david letterman about a threat to his life. first, i hate to share it with you, hate being the bearer of bad news, but things do not look good on the dow, down 364 points. it's the s & p off by 44, almost 45. look at the nasdaq, off 102 points on the day. we saw similar sell-offs around the world as global markets plunged. we'll be right back. don't get enough vegetables. so here's five bucks to help you buy v8 juice. five bucks. that's a lot of green. go to v8juice.com for coupons. you can count on us. is it the new forty, i don't know. i probably feel about thirty. how is it that we don't act our age? 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[ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. two children and a young man have died this summer from a rare brain-eating amoeba that lives in the water. a florida girl fell ill after swimming and a virginia boy died after he went to fishing camp. the young man died after using a neti pot. the amoeba was apparently in his tap water. it moves into the body through the nose and destroys brain tissue, causing a fatal disease of the nervous system. experts say the amoeba is usually found in warm ponds or lakes and there's no known treatment for it or the infection it causes. in florida, the university of miami football program is in big trouble. one of its boosters, nevin shapiro, admitted he showered players with money, gifts and sex parties over an eight-year period. shapiro's not going down alone. he says he gave the ncaa highly detailed information that implicates players as well as staff. the ncaa could shut down this program for a season or more. shapiro is currently in jail because of his alleged involvement in a ponzi scheme. david letterman's joke about osama bin laden's replacement went over like a lead balloon with the jihadist group with ties to al qaeda. now those terrorists are demanding the death of the late night funny man. the nypd and fbi are taking that threat seriously and they may issue police protection for letterman when he returns to new york city. joining me now is nbc news terrorism analyst, evan coleman. tell me about the person who is making the death threat. >> it's not al qaeda. it's not a member of a terrorist group. the person who is making this threat is a registered member on an al qaeda forum. it's done with no credibility, someone who posted this several days ago, it got no response, got two people responding to it. on a given day, important messages on this forum gets dozens and dozens and dozens of responses. nobody paid attention to this. it's not on the top tier of messages, it's all the way down. the answer is there is one lone crackpot with no credibility who threatened the life of david letterman but there is no resonance whatsoever among jihadists, or al qaeda. certainly this person has no ties to any terrorist group. >> is it standard operating procedure, then, when something like this happens, for new york police or the fbi then to investigate and consider whether david letterman, for instance, needs protection? >> look, it's important to put this in context. when there's a threat to a specific individual and it goes on an official al qaeda website, regardless of who posts it, the fbi and nypd have no choice but out of an abundance of caution to take that seriously and warn the person behind this. i think again, if you talk to anybody at nypd or the fbi cyberunit, they have much more important things to follow on this and other forums than this threat or this particular person. this is not something that i think we can take very seriously. i think it got spun up because of david letterman, but there are threats like this on a daily basis on this forum. >> evan, thank you. we are learning more about a florida teen's plot for a catastrophic attack at his high school and what his parents knew about his activities. plus, kind of like marsha brady all over again. mike and brad wanted to personalize the surfing experience so they started grain surfboards out of a farm in maine. customers can buy a kit and design their own board or take a course at the farm, where mike and brad share their expertise and passion. woman: day care can be expensive. so to save some money, i found one that uses robots instead of real people. 'cuz robots work for free. robot 1:good morning... robot 1:...female child. sfx: modem dial-up noise woman: flaws? yeah, um, maybe. anncr: there's an easier way to save. anncr: get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. thousands of student demonstrators clashed with riot police in santiago, chile and the violence was caught on camera. protesters threw molotov co cocktails and the police fought back with water cannons. caught on camera. a california driver gets into a fight with a gas station attendant, then drives off with the poor guy clinging to his hood. the attendant was carried for about half a mile before falling off and suffering serious injuries. a co-worker said he's in a coma. the lapd is looking for that driver. that's got to hurt. toronto blue jays player casper wells got a pitch in the face in yesterday's matchup against the mariners. 97 mile an hour fastball scored a direct hit. enough to take him out of the game. poor guy. seattle pitcher brandon morrow apologized to wells on twitter but maybe this is the time for a personal call, maybe a personal visit to say sorry. ouch. keeping our eyes on wall street right now, another wild ride. the dow jones industrials down more than 383 points. in fact, earlier today it was down more than 500 points. we'll keep our eye on it. a new oil sheen spotted in the gulf of mexico. bp weighs in. hot on the web today, those googlers are searching for a capybara. los angeles officials are trying to find a copybara spotted near a waste water treatment plan. they are the world's largest rodent and can get as big as a large dog. officials think this was probably an exotic pet that escaped. by the way, it is illegal in california to keep one of these as a pet. you know, you wouldn't think they would need a law for that. right? hello! remember i told you last week about the would-be olympic skier who mistook the airplane cabin for the bathroom and ended up peeing on a little girl? now it's actor gerard depardeau. he was reportedly drunk, sharing with everyone around him his urgent need to relieve himself. when the flight attendant told him to stay seated during takeoff, he stood up and went on the floor, right there. the plane had to return to the gate. the poor grounds crew reportedly spent two hours mopping up the mess. what is it with people doing this on planes? come on. they have bathrooms on board. you might have to just wait ten minutes until the seat belt sign goes off. newspapers are loving the latest couponing craze, boosting sales in some places. it's not all good news. paper thieves are targeting magazine racks, driveways, even trash cans across the country. why, you ask? blame it on extreme couponing. the craze, authorities say, has been fueled in part by the tlc show of the same name. people buy hundreds of dollars of goods for just a few bucks. here's my question. isn't it easier to get the groupon e-mail in your in-box rather than going up and down the street stealing your neighbor's papers? every time a local business opens its doors or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. that's how we're helping set opportunity in motion. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the jetta, awarded a top safety pick by the iihs. that's the power of german engineering. hurry in and lease the jetta s for just $179 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today. welcome back to msnbc. i'm contessa brewer. a new oil sheen was just spotted in the gulf of mexico. bp says it's far from the site of last user's oil spill and had nothing to do with their operations. major websites developed a new legal technique to track users' online activities. it's called a super cookie. it's capable of creating user profiles even after people delete the regular cookies. pope benedict is in spain for a four-day trip and to celebrate world youth day. he was greeted this morning by spain's king and queen. according to forbes, peyton manning is the nfl's highest paid player, earning $23 million this year. indianapolis colts quarterback recently agreed to a five-year, $90 million contract. a stunning down day for the markets so far. stocks started to tumble right at the open. the dow fell 250 points in the first two minutes of trading alone. the worries continue over europe's debt crisis and of course, here at home, we're watching jobless numbers. they rose more than expected last week. so as you can see now, the dow jones industrials off by 388 points. and look at the nasdaq, off by 104. melissa, what a wild roller coaster ride. >> yeah, it really has been another tough day. it all started in europe with worries about the european banks and their solvency. we saw those stocks sell off. then we saw the major indices in europe really sell off and that set us up for a sell-off at the open. down 250 points. we were down 528 on the dow at one point. we got really weak economic data. you mentioned the jobless claims but there was also the manufacturing index which was supposed to -- we're expecting a small positive number. instead it came in minus 30. just a pile of bad economic data that makes it seem like we may have a double dip recession at the same time that we're watching all these woes in europe. this market really sold off. european markets close at 11:30 eastern time. that's become the time to watch. we saw the selling in the u.s. accelerate into that close and sort of back off. that's why we're seeing a little bit of respite now, more than 300 points down. if that can be considered a respite. >> i want to ask you about another big story that made the "new york times" today. when the s & p downgraded the united states' credit rating, a lot of people said how does this credit ratings agency have any credibility because look at what happened during the recession and sort of the blowup of the housing market. >> right. >> the "new york times" has announced the investigation by the justice department into s & p's business practices leading up to the financial crisis. tell me, i understand cnbc is just getting a response now from s & p. >> that's right. the crux of this is that everybody has been asking how did s & p get it so wrong on all those mortgage-backed securities when all those mortgages that were bundled together and didn't exactly work out, and the department of justice is looking into claims that analysts looked at these things and said maybe they don't deserve the best rating and they were told by their managers, you know, no, we're going to go ahead and give them the other ratings. why would they want to do something like that. well, they get paid for rating these different securities. s & p says they have always maintained their independence between their ratings and their analysis, and their business, and you know, that's their whole credibility. they would need to do that. but that is what is being called into question here. >> all right. so we will keep our eye on that. again, the s & p, defending itself to cnbc but the justice department is investigating. we have to wait for the outcome of that investigation. thanks. president obama today directly demanded syrian president bashar al assad resign. the administration froze all syrian assets. after five months of brutal clashes with protesters and the government-backed military, secretary of state hillary clinton echoed the need for syria's president to step down. >> the transition to democracy in syria has begun and it's time for assad to get out of the way. we understand the strong desire of the syrian people that no foreign country should intervene in their struggle, and we respect their wishes. >> it seems like a global push, michelle. >> yeah, it is. the u.s. today joined britain, france and germany in asking, saying, demanding, that he step down. we have been watching the situation deteriorate over months there. today we heard not only tough talk, but also tough action. in a statement, president obama said the future of syria has to lie with its people, but that the president is standing in their way. bashar al assad's calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing and slaughtering his own people. as for the tough action the u.s. is now freezing the assets of the syrian government, banning doing business with them, and also banning the import of any petroleum product from syria into the u.s. we don't import much oil or oil products from syria but it's considered an example and also today the u.s. called on other countries to do the same, to ban the import of petroleum products and also called out other countries that continue to do business with the regime. >> michelle, thanks. breaking news coming in to msnbc from the middle east. new reports from israeli officials confirm there has been an air strike on southern gaza, killing five and injuring many. the violence in southern israel today has claimed at least six lives and injured dozens more. assailants armed with heavy weapons and explosives launched three attacks in quick succession near the egyptian border. those attacks targeted a bus, a military patrol car and a private car. the violence has stoked concerns about growing lawlessness in the sinai peninsula following the ouster of hosni mubarak. the father of the florida teenager accused of planning to bomb his former high school hasn't seen his son for six years. jared cano's estranged dad says he tried to visit his son at the juvenile facility but was turned away. he says his son needs help. >> if i were president today, i wouldn't be looking to go spend ten days on -- >> okay. that wasn't the dad. do we have him? okay. we don't have him. let's go to mark potter with the latest on the bomb plot. >> reporter: police say in this quiet apartment complex in north tampa, they found enough bomb-making material, including shrapnel, to kill a lot of people. >> we were probably able to thwart a potentially catastrophic event, the likes of which the city of tampa has not seen and hopefully never will. >> reporter: arrested on felony bomb charges is 17-year-old jared cano, who was expelled from tampa's freedom high school last year for inappropriate behavior. on his facebook page, he lists one of his favorite quotes as lessons not learned in blood are soon forgotten. police say in his journal they found schematic drawings of the school and learned that he planned to set up bombs throughout freedom high next tuesday, when classes began. >> there were two individual faculty members that were specific targets, then he also mentioned his desire to cause more casualties than were suffered at columbine. >> reporter: during the columbine high school massacre 11 years ago, 13 people were murdered before the two student shooters killed themselves. officials say the difference this time is they were alerted in advance. >> it's unfortunate we have a situation like this but it's more fortunate that we stopped it. >> reporter: kelly will be a freedom high school sophomore this year but says she and others are scared now to start school. >> we might not even show up to school, just to be safe. >> reporter: police say so far, they believe cano acted alone in his threat against the school. >> nbc's mark potter reporting. newt gingrich will spend time campaigning in new hampshire in the next few weeks but also a couple other states. plus, president obama heading to vacation in just a couple hours. critics say that doesn't look good. the market's tanking down almost 400 points. you should be at work. caesar's entertainment group is taking a big gamble with the las vegas skyline. they announced plans for a $550 million retail, dining and entertainment project on the strip. another one. the highlight here would be a 500 foot ferris wheel more than 100 foot taller than london's, which is currently the tallest. the cabins will hold 40 people, enough room for birthday parties, bachelor and bachelorette parties or weddings. they say what happens on the ferris wheel stays on the ferris 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>> well, i mean, i'm joking here, but maybe the jersey shore. he could hang out with the situation and snooki. no, i'm not sure that that would work, either. but i think there's a lot of other places to go. other presidents have gone to national parks. presidents have gone to other places that are less opulent. i don't think there's a shortage of places to go, but president obama likes martha's vineyard. it's just a matter of this particular year, might not look so good. >> okay. so in terms of optics, let's put this in a little perspective here. he's been in office now for 31 months. after the same amount of time, okay, here's president obama, he's taken 61 days of vacation at this point. at this point in time, presidents bush and clinton had taken 180 days and 28 days respectively, and by the same point in their presidency, congress is on vacation. we're looking at congress on vacation here for weeks on end and they have caused so many problems in the process this year. is it really the optics of the president or should we be worried about the optics for congress, jackie? >> you know, congress has other things to worry about as far as their 13% approval rating. on obama's worse day, he is more popular than congress. there have been some people that have pushed him to bring congress back but there's going to be enough of a fight coming up in september. i think people will be ready for congress to go away again soon enough after obama releases his plan, his jobs plan which is supposed to come right after labor day. we will be seeing a lot of the same fights that we just saw. >> in a real way without congress there, how much can the president really do, and by the way, presidents when they go on vacation are never really on vacation, they still get a daily briefing, they still get updates from their staff members, they don't really get to turn off the cell phone and truly rest and relax. when he gets back, when we're talking about perhaps a proposed second stimulus, how does he balance that with also the nation's urge to cut budgets and save the national debt? >> he keeps on saying it will have a balanced approach so you assume it will have cuts as well as revenue raisers. the word stimulus, you know, i can tell you right now, republicans are not going to like that. i think it will be really tough to get any house republicans particularly on board with this. you've already seen them pushing back. again, i think it will be a very messy fall for the white house and for the congress. >> jackie, my pleasure to see you. i appreciate it there. ken walsh, always good to see you as well. >> thank you. political sidebar now. and one and two, we begin with a texas twosome. texas congressman ron paul is taking swipes at his state's governor, who also happens to be a rival in the presidential contest. >> we have a governor, i can't remember his name, who is coming into the campaign. tell you what, he makes me look like a moderate. i have never once said bernanke has committed treason. >> paul didn't stop there. his campaign says he's really the only one who can lead america right now. he's telling more of his story in a new campaign video. >> a story of smooth-talking politicians, games of he said/she said, rhetoric and division. one man has stood apart, stood strong and true. ron paul, the one who will stop the spending, save the dollar -- >> sounds like a keanu reeves movie, he's the one. tim pawlenty and michele bachmann were known as the minnesota twins until pawlenty quit, dropped out of the race. pawlenty is still trying to figure out his next move. for now he's ruling out running for senate in 2012 as well. republican leaders had hoped he would challenge democrat amy klobuchar. michele bachmann has her sights set on the number two promising in south carolina yesterday that gas prices will fall below $2 a gallon if she's elected president. she didn't exactly detail how she would make that happen. newt gingrich used to be the number one guy in the house and now he's calista's number one. the campaigning couple's latest schedule takes them to new hampshire, california and the not so battleground state of hawaii? 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[ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. we've been talking online today about whether high unemployment will hurt president obama's support from black voters in 2012, dampening the enthusiasm. rob white writes i volunteered, supported and voted for the president but i'm done. can't help but ask why did he run in the first place? don't see how it can get much worse if he's gone. mitchell writes i'm not enthusiastic about working for president obama, not because of the unemployment but primarily because mr. obama has been unenthusiastic about traditional democratic values. he's emerging as more of a republican collaborator. deb tweets so rick perry will be better for jobs in detroit? that's a good one. and criticism of obama does not mean we don't wish him success. it means we want him to fight. i would like to hear what you have to say about this or any of the stories i cover. get to me, folks. follow me on twitter or facebook. or you can always e-mail me. heading back to the congressional black caucus jobs fair in atlanta. right now, long lines of job seekers waiting in the sun, looking for somebody to take a clear look at their resumes. jeff johnson is live there in atlanta and jeff, what's the mood among job seekers today? >> the mood is actually excited. there are thousands of people standing in line in the hot sun, the same kind of numbers we saw in cleveland and atlanta are the kind we're seeing here. there are people that are just looking to be able to have an opportunity. i actually have one of those job seekers that's here with me right now, brandon is a morehouse college graduate from 2010, has been looking for work for quite some time. brandon, tell me, you're a morehouse graduate, you're supposed to be the kind of person that doesn't have a hard time looking for a job. what's it been like for you? >> man, it's been extremely hectic. i can't even begin to describe how tough it is out here. i've been looking for employment for about all year now. i had a four-month internship, have been applying every day, applications, i have sent hundreds of applications, spoken to many different networking opportunities, nothing. >> now, why is somebody like you, has it been something just here in atlanta or have you been applying all over the place? >> this has been all over the place, all over the country. all over actually the world, to be honest. >> who have you been able to talk to here at this job fair and has it been different for you than other opportunities? >> i actually haven't had time to go into the job fair. it took me hours to get here. it took me three hours to get through the traffic to get to this front door. >> we're glad you're here. we know this can be a good opportunity. contessa, brandon is just one of thousands of people that are here looking for opportunities and some of whom i've talked to have actually found jobs today. >> that's the good news, because it's one thing to go in and meet people and network, but you know, a lot of these folks have been networking for more than a year and nothing. and i've heard over and over, jeff, i'm sure you have, too, from people who say it's not just that i can't get a job, a good job, i can't even get a job that i'm overqualified for. so let's keep our fingers crossed that turning out a bunch of employers who are ready to hire has some luck out there. thanks, jeff. >> absolutely. thank you. i'm contessa brewer. that wraps up this hour for me. see you back here tomorrow noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. out west. we'll keep our eyes on wall street and see if we see a rebound of the markets here. up next, "andrea mitchell reports." savannah guthrie filling in. i know you're keeping your eyes on the markets too. >> we are. coming up, the wild ride returns to wall street. what is spooking investors this time? we will ask ron insana. plus the economy, jobs, what it means for 2012. former democratic party chair howard dean and "washington post" columnist michael gercin will join us. that, plus "time" magazine's joe kline introduces us to war veterans making a difference on the home front. "andrea mitchell reports" coming up next. announcer ] anan anthis...is the netwo. a living, breathing intelligence that's helping drive the future of business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ machines have a voice. ♪ medical history follows you. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities... committed to delivering the most advanced mobile broadband experience to help move business... forward. ♪ energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy developement comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing decades of cleaner burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self contained well systems and using state of the art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment we are america's natural gas. and clean for our communities and the environment we share. shop from anywhere. and are always connected. we live in a social world. isn't it time we had a social currency to match? membership rewards points from american express. use them to get the things you love from amazon.com, ticketmaster.com, and more unexpected places. they're a social currency with endless possibilities. right now on "andrea mitchell reports" market mayhem. just when things were headed in the right direction, renewed worries over the fragile u.s. economy and europe's problems send stocks tumbling again on wall street. another down arrow. the president's approval rating on the economy. with mr. obama headed for vacation and planning a big push on the jobs front, question is, is it too late to stem the political damage? plus, flash point middle east. the white house stops mincing words about syria's leader. >> it's time for assad to get out of the way. the leaders of france, britain and germany also demanding president assad's exit. will this be a turning point after a five-month government crackdown? and on the 2012 campaign trail, rick perry, welcome to new hampshire. >> stop attacking middle class families, rick perry! stop attacking middle class families! stop attacking middle class families, rick perry! good day. i'm savannah guthrie in for andrea mitchell. we will begin with heavy losses on wall street. after new data on jobs, manufacturing and housing failed to move the needle on the economic recovery, the dow has been down around