way. >> reporter: absolutely, kiran. a lot of anxiety all across the country reflected in this new nbc/"wall street journal" poll that has really bad numbers for the president. they say they don't govern by polls but they can hardly be ignored. finding the president's approval rating at 4 had 7%, disapproval at 48%. more worrisome for this white house perhaps is that 6 in 10 americans, including 83% of those all important independent voters that went with barack obama in 2008, 6 in 10 now saying that they are only somewhat or not confident that the president has the policies to improve the economic situation. that's why once again the president was here at the white house trying to deal with this issue. >> so while we have fought back from the worst of this recession, we've still got a lot of work to do. we've still got a long way to go. and i'm more determined than ever to do every single thing we can to hasten our economic recovery and get our people back to work. that's why i'm pleased today to sign into law a bill that will strengthen american manufacturing and american jobs. >> reporter: but obviously, they're fully aware here at the white house even signing that manufacturing bill into law, it's not going to have necessarily a major impact in the short term that's going to please a lot of americans. in this nbc/"wall street journal" poll for example two-thirds of the americans say the economy still has not hit bottom. worrisome for this white house. >> 60% of respondents also said the country is going in the wrong direction. as you look at this as a time when people firm up their opinions who they're going to vote for in the november elections, how does that bode for the white house and democratic party? >> reporter: it's very difficult. they're trying to get rays of hope here. when you look at the results of the tuesday primaries, white house advisers keep pointing to results in colorado, for example. the democratic senate primary there. you had an incumbent in michael bennet that a lot of pundits were saying he's going to lose. he had allen romanoff in that primary. former president clinton got behind him. president obama got behind michael bennet. bennet pulled it out. white house advisers believe that's because he had the president behind him saying the situation is bad but do you want to go back to the republicans that they believe led to all this or move forward that will take time and dig out of this. in the end he won but that's just one of many difficult senate and house battles ahead. we're now just a few weeks away from the midterms. you can feel that intensity getting hotter by the day. >> ed henry in washington. what do you think? is the government doing enough to fix the economy? just go to cnn.com/amfix. if there's any ray of hope for the white house is people seem just as dissatisfied as the gop as well. >> nobody is getting good numbers. programs another sign of lean economic times. thousands of people waiting days to get on a waiting list for federally subsidized housing in suburban atlanta. there you see pictures of the crowd. calm turned into chaos when far more people than expected showed up. some 30,000, three times more than officials in east point, georgia, had planned for. >> they should have let us know something, a time, when to be here. some people have been here since sunday morning, monday morning. this is ridiculous. >> this was unorganized, completely unorganizationed. >> i don't have housing for my kids. >> well, despite the probproble the east point housing authority says 13,000 families received applications. after steven slater had his meltdown, his possibly soon-to-be former employer is showing it has a sense of huor. jetblue issued a statement that said in part while this episode may feed your inner office space we just want to take this space to recognize our 2300 fantastic, awesome and professional inflight crew members for delivering the jetblue experience that you have come to expect of us. the man of the hour is also speaking out, albeit reluctantly. >> what do you have to say to all the people saying you are a hero? >> oh, it's so encouraging and so special and some really great people out there and i'm getting a glimpse of that. it's a surprise because i obviously have been away for a little while. to come back to that -- >> what about your mom? your mom was so sweet. >> she's a wonderful woman. >> she said you may have had just a little breakdown. >> i can't go there right now. >> a lot of people -- >> he answered your questions. >> that's about as far as i can go. >> but another passenger on the flight is telling "the wall street journal" it was slater who started the confrontation, not the passenger, whose luggage hit slater in the head. >> always nice to hear from him, though. seems so amiably. >> this is going to go on for a while. new, a memorial for former alaska senator ted stevens set for monday in anchorage. investigators trying to determine why his plane crashed into a mountain on monday. an autopsy on stevens should be completed today. four people who survived the crash have not been interviewed yet, so it's still not known whether stevens and four others were killed on impact or perished waiting for help. a manhunt under way in arkansas this morning for a modern-day bonnie and clyde. law enforcement officials are searching for a couple suspected of robberies after a prison break in arizona. u.s. marshals say that john mcclusky and his alleged accomplice, casslyn welch are cousins as well as lovers and have likely changed their appearance and are extremely unpredictable. good news from louisiana. officials there have made an arrest in the so-called grand dad bandit case. the fbi says their suspect 52-year-old michael francis mara was arrested in baton rouge after a six-hour standoff and a tip led to the suspect serial bank robber's arrest. he's wanted in at least 25 bank heists in 13 states. a roofer in new brunswick, canada had a close call saved by his safety harness. cbc saying he slipped on rotted wood, fell and was left dangling about four stories above a paved driveway. thank goodness for the safety harness. he was hanging there until firefighters arrived and got him down safely. 73-year-old golf legend jack nicklaus played a charity match yesterday with palmer and check out jack on the 10th green showing heals still got it. one more glorious, glorious moment from the golden bear. watch this. >> yes, sir. from 100 feet. shades of 1986 at augusta all over again. afterward, jack was asked how he managed to sink that long uphill neighbori snaking putt. hills answer, pure freaking luck. >> he was also humble. let's get a check of this morning's weather headlines. all in a day's work for you. you can sink that thing. >> 100 feet, hit the back of the cup and drop it down. a couple of things. remember talking tropical depression number 5 fizzled. not completely. 12 foot waves by the well site so slowing things down there. the other issue of course the heat and the amount of water that iowa has seen over the past couple of months has really done some damage. we're looking at record-breaking flooding in some parts of that state. ames, iowa, has shut down the drinking water for maybe as much as seven days for 50,000 "people." people having to move to higher ground there. that's about 30 miles north of des moines. down river from there in colfax, folks moving to high ground as well. not a lot of rain expected today but searing heat as these people wade through the waters to clean up in their homes. a little relief from the heat in coming days, but a number of heat advisories and heat warnings out again for the same spots. d.c. almost touched 100 yesterday, guys, so it continues to be a warm summer. more weather in about 30 minutes. >> thanks, see you then. embattled new york congressman charlie rangel facing a bunch of ethics violations but feeling the love at the same time at a combination fund-raiser and 80th birthday party last night. we'll tell you who showed up to celebrate just ahead. 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[ female announcer ] ask your rheumatologist about simponi™. just one dose, once a month. basic.? preferred. okay. at meineke i have options, and 50% off brake pads and shoes. my money. my choice. my meineke. 15 minutes after the hour. we're back with the most news in the morning. he's under an ethics cloud that could get him expelled from the house, but last night new york congressman charlie rangel was all about the good times at a combination fund-raiser and 80th birthday celebration. >> you wouldn't know about any of his problems last night. many prominent democrats were there to show their support and that included a rather surprising gesture from a former new york city mayor. cnn's mary snow is following the story for us. quite a happy birthday yesterday. >> it was. good morning. the big question was would politicians shy away from congressman rangel with this scandal unfolding. the answer was no. let's set the scene for you though. outside the plaza last night, this was a birthday party doubling as a fund-raiser. there were a few protesters gathering outside, some calling on him to resign. when his friend dinkins was outside, a protester shouted rangel was a crook. at that time he turned around and raised his middle finger to the protester and said he wouldn't be anywhere else, that rangel was his brother. inside the plaza hotel, as you can see, congressman rangel looking very ebullient there. he faced a packed house. this is with new york's top political leaders all in attendance. of course a lot of speculation whether democrats facing re-election would show up including both new york senators, who did attend. rangel thanked the crowd and made it clear he's not going anywhere. >> this damn sure ain't no funeral, is it? i ain't thinking about giving it up. >> there was almost no mention of the ethics violations rangel is facing. some guests, though, have pointed words for everyone watching. >> now, i know a few people couldn't be here tonight because, as they tell it, either they had to get a haircut unexpectedly or they were sure they'd have a headache. but charlie, as you know, they were with you as long as they could be. >> charlie rangel will rise from the ashes and show that we will never fall on such allegations. we will rise as the phoenix and keep on fighting. happy birthday, charlie. >> sharpton there having the strongest words last night. it ended up with dionne warwick performing singing "that's what friends are for." last night was all about the past. now his campaign is saying he's going to be campaigning today and the focus now is on re-election. he said all he has to say about the charges. >> it was funny that michael bloomberg referred to people who didn't want to show up because there certainly is some liability associated with it for some people. >> yeah. and for the democrats running for re-election of course, they're expecting republicans to pounce on this. some of the politicians leading up to last night were a little cagey about whether or not they'd actually be there. so of course they knew that all cameras would be there. >> governor paterson and michael bloomberg there. a lot showed up. >> both u.s. senators, andrew cuomo running for governor. >> thank you. still ahead, the legal hurdles have been cleared, but the outcry over an islamic senator and mosque going up two blocks from ground zero is not letting up. a new cnn opinion research poll shows the majority of americans oppose building the mosque near the world trade center site. 68% say they're against it. just 29% are in favor of the mosque being built there. india, the world's largest democracy, is a massive growing market for smartphone companies but will the government issue a ban on the business-friendly blackberry? a decision was expected today but is put off. why? we have a live update from new delhi. my name is rachel robinson. i am a banker with quicken loans. this is kathy, who i helped do her first home loan, and this is her sister tina, who i also helped do her first home loan. it was unbelievable how well it all fell together. we wanted to stay in our same neighborhood. kathy said, "well, let me give you rachel's number." rachel just made it effortless. i didn't have to do any of the work. rachel did it for me. extremely friendly... easy. i'll say, "i need this," we'd say here it is, and she says, "great. let me get back to you." so she spent a lot more time with me on the phone, face-to-face. she knows that's what my personality is and what i prefer. whereas if it was somebody else... like me. like tina. i'm on the computer all the time. it was emails and emails and faxes. she was just willing to do it the way we did it. clients i work with develop a relationship that lasts well beyond closing their loan. middle of the day at work i'd be emailing her. i don't know what to do. she's like, "don't worry. i got it." i don't want to say brainless, 'cause i'm smart, but i didn't have to think about any of it. easy. easy. easy. the whole loan process was simple and convenient! that's why i love quicken loans! ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. 20 minutes past the hour. we're minding your business. for weeks we've been tracking possible blackberry bans across the middle east and asia. now it's india's turn. today was supposed to be the day india's government was to decide whether to put a ban on the business-friendly smartphones. >> much like a proposed ban in other countries it would block access because blackberry messages are highly encrypted and difficult for security officials to monitor. live from new delhi this morning, you have a new development to tell us about? . >> reporter: everyone thought there would be a big development and a statement that came out of a meeting the government had today. the ministry of home affairs met today. there was a lot of confusion about exactly who was in that meeting. then, to make things more confusing, the government refused to say anything about what happened in that meeting except for the fact that they were not going to handout some kind of a statement and were not going to let anybody know what transpired in that meeting because it was a, quote, internal affair. they did, though, indicate that more meetings are expected. so a lot of people are wondering what's going to happen today little device that they love, the blackberry, and some of the services that the government is very concerned about that are highly encrypted and their intelligence agents cannot get access to. everything seems to be working right now with blackberry as it is for today. >> you mentioned all the secrecy around it but it's still up and running, still going on and there is this delay. any speculation programs this could mean they're coming close to a deal? >> reporter: you know, it's really hard to tell, because for whatever reason, this has been a very secret -- nobody wants to talk. research in motion says it does not comment on any kind of conversations it's happening with governments over security. it has been very tight-lipped. the government here was very tight-lipped. they didn't even want to say that they were meeting. a lot of this is source-based information that we're getting of people with knowledge of the meeting. no one wants to say exactly what the government is going to do. we do understand there are certain services like blackberry messaging the government is concerned about because of the encryption and because it is extremely, nearly impossible for intelligence agents to cracked. they're really worried if a terrorist organization decided to use that to plot against the country, that the government would be blindsided and not able to try and thwart an attack. right now, though, like i said, everything is up and running and we're waiting to hear more information from the government which says it's still going to continue meeting on this. >> sara sidner with the latest for us. hundreds of marines massacred on a tiny pacific island during world war ii, their bodies left behind. a cnn exclusive. ted rowlands takes us back to the battlefield where present-day marines are trying to find their remains and bring them home decades later. 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[ male announcer ] the financial headlines can be unsettling. but what if there were a different story? of one financial company that grew stronger through the crisis. when some lost their way, this company led the way. by protecting clients and turning uncertainty into confidence. what if that story were true? it is. ♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. 25 minutes past the hour now. more than six decades ago, on a tiny island in the middle of the pacific ocean, hundreds of u.s. marines were slaughtered in the battle of tarawa. to this day their remains are still there in unmarked grav is tarawa atoll where present-day marines are determined to make good on a promise that until now went unkept. ted rowlands with a cnn exclusive. >> this seems to be an intact, undisturbed zone. >> reporter: archaeologist gregory fox analyzes dirt as military servicemen dig searching for remains of u.s. marines who died in the world war ii battle of tarawa more than 65 years ago. this is the first of six sites to be excavated. historic researchers believe more than 100 marines could be found during this mission. >> if we run into a row of missing individuals that were buried, that's fantastic. we have additional anthropologists on stand-by in hawaii. >> reporter: this is the u.s. military unit that specializes in finding the remains of missing americans around the world killed in battle. the team is made up of members from every branch of the military, but on this mission it is almost all marines. >> tarawa, that holds a soft spot in the marine corporals' heart. it's important to bring a large marine corps contingency here. >> reporter: it was one of the bloodiest battles in marine corps history. more than 1,000 men were killed in roughly 72 hours of fighting with the japanese, many gunned down in the water before they could make it to shore. when you come to tarawa, you really understand why there were so many casualties. it was low tide when the marines came on shore just like it is now meaning they had to walk on to the beach. waiting for them were huge japanese guns and these bunkers which were so fortified, it gave the japanese an opportunity to just sit inside and fire at point-blank range at the marines who were coming on to the beach. >> they were wading ashore for the most part. i c