happening on the scene right now? >> reporter: basically state police have declined to confirm any details, they haven't confirmed in the name of the shooter or how many dead. nine is the number that's being reported right now. but the scene has been closed down and family members are waiting at manchester high school, just consoling each other and waiting to see what happens. >> and suzanne, are you sharing anything from witnesses, people who survived this, giving us more insight into what had to be absolutely horrifying and unspeakable? >> yeah, absolutely. i spoke to one woman who fled the scene as shots were being fired and her and another long-time employee said that they were just shocked, they're absolutely shocked and the shooter was described as very quiet, omar thornton was his name and everyone i talked to said he never said a word to anyone, he didn't associate with other employeemployees, so it s like he was kind of a loaner. >> do we know if he tried to block employees inside? >> reporter: it sounds like he opened fire outside, actually. i believe at least seven people were shot outside the building. john hollis is a union representative from the area and he says the meeting that was supposedo take place asking the shooter to resign or possibly fire the shooter never happened. he opened fire before that meeting started. >> and what about the reports that police are indicating that there are still bodies on the scene, that perhaps more people were killed in this? >> reporter: there are still bodies on the scene, there's people at the hospital in surgery. this is still very much developing, very much ongoing and state police have been very hesitant to confirm anything for sure. >> suzanne carlson with the manchester journal enquirer. now to another unimaginable tragedy, this one in shreveport, louisiana where six teenagers drowned at a family gathering last night. they were wading in the river, on a sand bar and a dropoff nearly 20 feet deep. charles hadlock has more from shreveport. >> reporter: the red river of northwest louisiana was going to be a refuge from the oppressive heat, but the sandy banks turned out to be the scene of tragedy for three families. seven teenagers waded into the water in what they thought was going to be a sand bar, a stable sand bar. they were standing in waist deep water when suddenly the sand gave way. one of the teenagers fell in the water, his friends tried to rescue him and one by one, they each went under water. none of them could swim. on the shore that was panic. the adults ran to try to help but they couldn't swim either. it took about three hours to rescue and remove the bodies from 18 feet of water. there was one survivosurvivor, 15-year-old boy. he was the first to fall in the water. the sole survivor of this tragedy in louisiana. and now to the controversial plan to build an islamic center and mosque in the shadow of ground zero. it's finally cleared a hurdle just a few hours ago. new york city's landmark preservation committee voted unanimously not to grant landmark status for that 152-year-old building now on the site. that means it can be torn down and the plans to build the islamic center can proceed. sarah palin is one of the ones who opposed the plan saying it was insensitive of the 9/11 victims. mayor michael bloomberg supports the plan. >> this city has buy and large not been torn apart by this. the city understands that what made america and new york great is right here and we have got to make sure that tomorrow we keep making this city better. >> nbc's ron allen joins us now from lower manhattan, and ron, i understand that the people against this say that this is just the beginning of their fight, they're not giving up here? >> reporter: they say that, there's talk of lawsuits, there's talk of trying to get congress to declare ground zero a national battlefield and presumably that might affect what can be built near it, but remember that this site that we're talking about is not at ground zero, it's 2 1/2 blocks away, it about 250 yards which is still too close for many people. the developers of this project at this point have every local approval they need to build whatever they want there essentially. there's nothing in the zoning laws or other laws that can prevent them from doing it. today they were saying that as a compromiser and in response to the controversy, they're going to try to include an interfaith chapel. they're going to put people of different faiths on the board of this center to decide what happens at this place and they're going to try and make the membership and the people who come here as diverse as possible. but for some people, that's not going to be enough. there's vehement opposition to this. the symbolism of this smacks in the face of some people. they say it's insensitive to some of the families who lost loved ones there, but the problem is that the developers seem to have everything they need to go forward at this point, unless there's some kind of lawsuit or something that blocks at this point, but that seems unlikely, i would think, tamron. >> and moving forward, the timeline, even if they're able to jump over any hurdles and obstacles that come their way, isn't this a couple of years away? >> it's many years away, and one of the big important issues right now is the funding of this project. the price tag is about $100 million and some of the opponents are trying to have an investigation launched into the funding of the project. one of the republican candidates for governor here has even asked the attorney general who's a democratic candidate for governor to investigate the funding of this project, which a lot of people think, and the attorney general said he would not do. but a lot of people question where the money is coming from for this and another issue on a very, very emotional topic. >> thank you, ron for the report. and bp hopes to begin pumping mud and cement into its blown out well in the gulf of mexico. sometime this afternoon to hopefully seal the well for good. bp planned to begin that so-called static kill procedure after conducting an injection test today. we're still waiting on word of whether the test was successful or not. michelle franzen joins us life from venice, louisiana. i'm always amazed by how much we have learned about how to kill a well, top kill, static kill, and everything else. we hope this will finally be put to an end. >> reporter: we're hoping this will be the beginning of the end of making sure that that well is capped for good, no more leaking from that well. as you mentioned, they're trying to get underway with the injekation tests, that is going to pump some light oil into that blown out well down the throat of that well so to speak, lethal injection that they hope will give them an idea on whether or not they can push the crude back into the reservoir, that will give them an indication of how much pressure they will need to put the mud in when they start that static kill. it's sort of an insurance policy, the real focus remains on of course the relief wells that they have been creating over the last few months. and that is where the focus in the next few weeks will head toward, that is what they want to do, they also want to pour cement down in the relief wells so called bottom kill and that will be the permanent fix likely to be done mid to late august. >> all right, michelle franzen live in louisiana. and president obama is hitting the campaign trail. in the next three weeks he'll stop in eight states in a three-week period. the president is sharpening that midterm message, blame bush. here's the president in fact at a fund-raiser just on monday. >> they don't have a single idea that's different from george bush's ideas, not one. instead, they're betting on amnesia. that's what they're counting on, they're counting on that you all forgot. they think that they can run the oakie doak on you. bamboozle you. >> ed schultz is the host of "the ed show" here on msnbc and he's a nationally syndicated radio host. you've got an article titled why blaming bush is a dead end for democrats. what do you think? >> well, i think the president did it in the right light and the right vain last night. but to make it a central figure of how they want to maintain the majority i think could be dangerous. to motivate people, i think the democrats and the white house are going to have to explain where we're going. i think americans understand the obstruction, i think they understand the ideological divide, but i think there's a bush burn out out there. this is what we were talking about on the ed schultz radio show, and i said right away, don't let anybody forget what the bush years did to america. there's two schools of thought here. i think that the democrats have a lot more to offer than to go out and bash bush in every corner. and i think the president did it in the right vein, he had some fun with it. but then also a serious tone about it as well. we know where this president's coming from. but when it comes to creating jobs, that's got to be the focal point here in the midterm. >> what's interesting, thehill.com says that the strategy is that putting republicans back in power would be returning to george w. bush policies but also the idea was to put republicans on the defense by requiring them, making them answer the questions, a about what they would cut, which if you watch any of the programs and i know you do, when that question is asked you hear a lot of stumbling and stammering. >> i think you're on to something which is a real focal point of where the democrats have got to go. it's wall street versus the working folk. it's not wall street-main street, it's bigger than main street, it's the whole neighborhood, it's the whole town, it's the whole region, it's wall street versus the working folk of america and i think that should be the central theme for the democrats. right now and i think the president was right last night when he was talking about they don't have any ideas on the table other than what we saw the last eight years before the obama administration had a chance. drive it home that way, i think would be effective. >> but couldn't the republicans counter, yes, you don't like the ideas we have or had, but your ideas have not worked at least when you look at the unemployment numbers, i know the president says jobs were saved and things would have been worse but you've got millions of folks out of work that thought they would get a boost out of the stimulus that they may not see. >> you've got a trillion dollars on the sidelines from big business because they're afraid of what might happen in the economy. you've got folks like the carlyle group that say we're looking for emerging markets. when are the democrats going to push home that the american worker is the emerging markets that we've got to concentrate on in this country. one of the big things i think that the democrats have got to hit home is that you can't expect the world to turn around in 18 months and they have gotten some legislative victories, the health care bill is polling very well right now. also the report out of the white house yesterday was that $8 billion is going to be saved between now and the end of the year based on what we're doing with health care. that's positive, people want to hear something positive. but they also need to know that the republicans have done absolutely nothing when it comes to creating jobs, other than to stand in the way. it is the central conversation that's taking place in this country right now. >> house minority leader john boehner says they're going to unveil their plan sometime after labor day, it's a blueprint of what republicans will do when they take back the house, they're calling it commentment to america. >> last night on my show, i openly asked the minority leader in the house, i would love to come to ohio and i would like to hear that plan in a town hall meeting because i want john boehner to explain to those people in ohio where their jobs have been outsourced exactly what his plan is other than keeping the bush tax cuts in for the top 2%. i don't think they have a plan, i think it's all smoke and mirrors. >> we'll see if he answers your questions. be sure to watch ed schultz who will be live from the free health sclinic in washington, d.c. we should also note msnbc is sponsoring with the help of "countdown" and keith olbermann, a two-day free health clinic in new orleans, that's august 31st and september 1. it will coincide with the fifth anniversary of hurricane katrina. check out freeclinics.us. we brought you the pictures of a small plane that crashed into the waters off cape cod. both people on board escaped. we're going to talk with one of them. he is a minister, find out if he was praying during this time of crisis. and a mother of two found out on facebook that her hubby is married to another woman. wait until you hear what happened. you might be checking facebook after this story. and chicago police officer is suing the city for overtime he turned while offduty he says he was required to carry his blackberry. is his lawsuit crossing the line? you'll have a professor with you every step of the way. whether you take classes on campus, online, or both, you get the same attention, the same curriculum, and the same quality. 85 locations nationwide and online. discover how to grow the business of you... at keller.edu. two massachusetts men are lucky to be alive today after their cessna plane crashed in the waters off cape cod yesterday. rescue boats quickly arrived to see those two men aboard. one of them walking away uninjured. the man able to walk away uninjured was justin andrews. how are you feeling? >> i'm blessed to be here and blessed to be anywhere today. it's great to be alive. >> and the pilot i understand is okay as well. but you walked away. first of all, take me back a little bit, when did you notice you were in trouble? >> we were flying over cape cod, getting ready to come back to land, we had finished up filming some footage for a message that i was going to preach on sunday and just toward the end, he turned off the camera and said there seems to be a little bit of a problem. when you're in a single engine cessna and that engine stop working, it just got serious. >> at that point he says we have got some problems, you're hoping this will work out. a at what point did you realize that you were headed for the fr water? >> in my mind i envisioned us coasting in on the run way. >> at worst you're going to land on a freeway or something? >> right, right. but we were out over the waters right off of cape cod and he said, you know, we're going to have to put this down right now and we were losing altitude quickly, we were at about 1,000 feet when the engine went out so we were falling pretty quick. he said we got to hope for the water and we were looking down to the ground and trying to find a spot in the ocean where there weren't people swimming so we wouldn't endanger anyone else. >> what was the impact like? >> it was similar to a car crash coming to a sudden stop, except for you get to see it coming for several seconds before hand, you're watching the ground and the water rush up to you and then just a sudden jerk and waves coming in and falling over your head. >> you said you were taking video for a sermon, are you praying the whole time? >> when you're in an airplane falling, your faith in god is the best thing to have and coming to that point, i was praying the whole way, god, i'm getting ready to meet you in a few seconds or you're going to have to catch this plane. and he took care of us, he blessed us and was gracious, and mike the pilot, i have to say he did an amazing job. >> someone said he did a sully. what in the world was the sermon that you needed to be up in a cessna getting video for? >> you know, everybody seems to enjoy a little bit of video nowadays, it kind of helps capture the attention, i have heard pastors can be boring at times so we wanted to spice it up and that was the exciting thing for this sunday, we wanted to add some video. we were just shooting some aerial views of cape cod just showing people what it was like around there. >> i think a lot of people would love to be there when you give your sermon on sunday because you've got a spicy story to tell. >> it's going to be slightly different than what we had planned. >> we're happy that you and the pilot are okay. and thank you again for coming on. the makers of blackberry are trying to give the iphone and n android a run for its money. we would like know what you think of any of the stories we're covering. how about josh surviving what was a horrifying crash. go to twitter.msnbc.com. eeee, weeeeeee, weeeee weeeeeeee. mom: max. ...maxwell! piggy: yeah? mom: you're home. piggy: oh,cool, thanks mrs. a. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a new liquid gel. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. all right, it's another big day for phone geeks out there. the latest new smart phone made its debut. it's the blackberry torch 9800. it was unveiled right here in new york. it was the first blackberry to combine a touch screen and a slideout keyboard and it runs on revamped software. are you going to run out and buy it? let's talk to senior editor dan akron. >> this is the big phone we have been waiting for, obviously they make those blackberrys, but they haven't had a lot of luck with the android phones in terms of having a really cool phone with a touch screen and a multimedia screen. >> you said that the berberry torch dominating -- >> that's because everyone has the blackberry messaging setup and it's really been the standard for a long time. some people can, but as long as you have to have a blackberry, and as long as you can get a really cool one. >> this one is available only through at&t like the iphone and it's been reported that the folks over at apple weren't happy with the service with a t at&t. does blackberry have the same concerns? >> i think we'll where seeing more similar phones around the holiday season. >> are they worried that people are going to stop buying new phones? but with so many of the android, the iphone, all the time coming out, is this market getting exhausted? >> they try to get you to get a new phone every two years. unless you really have to get the blackberry, i'm not really sure that if you like like video and touch screen and apps and stuff you would go for this new one. >> what do you think of this blackberry? >> they're saying it's the best blackberry ever. and that's probably true, but if you like all that social media stuff, it's not really above what an droids and iphones can do. a new report shows obesity rates among american adults on the rise even with all this information we have about being healthy and exercising. we're going to talk tot a dietitian about whether americans are just becoming more honest about their weight. brett favre could be hanging up his cleats for good. will the third time be the charm for his retirement? ♪ three decadent flavors. 60 caloes. me clock. time for jelo. well the healthy eating message apparently not sinking in. according to a new cdc report not one state has met the national adult obesity goal of just 15% this year. instead the obesity epidemic is getting worse. the number has tripled in just ten years. lisa is a clinical dietitian in cleveland. thanks, lisa for joining us. >> hi, thank you. >> what do you make of these numbers? why are we still seeing the problem when you have so many messages out there about exercising and eating healthy? >> it is very, very concerning and it's hard to know exactly