i'm andrea mitchell in washington. in an exclusive interview, nbc's ann curry sat down with iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad the first interview that any news organization has had with him in the west since those disputesed elections. she asked him about claims that he fixed the election. >> reporter: did you steal this election, sir? >> translator: i don't know what you mean by that. >> reporter: did you create conditions so that you would win no matter the vote? >> translator: it's very clear whoever becomes a candidate will start a campaign and will do his utmost to win. i think we should be courageous enough to accept the vote of the people. it's more courageous than participating in the vote itself. >> nbc's ann curry joins us live on the phone from tehran. and first of all, congratulations. an extraordinary interview. and we topped ask you about what happened today after ahmadinejad had a news briefing, and again denied the holocaust. the white house has now condemned that within minutes. robert gibbs at the

andrea mitchell spoke with dr. bill cosby, who says the discussion must move away from race and refocus on health care reform. >> i do feel that all of this is taking too much time out when we've got a health bill, a reform that has to be worked on, passed, and we have to get it out to people who can't afford to have themselves in -- who can't afford to have themselves taken care of when they're sick. >> now, the white house, robert gibbs speaking for the president, repeatedly was asked about the race issue and what jimmy carter said and repeatedly said that the president does not see this as being racially motivated. clearly, barack obama doesn't want to go there. >> i think it's very smart for him not to, because it's taking away. if anything that happens is blown up to the point where he has to answer something that has nothing to do with an issue like the health bill, it's going to be a smart move by anybody, and especially -- i don't know, media likes to do this, they like to fan things. i think it's important

i'm andrea mitchell. john harwood and norah o'donnell are next with the "new york times" special edition. you all have a great weekend. see you monday. there was a time i wouldn't step out of the house without my makeup. now, it's no problem. (announcer) neutrogena tone correcting night serum with high performance soy to even skin tone and active retinol to speed cell turn over. clinically shown to visibly fade brown spots in 14 nights. i even out my skin at night so it looks younger, flawless in the morning. (announcer) neutrogena tone correcting now you can fade and prevent discolorations all day. new tone correcting spf 30. i'm more active, i eat right, and i switched to new one a day women's active metabolism. a complete women's multivitamin plus more for metabolism support. and that's a change i feel good about. new from one a day. if you get sick, or change jobs. eight ways reform matters to you. a cap on deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. no annual or lifetime limits on coverage.

i'm andrea mitchell in washington. be sure to join us tomorrow live from geneva where the united states will be holing those talks on thursday over iran's nuclear program. we'll be traveling with the delegation tonight. see you back here at 1:00 eastern only on "andrea mitchell reports." contessa brewer and melissa francis will be picking up our coverage from here with "it's the economy." you're watching msnbc, "the place for politics." mean... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 when my broker said, "i make money when you make money," tdd# 1-800-345-2550 he neglected to mention tdd# 1-800-345-2550 he also makes money when i lose money, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 withdraw money or do nothing with my money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 vegetables are naturally low in calories. v8 juice gives you 3 of your 5 daily servings. it's a tasty, nutritious way to make this number go up... and help this one go down. v8. what's your number? (announcer) we understand. you need to save money. almost 30 years behind the sports desk has turned me

i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. the president was passionate, he was specific, his rhetoric was powerful. did he go far enough to explain how he would pay for his plan? >> i will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit now or in the future, period. part of the reason i faced a trillion-dollar deficit when i walked in the door of the white house is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for, from the iraq war to tax breaks for the wealthy. >> i will not make that same mistake with health care. >> well, that was the theater. now to the politics. nbc news political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd and the moderator of nbc's "meet the press," david gregory, joining us now. let's have at it. chuck, first to you. the day after the morning after. was joe wilson sort of a gift that they had not expected, at least make barack obama look like the victim here? >> reporter: it is. it's -- you know, i'm sure they would like other parts of the speech to be talked about, quote

and as andrea mitchell said, this strengthens the case. it makes it less likely that ahmadinejad can maneuver around and sort of harang the u.s. on one day and then say he wants to open up negotiations on another. >> all right, let me move on to afghanistan, and obviously, this assessment from general stanley mcchrystal has been leaked to the press, where he basically says, we need more troops in afghanistan now to ensure security, and without those troops, failure might be the outcome of this war. how is the debate over what to do -- the president says he wants to take his time before making this decision. what kind of debate is going on within the administration as to what to do? >> i think it boils down to one question, which is, would committing tens of thousands of additional u.s. troops make america safer? and that question is one that the president will have to answer, and there is debate on that question on his national security team. whether or not taking on the taliban in a greater way, whether or not taking on the idea of the in

andrea mitchell starts us off from the washington news room. andrea, good evening. >> good evening, brian. it's as old as the nation. the racial division many thought were healed after the election of the first african-american president. a former president had us re-examine our thoughts about race. in a season of angry protests, there are ugly signs that some is not bailout fatigue or suspicion of big government. mixed in the antiobama crowds in recent weeks, racial slurs over the president of the united stat. all of that plus an unprecedented interruption in the president's speech to congress. >> you lie! >> reporter: prompting jimmy carters blunt comments on "nightly news" last night. >> i think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward president barack obama is based on the fact that he is a black man. that he's african-american. i think his bubble up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the south, but around the country that african-americans are not qualified to lead this gre

we have the coverage with andrea mitchell. good evening. >> president obama, britain and france said they built a solid case iran is hiding a secret nuclearlant in violation of treaties. they are demanding immediate u.n. sanctions. tonight, the president warned iran about going down a path that could lead to confrontation. if it does not come clean, starting in geneva next week. >> i think iran is on notice. when we meet with them october 1, they are going to have to come clean and have to make a choice. >> reporter: in a dramatic display of allied unity, the president accused iran of building an underground plant. not for a power plant, but for bombs. >> the size and configuration of the facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program. iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow. >> reporter: today, the cia said it's a series of tunnels built in a mountain west of the holy ty, qom. in new york, iran's president, ahmadinejad said they are hiding nothing. >> translator: what we did is completely legal according to the

mitchell reports," andrea mitchell. thanks for getting on board here. give us a sense -- we're going to be hearing from the president at 8:30 eastern time. this was a hastily arranged statement that he's going to be making, i understanding with with the leaders of britain and france. how strong do we expect the wording to be? and what are the options? >> well, i think, first of all, the fact that they have caught iran red handed and now have this evidence before the world, so it can have two big impacts. one could be that it would unite tehran, the regime which they had thought was becoming fractured in the aftersmamath o those disputed elections, and unite tehran against the west. thatted can be one bad consequence. it could be this possibly strengthens the hand of the reformers and shows the rest of the world, and those people in iran -- and they are very connected to the rest of the world, as you know -- that iran really has been hiding something. there's strong support in iran for the right of iran to develop a civi

>>> right now on "andrea mitchell reports" iran flexes its military muscle. test-firing a missile capable of hitting israel and u.s. bases in the persian gulf, as well as parts of europe. this just days before a key meeting is set to begin between iran, the united states and other major world powers in geneva. the u.s. wants tough economic sanctions. will there be a united front? >>> washington is waiting for action and response from two key allies that have supported iran in the past, russia and china. jts and new threats from iran, if israel launches an attack, iran's defense minister warns it will quote expedite israel's last breath. plus u.s. secretary of defense, robert gates said he will not give president obama's general mcchrystal's request for more troops. >>> good day, i'm andrea mitchell, i'm live in new york and we have an exclusive interview with cuba's foreign minister, moments after he addresses the general assembly. meanwhile, intelligence experts say that iran may be hiding up to a dozen more secret underground facilities. and the united stat

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good day, i'm andrea mitchell lye in new york. the president's speech tonight is the big story at the white house. let's go straight to chuck todd, nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director. chuck, well, the stakes could not be higher. this is the restart. what we've heard now is orrin hatch sent a letter to the president saying let's cut this back, streamline it, agree on the historic opportunities to push for areas of agreement. that's basically saying kick the ball down the road. they're not going to go for that? >> reporter: they're not. i know the republicans have been trying to do -- yesterday mitch mcconnell went on the senate floor, called for, hey, let's just start this entire process over. and obviously that would slow things down. that isn't where the white house is on that. the white house's mind set is, look, they're pretty close to getting a deal done with one republican that they care about at this point, and that's olympia snowe. the senior senator from maine. maybe that'll bring along susan c

joining us is chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. thank you for coming on the show tonight. >> well put. you put it in the right context. >> good. >> glad to be here. >> is it true iran is facing a much more unified pressure or opposition than they were a week ago? >> this never happened before. we have been plodding along watching this diplomacy inch by inch for so many years now. for the first time, russia has stood by the president. their statement today could not have been better if written by the white house itself. medvedev told students at the university of pittsburgh last night he really likes barack obama. so personal diplomacy in a ronald reagan, gorbachev way, he says he doesn't try to lecture me. we are of the same generation and i learned we were studying law at the same time. i was reading from law review articles he edited. that sets the stage for the fact when barack obama took medvedev aside and told him this news about iran, that iran was moving in a dangerous direction, was crossing a red line, if you will, medvede

up next, nbc's andrea mitchell live from the u.n. where the president gives his first address to the general assembly as president in just a few hours. will he meet the hype on the world stage? we'll talk to white house senior adviser david axelrod and get a look inside the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll with nbc news' chuck todd. first here's a check on your weather with wtvj meteorologist ryan phillips. >> a quiet start to the morning across the west coast, hot and dry out there. east coast seeing some shower activity. but no delays at our major hubs here across the eastern portion of the u.s. going to be looking at mostly cloudy skies. lower 80s from boston down to d.c. northern gulf coast states seeing a little bit of storm activity. mostly sunny. hot and dry out west. you're watching "morning joe" brewed by starbucks. national car rental knows i'm picky. so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national.

andrea mitchell will be back tomorrow. we have the latest on the terror suspect now charged with that plot to attack new york city. contessa brewer and melissa francis are up next with "it's the economy." discover friskies indoor wet cat food. and unlock the freshness of the outdoors for your indoor cat. fueling an exhilarating adventure. each entree is bursting with high-quality protein... plus wholesome grain and garden greens. specially formulated to promote hairball control... and healthy weight. friskies indoor wet cat food. feed the senses. now turn treat time into party time... with friskies party mix cat treats. get the party started! >>> world leaders converge on pittsburgh, putting their heads together to figure out how to get the global economy back on track, but protestors are also swarming to steel city, intent on getting their message across. >>> well, so much for hoping families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes a new report shows the mediation that's supposed to help really doesn't do much. >>> big

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i'm andrea mitchell in new york. among our guests on the show tomorrow, former secretary of defense william cohen and senator joe lieberman. contessa brewer and melissa francis will be picking up our coverage next. join them on "it's the economy." you're watching msnbc. you were right. these healthy choice fresh mixer thingys, they taste fresh... say it again! they taste fresh. wait. what are you doing? got it. you're secretly taping me? cook it fresh, strain it fresh, mix it fresh, healthy choice fresh mixers, look for it in the soup or pasta aisle. how to get rich, by america's health insurance companies. raise health insurance premiums 4 times faster than wages. pay your ceo twenty four million dollars a year. deny payment for 1 out of every 5 treatments doctors prescribe. if the insurance companies win, you lose. tell congress to rewrite the story. we want good health care we can afford with the choice of a public health insurance option. now there's new heart health advantage from bayer. its non-aspirin formula

i'm andrea mitchell washington that does it for me this hour. tomorrow, we will bring you live coverage of president obama's big speech to the afl-cio in pittsburgh at 1:35 eastern. we will be here at 1:00 and set all of that up, plus all of the day's breaking news. contessa brewer picks up our coverage from here. this is msnbc. the place for politics. chef's meal with pommes frites perhaps a night at the theater with extra special seats additional hotel night, our treat your world in perfect harmony: priceless look for world on your mastercard to get rewards and offers that matter to you. but those days came and went, and the cigarettes remained. but today's a new day. and a few simple steps can make a real difference in your next quit... things like starting with a plan to quit smoking... getting support... and talking to your doctor about how prescription treatments can help you. talk to your doctor about prescription treatment options. and make this time, your time. talk to your doctor about [ birds squawking ]ent options. [ moos ] [ man ann

and also with us, nbc chief correspondent and host of "andrea mitchell reports," andrea mitchell. thanks for joining us. let's talk about iran first. the test-firing of long range missiles. this has been quite a weekend where iran has put it out there, saying we're going to do what we're going to do and we're a strong nation. at what point do we stop believing them and start acting? >> i think we have stopped believing them. they say these tests were part of previously planned war games. clearly, it was a show of defiance aimed at the european allies, aimed at israel, and it will backfire because it will have the opposite effect. it will clearly strengthen the resolve of those, including angela merkel now that she's passed her election on sunday and has a stronger coalition to work with. now they're going to be much more united going into the big talks in geneva on thursday. they're basically medium-range missiles, but at least one of those fired today -- and it was two days of missile tests -- had theoretically the range capable of reaching israel. we're not saying that iran has

. >> let's go to our state department correspondent andrea mitchell. andrea, what can you tell us? >> well, this from the fbi. the state department has been evacuated. there was a meeting going on in the operation center. other top officials were in the situation room at the white house. colin powell is in bodata, colombia on a two-day trip. this is interesting from the fbi, they had been operating a massive exercise from their hostage rescue unit, all of their top teams, 50 personnel and helicopters and equipment in monterey, california scheduled to fly back today commercially. all of those people are out of place. fair to say that sources we talked to at nbc the rescue operations are in chaos right now because they can't reach their official in new york and all of their phone lines are down. now you have all of their special experts on this stuck in monts raymont ray california. they are seriously out of pocket and there is a real breakdown of the fbi and antiterror coordination team which is the principal team that would lead any effort and was to effective under jim calstrom in

he pointed to october 1 and the talks andrea mitchell pointed out. seemed to duck the idea of how long they would give the iranians. talking to officials behind the scenes, they believe that iran has to immediately allow for the atomic agency to inspect. two, this may be about trying to get china on board. one thing that makes this administration hopeful is this time they mean it. russia is on board. everything about next week may be making the final case to china to get them to finally come aboard. the fact they didn't get a statement has some officials concerned. >> we learned five more americans died in afghanistan. does the president have anything to say about whether he would send more troops to afghanistan. >> reporter: he was asked directly. there's a request for 40,000 more troops. the president was more clear saying look, no decisions about troops or anything else are going to be made for quite some time. they need to do a new strategic review. when you talk to folks behind the scenes, they say how do you do a strategy when you don't know if

it's where we begin tonight with andrea mitchell across town tonight. good evening. >> good evening, brian it was the president's first speech and marked a stark departure from the policies of george w. bush. reaching out to new friends and old foes. president obama was welcomed to the world stage, along with a gallery of long time international people. moammar gadhafi back at the u.n. for the first time in four years. hugo chavez. president obama's message was the u.s. is no longer going it alone. >> those who used to chastise america for acting alone can now stand by and wait for america to solve the world's problems alone. >> reporter: ahmadinejad looked bored. the president was cheered for closing guantanamo. >> the use of torture by the united states of america. >> reporter: he showed his impatience. warned north korea and iran against the nuclear arms raid. mr. obama and his team made a quick exit moving on to a series of events, steering clear of the next speaker. >> leader of the revolution, president of the african union, king of kings of the t

andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> another programnote, ann curry's entire interview will air sunday at 1:00 eastern time on msnbc. when "nightly news" continues on a friday night, tracking the spread of swine flu. how college campuses are coping these days. >>> later, a making a difference report on giving anonymously. it got a huge response. tonight a flub. (announcer) there are side mirrors... and then there are the indicator-light warning, radar-sensor-linking, blind-spot-penetrating side mirrors of the all-new ford taurus. so what doesn't show up in your mirror, can still show up on your mirror. we speak car. we speak innovation. introducing the all-new taurus from ford. drive one. introducing the all-new medication to lower your bad cholesterol but your good cholesterol and triglycerides are still out of line? then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. statin to lower bad cholesterol, along with diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides and raise good cholesterol to help improve all three cholesterol numbers. trilipix has not

>> andrea mitchell, thank you. we are joined now by shane bauer's mother, cindy hickey and his sister, nicole lind skrom and sarah shourd's cousin patrick sandies. good morning to you all. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> cindy, if i could ask you first, as you heard from andrea, tensions between the u.s. and iran have escalated. how concerned does that make you about your son being brought back home along with the other two hikers? >> i really feel like their situation is a humanitarian issue, and we've also been very heartened and been given hope by the iranian president stating that seek or try to push for maximum leniency. >> let me ask you about that heightened hope that you have. i'll ask you, nicole. this is a man -- ahmadinejad is a man who has proven himself untrustworthy, at least in the political and diplomatic arena, so why do you have confidence that when he says that he will push for leniency for the three hikers that he means ñoit? >> i think that because he's a father, he understands what we're

andrea mitchell, back to you on a.c.o.r.n. we had dick durbin on earlier, and he said to have the trial before the hanging. >> they have a lot of explaining to do. clearly a.c.o.r.n. is under fire. some have a political agenda against a.c.o.r.n. a.c.o.r.n. has invited this by not keeping the books straight. clearly there will be an investigation. congress is going to look into it, and it should. >> i was elected in 1994 and in congress for seven years or so and have been following politics for years. i did not know who a.c.o.r.n. was until 2008. has there been a quiet battle? >> it blew up in 2008. that's when they became a political issue because they were getting involved in voter registration. it was viewed as a way of backdoor way to help the obama campaign. it became an important test for the right to try and get somebody investigating a.c.o.r.n. >> a lot of conservatives are saying they have been investigated for voter fraud. have they been found guilty of voter fraud? >> i am not up to speed on that. what my colleague i

>> andrea, thank you very much. andrea mitchell in washington this morning. joined now by senator kennedy's sons, ted kennedy jr. and congressman patrick kennedy. good morning. my condolences to both of you and thanks for joining us. you're right, a memoir is supposed to be revealing and candid but they aren't always. were you surprised at some of the things your dad wrote in this about the assassination of his brothers and the loss of his sister and chappaquiddick? >> listen, matt, for one thing, everybody knows my dad wasn't the most sentimental, emotive guy. he's old irish in that respect. he taught us mostly by example in terms of perseverance and how he got through his own difficult times by example. for us this was an enormous revelation in a sense because this book was really one where he talked about his feelings and emotions at various points in his life. obviously this last year was one where we got to know more about his feelings as he became more reflective about his life and one of the best parts about having this extra year with him where he kne

andrea mitchell also with us. with current reporting yourself, andrea, what is going on? >> what is important is the president said that they know in his public statement, he said we know the configuration, the size of the plant is not consistent with the peaceful program. the right to peaceful energy, a peaceful nuclear energy program is something strongly held by iran, not just the system but the iranian people. it's considered a very important fact of their nationalistic desires. they resisted a lot of the western criticism and the american criticism in the past that they don't have the right to nuclear development. what he is saying is we know from our intelligence this is not a peaceful program. he is laying this out much more exspl exsplitidally than before. we are told that medvedev met in a q & a session with students at the university of pittsburgh yesterday. they said he talked about how much he likes obama, how obama doesn't lecture him. there is a real dynamic going on here in the meeting next week in geneva is going to be different from past meetings, i think

andrea mitchell is here. >> reporter: officials say it will be the first real test of president obama's policy of diplomatic engagement. they want iran to talk about its nuclear ep richment program. iran says it has every right to develop enriched uranium for peaceful processes. >> iran launched missile tests. >>> for the bigger picture, we are joined by madeleine albright, former secretary of state under president clinton. madam secretary, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> let's get to the heart of behalf gan stan and the meeting. the second of five big names in the room. what is going to come out of this? >> well, i think what is so important tamron is this president is actually taking the time to gather all the opinions and to gather the facts. you can't just increase numbers of troops without having all the aspects. general mcchrystal is coming in through video and the others to state their views to figure out what is going on. i think this is the right way. >> what are the unknown facts? i know general mcchrystal said he has spoken to president obama once. i don't know if he

nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more on the intelligence and the pushback from iran's president. >> reporter: the president sharply warned iran against going down a path that could lead to confrontation. if it does not come clean in diplomatic talks starting in geneva next week. >> so, i think iran is on notice that when we meet with them on october 1st they are going to have to come clean and they are going to have to make a choice. >> reporter: in a dramatic display of allied unity, the president accused iran of building an underground plant to produce nuclear fuel not for a power plant but for bombs. >> the size and configuration of this facility is inconsistent with a peaceful program. iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow. >> reporter: the cia told congress the facility is a series of tunnels built into a mountain 100 miles southwest of iran's holiest city, qom. on a baserun by iran's revolutionary guards. in new york, iran's president ahmadinejad said iran is hiding nothing. >> translator: what we did is completely legal according to the

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he told our own andrea mitchell that congress awaits an assessment by the president. >> we don't know what the congress will do until we get a recommendation from the president and from general mcchrystal. but i believe very strongly that when it comes to more combat troops, which are the people who are the most visible with the greatest footprint, at the greatest risk in afghanistan, that we should not, at this time, be committing to more combat forces until we have done what we need to do and which i think most people believe we should do, which is to strengthen the afghan army. >> this after the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, said yesterday, quote, i don't think there's a great deal of support for sending more troops to afghanistan in the country or in the congress. but from some republicans, unusual praise for the president on this subject. house majority whip, eric cantor, today, saying, he applauded president obama for his continued support for the afghan war. let's bring in the senior fellow at the center for american progress and the former assistant secretary of defense

. >>> welcome back to "andrea mitchell reports." right now, tourists are fleeing baja, california, as hurricane comes in. bracing for that category 4 storm. officials are trying to persuade 10,000 people living in unsturdy shacks to evacuate the area. >>> if you're going to steal somebody identity, probably best not to targ that wife of federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. mitchell young is allegedly part of an identity theft young that stole mrs. bernanke's purse last year and now she's up on a mug shot and in a lot of trouble. >>> today, vermont's new law goes into effect. the first marriage was performed at 12:01 a.m. >>> and 3,600 firefighters are fanned out across southern california battling that massive wildfire. still right now raging out of control. thousands of residents across the state have been forced to evacuate. 78 buildings have been destroyed and as many as 12,000, 12,000 more could be next. gina kim is live at lake view te terrace, california. the people who still don't want to evacuate. what is the mindset behin

cosby spoke to msnbc's andrea mitchell. >> i don't think you can get people who are entrenched in their own hatred to stop. i think what we have to do is find the people who are willing to work together, the people who realize that mistakes will happen, and we've got to work for the betterment of the american people. >> joining us now is dorell bradford, deputy director of excellent education for everyone. and this sunday on msnbc, doral is taking part in "about our children," a special focusing on education, health care and parenting. good afternoon. we're looking forward to that on sunday. thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> let's look at what bill cosby was just saying and to the people to whom you think he was speaking when he says, we need people to come together and join this debate and discussion in, you know, furthering this cause. who are the people he's talking about? are they not our elected officials or are they? >> i think probably the most important thing that hasn't been said here is that race plays a part in every american decision, at least it has to t

one thing, too, that i was listening to some of the experts speak on our air with andrea mitchell and we heard there is potential lay small silver lining in that there might be some crack miss this regime we still don't know how fully backed ahmadinejad is right now there maybe some crack there is, if that is the case, perhaps there is something hopeful out there. >> all right. what else do we have coming up? >> another push for health care reform from the white house this morning, norah, as you know this time, coming from the first lady. michelle obama says the current state of the health care system is unacceptable and that women need to step up and help make a change. the first lady says women are uniquely qualified to change the debate because we are often the ones making important health care decisions for our families. >> reform is so critical in this country, not tomorrow, not a few years but right now. people are hurting in this country right now. health insurance reform and what it means for our families is very much a women's issue, very much an issue. >> a white house repor

. >> we are going to go to andrea mitchell now, who has more information on the tragedy. >> matt, and katie, i spoke to a top u.s. official that says early reports to the intelligence community and to other officials within the administration are that this was a hijacked american airlines plane en route from boston to los angeles one of the two planes, they say, was apparently a hijacked american airlines plane. they caution early reports still need further confirmation. this is what the u.s. government is being told by american airlines apparently. they are assuming and informed the president it is a terrorists attack. >> in what term of the flight this plane was taken over, and how much warning air-traffic controllers may have had that somebody hostile was at the controls of the plane? >> that's right. one of the two planes was hijacked from boston in route to los angeles i was told they were inroute to los angeles those are very short flights. usually 737 or 757s on the route. and this clearly to the u.s. government is a terror attack. one of the things, there was no specific threa

andrea mitchell? >> i've been told the state department evacuation was precautionary only. no car bomb at least had been reported or rumored not here on nbc but precautionary only. some officials now there being redeployed to another location in virginia. the cia is still operational and they are meeting at langley but those officials have also evacuated the nonessential employees. the current working theory as you have been reporting and speculatizing that there was only one terror organization in this world that could coordinate this kind of event and that would be something operated by osama bin laden. intelligence officials say he is in afghanistan where he has been protected by the taliban and as we know, the united states has warned the taliban government of afghanistan that if there were any attacks against the united states, that they would hold afghanistan responsible so we most likely will expect retaliation. military retaliation. but i think right now the full focus of the u.s. government is finding out how many other possible targets there might be and how many

nbc's andrea mitchell reports. >> reporter: president obama was welcomed to the world stage. along with a rogues gallery of longtime international pariahs. libya's moammar gadhafi for the first time in 40 years. iran's mahmoud ahmadinejad. venezuela's hugo chavez. president obama's message was he was no longer going it alone. but his challenge to critics was blunt. >> those who used to chastise america for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for america to solve the world's problems alone. >> reporter: ahmadinejad made a show of looking bored, but the president was cheered for his decision to close guantanamo and stop abusive interrogations. >> i prohibit without exception or eequivocation, the use of torture by the united states of america. >> reporter: he showed his impatii impatient with endless foot dragging on both sides in the middle east. and rebuked iran and north korea for their nuclear arms. >> they must be held accountable. >> reporter: mr. obama made a quick exit moving on to a series of events, steering clear of the next speaker. >> his excelle

andrea mitchell in washington. it's now 7:05. >>> now to the nbc news exclusive involving chicago's hopes of landing the 2016 olympic games. nbc's savannah guthrie is at the white house. savannah, good morning. what can you tell us? >> reporter: good morning, meredith. senior aides tell me the president will make a personal trip to copenhagen to make that personal pitch for chicago to get the 2016 games. international olympic committee is meeting on friday to make the final decision between four finalist cities. originally the president didn't think he was going to be able to go georgia. he was concern the health care debate would be if full swing. but he has now decided to make this trip. aides tell me it was a game-time decision and his decision alone. the first lady is still planning to attend. she'll leave a little bit earlier, be in place wednesday to lobby ioc officials. president will depart thursday evening, fly all night, be there in time to make a pitch, be part of chicago's presentation friday morning, t

nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell traveled with them. andrea, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. when the u.n. delegation meets with the iranians tomorrow, they want to see concrete steps. they want to see access for u.n. inspectors to the people, to the documents, to the site itself. iran has said that it is willing to let u.n. inspectors , but they haven't said when and they haven't said how much they'll let those u.n. inspectors see. so, a senior official said to me re today in geneva, this is the real test of whether diplomatic engagement will work. the betting is that iran will do just enough to appear conciliatory and try to divide the european coalition, particularly dividing the u.s. from russia, but not enough to really satisfy the u.s. that it's no longer cheating. iran may, in fact, even offer to commit access or release of those three american hikers, but u.s. officials here in geneva say they want to talk about one thing -- the nuclear program. meredith? >> and if iran were to stonewall, andrea, what l

>> all right, andrea, thankou very much. andrea mitchell at the united nations this morning. benjamin netanyahu is the prime minister of israel. mr. prime minister, it's good to have you here. good morning. >> good morning. >> let me put that picture right back up, okay, the handshake between you and mr. abbas. does it mean anything? does it show any sign of progress or is that a long-overdue photo op? >> well, i think it's long overdue and i don't think it's just a photo op. i mean, i've been -- since being installed as prime minister, which is about six months ago, i said let's meet and let's talk peace. let's not talk about talking peace. let's just get together and do it. and i'm glad that president obama hosted this meeting, and i think with goodwill from all sides, we can get this thing going. >> but where do we stand? the president -- you're saying the right things, president obama's saying the right things. he says it's time to act. there's a window of opportunity. he's going to send hillary clinn and george mitchell back to the middle east and try to build on this pr

you talk to our own andrea mitchell and she says they seem to be a lot of optimism on the u.s. side, that, you know, iran will come to the table fairly seriously and if they don't, that the permanent members of the security council, including sanctions skeptics like russia and china there at the end. that is what we are all watching. >>> top commander in iraq is delivering good news while speaking to house lawmakers he said thousands of u.s. troops will soon return home because they are no longer needed in iraq. >> although challenges remain in iraq with the continued support of congress and the american people, i believe we are now in reach of our goals. >> that withdrawal is expected to drop troop levels to less than 120,000 before the end of the year. >>> chicago making all-out push to win the 2016 olympics. the president will join the first lady tomorrow evening. how hopeful are chicagoans at this point? >> they are very hopeful and some are hoping they get it and some hoping they won't. all across the city you see banners like the one hanging behind me on the michigan aven

let's talk to our own andrea mitchell, about saving the rain forest. this is about conservation and the earth of ours. >> nothing more compelling and nothing more important or compelling than the health care of the planet. health care is important on an individual basis, but if we don't have a healthy planet, we have no place else to live. >> hoping the planet doesn't go the way of alderon. it's generational. we can't help ourselves. that's a reference for you "star wars" plans. say what you will, vickie? >> i was just hoping he is running on clean energy, an electric car. >> finally, she is a singer and actress, and now an activist. mandy moore making the media rounds this week, talking about a trip to sudan. here is mandy on the "today" show. >> you know there are ways to stop it, and they don't have the tools they need. >> they don't have the tools, and i am with an organization to help people help themselves. >> why do actors like to go to africa when detroit doesn't look that great. >> africa doesn't need help? >> well, why not start next door? >>

he spoke on andrea mitchell reports yesterday. >> i don't think you can get people who are entrenched in their own hatred to stop. i think what we have to do is find the people who are willing to work together, the people who realize that mistakes will happen, and we've got to work for the betterment of the american people. >> by the way, we have a special airing on msnbc this as you know with bill cosby presented by michelle bernard. about our children will address topics such as health, education and parenting, september 20th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm eastern time on msnbc. >>> with us from the washington post, jonathan capehart, toure also here, chuck todd joining the conversation, chief white house correspondent here. jonathan, having been around washington as a journalist for a long time and having watched lots of political expression being -- thought jornl bush was the devil, compare the imagery and extreme resistance you would see with somebody like president george w. bush, at his most threatening and what we've seen with this president. >> i'm glad you asked that question. i've be

. >> with that said, correspondent andrea mitchell, and live, eugene robinson. we explain what president obama needs to do in afghanistan. >>> gene, thank you for being with us. andrea, let's start with you. a battle running with the civilians and the ones running the military. talk about that. >> well, basically the commanders in the field want to make a quicker decision on more troops and the president now is saying not so fast. he, hillary clinton, you saw that in her interview last night, and they are basically rethinking the strategy that they outlined only last march. and gates said don't rush for more troops. and the fact that they want more troops is enough to box the president in. and the big picture is, as eugene is pointing out, they may end up with at right policy. this is a tough crossroads for this president to be going up against the military. >> gene robinson, in 2005, 2006, petraeus starts to talk to the same people and the same leaders killing americans in anbar province, and the awakening work. are you suggesting the same thing in afghanistan?

the host of msnbc's "andrea mitchell reports" joins us. >> we are learning the inside story of the kennedy life from one of the brothers. it's published today. and sadly, it arrived at the center's home at the day that he finally took to his bed. he died later that night. his publisher thinks he never saw the book that he struggled so hard to finish. teddy kennedy reveals the lessons of a lifetime. from his privileged youth to the burden of being the only surviving son. >> sometime in your life you have to recognize that there is an extraordinary opportunity to put down some thoughts that you have that are relevant to your service in the united states senate. that's what i tried to do. >> reporter: his memoir is a fascinating account of his childhood, including tough lessons from his father. >> i had to sit down with my dad. he said, i just want you to know that i have other children out there that intend to have a purposeful and constructive life, so you have to make up your mind about which direction you are going to go. >> reporter: what emerges in the book is how scarred he was by his