administration, to grow the economy and create jobs. >> but behind the scenes, aides to house speaker boehner were unhappy about what they said was short notice they got from the white house. publicly, the speaker sent a letter back to the white house suggesting the following night for the president's speech. >> this is an act of flagrant disrespect that ought to be called out and boehner needs to be held accountable. >> this is crazy and disrespectful. >> late last night, the white house accepted the alternate date. >> we'll go thursday. our interest is in not having a political back and forth here at all. >> another scheduling conflict. the wednesday night speech would have been on at the same time as the republican presidential debate in california set to air on msnbc. >> either a, he wants to distract the american people so they don't watch him or b, he doesn't want the american people to hear what the next president of the united states is going to say about the president's job plan. >> i think initially it was political mischief. >> now there's a date but what

about the plan? we have been getting glimpses of it all week. here's the president on tom joyner's radio show. >> there's no doubt we can take steps that would mean the economy was growing a percent or percentage and a half faster, that could mean half a million to a million additional jobs. >> yesterday at the white house, he called on congress to extend bills that would keep road workers and faa employees on the job. >> i'm also proposing that we reform the way transportation money is invested. >> that will include clean energy and road projects. the president also wants to put people back to work rebuilding the nation's crumbling public schools. analysts say his plan should also be forward-looking. >> you can't keep talking about this car in the ditch. i'm so tired of that ditch and that car. >> all right. let's get you live to kristen welker at the white house. lots of back and forth here. what is the white house saying now? >> reporter: well, the white house is saying look, they wanted to move this date because

their priority is to get the president's message out about jobs, but certainly a big back-and-forth yesterday. the white house came out and said that the jobs plan would be announced next wednesday. of course, as you mentioned, that's the same exact date as the nbc news politico republican debate. white house said look, that's purely coincidence but really in a stunning political rebuke, house speaker john boehner said you have to move that date, it just doesn't work logistically. there was a lot of back-and-forth about who was actually right here, who had consulted whom. the white house saying that speaker boehner's office put up no objection to their plans. chuck todd spoke with dan pfeiffer, one of the top officials here at the white house, earlier today. here's that conversation. take a listen. >> speaker boehner tell i believe we reported it was chief of staff bill daly. did specifically tell bill daly yes, september 7th, 8:00, i'll make it work? >> they raised no objections to

the date or time. >> i guess what does that mean when they say they raised no objection? what does that mean? meaning they said it was sort of boehner saying oh, all right, bill? >> we had no reason to believe after that conversation that there was any reason that wednesday could not work for logistical or other reasons for the speaker. >> reporter: of course, there is a lot riding on this speech, veronica, whenever it takes place, which will be next thursday. we're waiting to hear about an exact time. of course, the unemployment rate has been stuck above 9%. the president's approval rating has seen some of their lowest numbers this summer, hovering around 40% right now. we don't really know what specifically will be in the plan, but white house officials say they're considering a number of proposals, including investing in infrastructure, building new schools, investing in job training and also green energy. so a lot riding on that speech next thursday. >> kristen welker, thanks for getting us up to date. it is official.

katia is a hurricane. we will have more news on katia becoming a hurricane coming up. first, we want to go ahead and continue with politics. monday, the president's plan will include ideas the republicans have supported in the past. >> there is no reason to think this should not be done. the only thing to keep them from getting done is politics. if congress and the house republican leadership in specific will let politics in the way of creating jobs and growing the economy, that's something they'll have to explain to the american people. >> let's go ahead and bring in our guests. bill press, host of the bill press show, also the author of "how republicans stole religion." j.p. is a republican strategist and associate editor of "commentary at the washington examiner." thanks for joining me. >> thanks for having me. >> of course. let's go ahead and start with you, bill.

what do you make of all this? partisan politics as usual? did the president, did he cave here? is boehner just being disrespectful? this is unprecedented, the first time we have ever seen a scheduling request for the president's speech denied. >> well, first of all, i think the most important thing is that there will be a speech, if not the first day, on the second day congress comes back, that there will be a focus on jobs, which is the number one priority facing this country. but i've got to tell you, i think obama caved and he should not have caved. look, he's right to make jobs the first priority. he is absolutely right to want to give this speech i think the first day congress comes back, and to do it in front of a joint session of congress, but i think boehner was wrong to show such disrespect for the office of the presidency, as you point out, for the first time in history, and i think the president was wrong to cave. >> j.p., want to get your take. this isn't the first time boehner has turned down a presidential invitation. he turned down an invitation to a state dinner. he said no to a flight on board air force one to the arizona shooting memorial. what is your take?

is this about disrespect and where do we go from here? are we going to be seeing more and more of this as we get closer and closer to the election? >> i think that these things have been happening since the very beginning. president obama has said that he would try to usher in a new era of bipartisanship and we have been seeing this kind of back and forth. i'm not even saying this is president obama's fault. i am noting there is this conflict that seems to be coming up all the time when the politics of pettiness was not going to be something that was going to be a factor in his administration, yet we're seeing this back and forth with speaker boehner, now it's very important to keep in mind that a scheduling conflict is not something that should be coming up in the news. i say that that's pretty much on obama, not so much on boehner, for not locking it down before making all this public. it is sort of a black eye. yes, he did give in. it doesn't mean he needed to give in right away. really, this thing should have been put down in writing, they should be using language like we had no reason to believe like this wouldn't work out. i just think it's kind of silly.

>> let me point out, if i can, his request came a week, a week before the speech. this is hardly a last-minute request. as far as the petty politics goes, look, bipartisanship i think is overrated but it is a two-way street. >> agreed. >> you can't get much bipartisanship done when mitch mcconnell on day one says his number one goal is to prevent obama from getting a second term, when john boehner won't even return the president's telephone calls. if there's been any petty politics, including this scheduling mishap, it's been on the part of john boehner and mitch mcconnell. let's face it. >> all right. >> we don't have documentation of that. we just know -- >> what do you mean we don't have documentation of that? >> we know that whatever happened with that phone call, and also whatever is happening with this letter doesn't actually matter. the fact is that the president has waited a long time to give us his jobs plan and he -- if you want to be serious about it and release it to the public, he should do that right now. we can have a national discussion like the kind of national discussion he loves to have. none of this is really all that

necessary. we don't need another speech. >> bottom line, the national discussion should be focused on what's actually in the president's plan. let's go ahead and talk a little about that. we have been hearing, this is what's in the president's proposal so far. tax cuts for companies that hire new workers, also infrastructure spending, clean energy tax cuts, payroll tax cuts, help for long-term unemployed. there could also be help for housing in this and the president has been saying it's going to stimulate the economy, get up to a million jobs out there. what is your take, is this enough? j.p., let's start with you. >> well, first off, i think the whole green jobs initiative, things that he brought up in the last state of the union, this stuff has not turned out well. the transportation fund, he also brought that up in the state of the union, it was, what, september, and now we're finally seeing something solid about this. one of the green companies that he said we should throw a lot of money into in san francisco just filed for bankruptcy. this has been a disaster for president obama. i would love to see the details. i think bill would love to see

the details. we haven't seen it yet. we have to wait for his speech to hear about it. >> first, let me just say under george bush we lost eight million jobs. under president obama with the stimulus package, with the auto industry bailout, we have gained probably, according to the congressional budget office, between two to three million jobs which is not enough, but we're now going in the right direction. let me just take my turn, and say as far as the speech goes, we really don't know enough that's going to be in it, that's in it yet. i just think the president has to be big and has to be bold. obviously, the private sector has been very slow to get into new hiring. i would say the president ought to take hurricane irene and say every one of those roads, every one of those bridges, every one of those schools and public buildings, we're going to rebuild right now, that is millions of jobs. that's a good place to start. i dare republicans to oppose it. >> all right. bill press, the host of nationally syndicated bill press show. j.p. is a republican strategist and associate editor of commentary at the "washington

examiner." >> i was. >> all right. nice to see both of you. thank you so much for weighing in with your thoughts. getting back to katia, it is official. katia is now a hurricane. the storm is moving across the atlantic with winds near 75 miles per hour. it could become a major hurricane by the weekend but so far, forecasters say current models show it getting caught between san juan and bermuda, weakening before it reaches the u.s. mainland. meanwhile, as we head into labor day weekend, vacationers planning to visit the catskills and adirondacks will be seeing a lot of this. damage left behind by irene. entire neighborhoods destroyed, ruining roads. plenty of flood waters to go around. in killington, vermont, officials are opening one of the mountain passes for an hour each day to let people go down the mountain. another hour they let people up. president obama is headed to patterson, new jersey this weekend. the passaic river is at a 100-year high. four out of five of the city's bridges are still under water.

nbc's michelle franzen joins us from patterson with the very latest. >> reporter: we just spoke with the mayor just a short time ago and he says it could take a little while even if the water recedes for those bridges to be passable. engineers are going to have to inspect the bridges. this is a privately maintained bridge here leading over to a commercial section but it gives you a sense of some of the damage that many of the bridges throughout town are dealing with. all the debris up there. the water has receded but the passaic still raging and bringing everything downriver with it from debris, all sorts of toys, kids' toys, and it is still inundating many neighborhoods further across this area, more than 6,000 people impacted by the effects of the passaic river just here in patterson. as you mentioned, president obama will be here on sunday touring with governor christie yesterday, of course, was homeland security secretary janet napolitano along with

fema's director, craig fugate. both of them clearing the way for some federal aid. but that now being subject, others may be playing politics. >> you want to figure out budget cuts, that's fine. you will turn into a fiasco like the debt limit thing where they're fighting with each other eight or nine weeks and you expect the citizens of my state to wait? they're not going to wait. i'm going to fight to make sure that they don't. >> reporter: the passaic river is receding as expected. it's expected in the next few days to remain above flood stage. >> not good news. michelle franzen in patterson, new jersey, thank you. the national hurricane center is also keeping an eye on a stormy weather that is taking place in the gulf. it is stormy weather right now. the weather system still just forming. forecasters say it could become a strong tropical storm or hurricane that could drop six to 12 inches of rain on the gulf of mexico this weekend. it's not exactly bad news for crews racing to put out raging

wildfires in texas and oklahoma. dozens of homes destroyed, sending residents fleeing the flames. charles hadlock is covering the story and joins us by phone. >> reporter: well, texas and oklahoma could certainly use some of that rain that's out in the gulf of mexico. hopefully it will move this way. for now, it's the third day in a row that people in oklahoma and texas are dealing with the threat of more wildfires. here in oklahoma city, about 50 homes have been destroyed since tuesday. more than 380 families have been evacuated as the wildfire danger here continues. some families like darren and karen grant scrambled to flee their home with their six kids. >> it just hit me yesterday as we were throwing things in the car, i've got about ten minutes, what do i grab. and the first thought was make sure the kids are safe. >> it was just all stuff and it doesn't matter for eternity. i still have my husband and six kids. >> reporter: just some of the

families dealing with the tragedy here in oklahoma city, with all the homes destroyed. a church has been destroyed. in texas, a wildfire 100 miles west of ft. worth is still burning, although authorities say it is 60% contained right now. the danger is the temperatures will be above 100 degrees again today with dry, windy conditions. veronica? >> charles hadlock joining us by phone with a tense situation in oklahoma. we appreciate it. thank you. a judge in aruba makes a big decision about the suspect in the case of robyn gardner, the maryland woman missing in aruba. plus a man goes to extreme measures to save his own life after getting trapped beneath a truck trailer in the forest. first, let's take a look what's happening on wall street. stocks have been higher and lower so far this morning. right now, it looks like the dow is down about a point. the s & p is down a fraction of a point. the nasdaq is up a fraction. we'll be right back. [ ticking ]

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welcome back. it is a moment of truth for michigan's 50,000 state employees. officials will decide today whether to issue mass layoffs which would take effect october 1st. the decision comes after talks stalled between republican governor rick snyder and the state's public worker unions. snyder's administration is seeking $145 million in concessions. the toughest anti-bullying law in the country goes into effect today in new jersey. schools have to implement new anti-bullying education programs and certain districts can even call the police to report school bullies who can be suspended or expelled. some say the rules go too far. an ordeal for a colorado man forced to amputate his own toes when his foot got stuck in a piece of heavy machinery.

john was alone in the woods when it happened. he thought he might die and it quickly became clear he was out of options. >> i did everything else. i mean, i started cutting that boot, then i decided i got to do that and see if i couldn't slide it out that way. then when i saw the foot, i realized. >> he managed to save himself but the hospital was unable to save his toes. new developments in the disappearance of a maryland woman in aruba. a judge there has ruled the prime suspect, gary giordano, will remain behind bars for 60 more days. it gives prosecutors more time to determine if he's responsible for robyn gardner's disappearance. giordano first reported robyn missing on august 2nd. the two were traveling together in aruba. nbc's jeff rossen has the details. >> reporter: by now, gary giordano knows this place well. aruba's prison, locked up for 28 days and with this new court

ruling, it will be home for 60 more. >> it is urgent. >> reporter: it is a victory for aruba's top prosecutor, who believes giordano had something to do with the disappearance of robyn gardner. >> we keep on asking questions, of course, because we want him to tell us, either to tell us what happened or to tell us lies so we can work with that. >> reporter: law enforcement sources tell nbc news giordano is no longer in isolation, now mingling with the other inmates. robyn gardner's friends back home in maryland just hope he'll talk. >> we realize, gary, you can't take back, you can't take back a wrong. you can't do that. but what you can do is you can start over and you can make it right and just say where robyn is. >> reporter: giordano says he did nothing wrong and so far, hasn't given any clues which makes the next 60 days critical. prosecutors say they're anxious to find robyn, her body, any

evidence tying giordano to a crime. >> a lot of americans are watching this right now and saying look, gary giordano has been in jail for almost a month now. now he's going to be in jail for at least 60 more days. to some, that may seem like a lot being that he hasn't been charged with anything. >> our system is different from the american system. people are kept in pretrial detention. i think easier than in the united states. that's because we don't have a system like bail. >> reporter: gary giordano has three children back in maryland and a father battling cancer. >> it's tearing me up. >> reporter: frank giordano spoke exclusively with nbc news this week and maintains his son's innocence. >> i want to tell him that we miss him, we feel for him, that he's not alone, even though we can't talk to him. >> reporter: pain for a father defending his son and agony for the parents of robyn gardner who said wednesday, we need to find our daughter. we pray that anyone who knows what happened that day will find the strength to contact authorities.

>> absolutely, i can relate to them. i have never met them. i don't know them. but i'm sure that they're full of grief. how could you not be? >> that was nbc's jeff rossen reporting. giordano will be in prison for 60 more days. after that, prosecutors have three options, apply for another extension, charge giordano with a crime or let him go. another hurricane gaining strength in the atlantic. katia is on her way. but is the u.s. in her path? plus, oops, someone did it again. another iphone photo type was reportedly lost at a bar. hit hard by the recession, they let their employees go and moved into a motor home. our makeover team helped them

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well, the newest edition of the iphone is rumored to hit stores next month but an apple employee reportedly lost a prototype of the new phone at a california bar. does it sound familiar? >> it's a big controversy.

a mystery of who dunnit. apparently an apple engineer, an employee of apple, left behind the next generation iphone not set to come out for months now, at a bar in the silicon valley town of redwood city. >> that report was from april of last year. the same thing actually happened then. let's get the details from dan ackerman, senior editor of cnet.com. >> i feel like i was here talking about that story when that happened also. >> you probably were. i know. so what's going on here? is apple pulling the wool over our eyes? is this just a marketing ploy? >> maybe they're working their engineers too hard and they have to go to a bar to relax after work and the phone gets left on the bar when they leave. >> seriously, what is your take on this? you think this is a marketing ploy? >> definitely not. apple is so tightly wound when it comes to their marketing and p.r. they would never do something so sort of outre as this. they are lockstep, buttoned down. this is clearly just a tragic accident happening right after

another tragic accident. >> it makes you wonder who apple is hiring. >> unfortunately, they do have to send these phones out in public and have them tested to make sure they actually work in real world conditions. a bar is a pretty good real world condition to test a phone in. they just seem to have a really bad run of luck with this. >> they are normally so tight-lipped about their operations. you would think this thing would be carried around in a titanium suitcase or something. >> they oosusually hide the prototypes in cases where at first glance it looks like somebody using a regular iphone but when you open it up, you might go wow, it's this. >> what do we know about it? >> we don't know where the phone is. apple apparently contacted the police in san francisco. they contacted the restaurant and they got kind of a ping from the phone. you can kind of track phones. it went to an address associated with that ping. the guy there claims i don't have the phone. >> what are the differences? everybody is waiting with bated breath. we want to know what it looks like. >> one guy knows and he's not telling because he claims he doesn't have the phone. i think it could be thinner, have a bigger screen, could have

4g connection. we won't know until apple wheels it out onstage probably sometime in october. >> october. you're thinking it's october. >> unless this iphone shows up on a blog or something, unless somebody tries to turn it around and make a quick buck by saying i've got the prototype, who wants it. >> dan ackerman, always nice to see you. i like your glasses and your time. coming up, a battle between president obama and house speaker john boehner. a look at the he said/he said. and the congressional history of presidential requests. plus, a lesson they will never forget. no cash for the right hockey shot. do the boys deserve the money? go ahead and look into this story and send me a tweet.

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i'm veronica de la cruz. no u.s. troops were killed in iraq during the month of august. it is the first non-casualty month since the 2003 invasion. wikileaks is blaming the guardian for a data breach that exposed the entire unredacted archive of the u.s. diplomatic cables online. two journalists published a password they claim they were told it was temporary. virginia was hit with a 3.4 magnitude aftershock this morning. there have been more than 20 aftershocks since last monday's earthquake. according to allstate, fort collins, colorado is america's safest driving city. drivers will get into an accident once every 14 years. the average is ten years. president obama and house speaker john boehner appear to be picking up the partisan battle where they left off before summer break. exhibit a, yesterday's schedule squabble. >> the letter went forward. the speaker came back later in the day and said that there was a problem with that, logistical problem and you know what,

that's fine. we'll go thursday. our interest is in not having a political back-and-forth here at all. gridlock and partisan bickering is not new but what we saw over the summer is that instead of just being annoying, it can be harmful and dangerous to the economy, to the livelihoods of americans. >> nbc's luke russert is on capitol hill live. the speaker's office says they weren't consulted. give us an update on the he said/he said, if you will. >> reporter: it's really an interesting course of events that went down yesterday. there are two stories to this, one being put out by the white house and one being put out by speaker boehner's office. the truth probably lies in the middle. what boehner's office is saying is look, the white house contacted them early yesterday and said hey, we are going to go through with this and they said all right, let's figure out the logistics of it. then immediately after that, the white house put out a press release saying here's what's going to happen, there's going to be a joint session of congress at 7:00 or 8:00 on wednesday night, and we are going to have this go forward.

boehner's office did not have the opportunity to get anything together and they point to logistics. but it's interesting, i spoke to a house historian about this yesterday, and he said look, ordinarily these things all take place behind closed doors. they are private discussions. has the president of the united states requested a time from the speaker before in the history of the united states? absolutely. has the speaker said no, that time doesn't work? yes. that's happened before. but it goes on behind closed doors. what's so profound about this skirmish is that it played out publicly and that both sides were very eagerly trying to stick it to the other over something as mundane as scheduling, which is quite reflective of the times we live in, honestly, politically. now you have it on thursday. that's when john boehner said to president obama it would be easier to do, citing the fact they need to have a security sweep and get members of congress back into town because they are all slated to arrive around 5:30, 6:00 on wednesday of next week. so that's how it will go forward. but quite interesting that the speaker and the president of the united states would be willing to trade minor blows over

something as mundane as this. >> yeah. there has been lots of criticism from the american public. some people saying john boehner is being disrespectful. i'm curious, what has the reaction been on capitol hill, what are democrats saying? we know what republicans are saying. >> reporter: a lot of democrats are coming out against speaker boehner, saying this was disrespectful, that throughout history whenever a president has requested time, he's been able to have it. what a lot of republicans are saying is look, these things are always done behind closed doors. never has a president dictated that he will have a joint session of congress without getting all the details going through. so democrats are upset about it. republicans say it was the president trying to make a play getting in the way of their debate. it's the same back-and-forth we've seen honestly for the last few years here since the president took over his administration. i think the most interesting thing will be how does this play in november, do people see any side as having a grasp of what the important issues are and like right now, it seems from

talking to folks, they will choose the lesser of two evils in their mind. that shows you how far we've come. >> luke russert, thanks so much, sir. always nice to see you. republican presidential candidate jon huntsman gets a jump on the president and his opponent, unveiling his jobs plan in new hampshire wednesday. he wants to clean up the tax code and close tax loopholes, but huntsman also wants to get rid of some popular tax breaks like the home mortgage interest deduction. here's huntsman on the "today" show this morning. >> in order to compete with the likes of china and india, in order to get the jobs this country so desperately needs, we've got to clean out the code. we've got to wipe it clean. we've got to lower the rate. we've got to broaden the base, both on the individual income side and on the corporate side. there aren't a whole lot of corporations that are paying the 35% rate so let's get real about that. >> mark murray is nbc's deputy political director. nice to see you.

is huntsman's plan any different from other plans? what have we heard so far? >> ironically, his plan at least on the corporate tax reform isn't all that different. in fact, even president obama wants to reform the corporate tax code. what huntsman wants to do is actually have lower rates for both corporate taxes and individual rates. he wants to be able to have lower regulations and also more trade. when you look at all the other republican economic plans out there, and even the broad outlines some of them have sketched, it isn't all that different. republicans seem to be pretty much on the same page and are mainly campaigning against just the high unemployment rate right now here in the united states. the problem for huntsman is that he has yet to break out in national polls and even state-based polls. he certainly has the resume. he gets a lot of attention. he just hasn't broken through with voters yet but he has some time. >> savannah guthrie on the "today" show asked him why he was still in the race, because it's no secret he's way behind in the polls.

mark, at this point, what is keeping his campaign going? >> what's keeping his campaign going is resume. so he is a former governor of utah who actually had a pretty good economic record there and had some successes to be able to show. he's also someone who is personally wealthy. not as wealthy as mitt romney but he could be able to fund his campaign. we already saw him dip into his own personal pocket for his second quarter fund-raising. so he has the potential to be able to do that again. but the allure of jon huntsman is kind of more of a general election one, that he could actually reach out to independents. in some ways he's the republicans' version of barack obama, someone who says i can work with everyone, want to bring everyone together. the question for him is whether that's the message that republican primary voters want to hear, because for him to get to that general election, he needs to get through the primaries first. >> mark murray, nbc's deputy political director, thanks so much for your insight. always nice to see you.

the republican presidential candidates face off on wednesday, september 7th at 8:00 p.m. eastern. brian williams and politico's john harris will moderate. watch it right here on msnbc. some signs of returning to normalcy in vermont. crews are working to rebuild highways and roads washed out by tropical storm irene. massive flooding left dozens of communities completely cut off. national guard helicopters airlifted supplies to mountain communities where people still have no electricity, phone service and very limited chances of getting in or out. nbc's ron mott joins us live from killington. ron? >> reporter: hey, there, good day to you. there's a lot of heavy equipment here in southern vermont trying to repair multiple sections of washed-out roads, really, too many to count. they're working to try to get a second lane so people can make it to and from the killington mountain area to work and to churches and to things like that that they need to get to.

it was more than just this road that was washed out on sunday. i'm standing in the front yard of a real treasure here in killington, vermont, a house that unfortunately was for sale, apparently close to getting to a closing situation. the house is gone. it was standing right here when that little babbling brook that sits right behind it became a roaring, raging, angry inferno really, of fiery water coming down. it wiped the house out. the house actually may have in fact saved the bridge down here, because it was wedged on that bridge for some time. it's in the local paper this week about the house that was 185 years old. it was believed to have been the oldest house still standing along highway 4. a lost treasure here in killington but they're trying to get some of these roads open so that life can start to begin to get back to normal for a lot of people here. >> just so sad. 11,000 people still without power right now. all right. ron mott in killington, vermont, thank you. you know, they say honesty is the best policy, even if you

lose out on $50,000. i will be talking with twins who learned the hard and very expensive way. plus, the search is on for libyan leader moammar gadhafi door-to-door. rebels want everyone to know he's probably in disguise, just like one of his sons. [ male announcer ] it's been a good year for the chevy silverado. and not because of the awards or the accolades. no, it was good because you told us so. the chevy model year wrap up. get in on our greatest model year yet. just announced -- celebrate labor day with an additional $500 bonus cash. with all other offers, including the all-star edition discount, that's a total value of $6,500. ♪ our greatest model year yet is wrapping up. oh, we call it the bundler. let's say you need home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online... [ whirring and beeping ]

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i'm chuck todd. coming up on "andrea mitchell reports" the president's speech before congress. is this a glimpse of the new normal in washington? can anything get done without dissolving into partisan bickering? plus, rebuilding libya. a defiant gadhafi still in hiding as world leaders meet and start the talks on how to build a new democracy there. and the decade after 9/11. we have an exclusive first look at the national journal's special anniversary issue. you got to read this. see you in 15 minutes on "andrea mitchell reports."

now to an update. 11-year-old nate smith of minnesota made a hockey goal worth $50,000. he managed to slide the three-inch puck 89 feet into a 3 1/2 inch slot. he makes it. the only problem is his twin brother, nick, was supposed to make that shot. his name was drawn in the charity raffle but nick was outside, so dad told nate to take the shot. later, dad had a crisis of conscience. he fessed up. now the promoters and the insurance company have decided not to give the kids the cash. earlier today, i spoke with dad and the boys about that decision and of course, that amazing shot. nate, let's go ahead and start with you. i just want to say that i grew up on the ice, i was a figure skater, my brother was a hockey player. i have seen a lot of hockey in my time. i know how difficult that shot was to make. how did it feel when you saw that you had made it?

>> it felt great, because the crowd was cheering for me and they were all crowding around me. i never felt that good. >> and nick, you were supposed to be the one who was supposed to be on the ice. how do you feel about the whole thing? do you wish that it was you who made the shot? >> well, it would be cool to get all the attention and stuff, but it's just cool that he made it. yeah. >> in the meantime, we all know how this has all played out. the decision's come out now that the twins won't be getting the money. i know that you've always said honesty is the best policy. in retrospect, do you have any regrets here? >> no, i don't. i stand by honesty is always the best policy. i think we did the right thing. >> what about the two of you, nate? do you think that your dad did the right thing? >> yeah.

>> nick? >> yeah. it's a good thing. >> what has the message been through all of this, pat? what would you like parents to take away from all of this? >> i think just tell the truth, no matter how much money's at stake and you'll always come out on top. >> what happens next? because i understand that the money will actually go to the minnesota youth hockey league. >> yes. our own hockey association and another hockey association are both going to benefit. they will split the money and it will go to probably just some kids that can't afford to be in the program. >> nate and nick, the two of you are going to go to hockey camp this summer? >> yeah.

>> that is awesome. nate, congratulations, my friend. there are a lot of nhl players who probably couldn't have made that shot. congratulations. thanks for joining us. they are just so cute. people have been talking about this story for weeks. twitter is no exception. we have been asking you what you think. should the twins have gotten that prize money? here are a few of the responses we've gotten in to msnbc tv. also, my handle. steve johnson tweets the compromise was good. it was the dad's fault. hope the kids learn from his error in judgment. this one says the honesty of the dad is more valuable than the $50,000. better to earn with integrity than to earn any other way. finally, my heart says yes, they should get the money, but rules are rules. i would give them a consolation prize, though. all right. thank you all for tweeting to us.

we always love to hear from you. a sidebar now. former vice president dick cheney stirring up controversy with his new memoir. this morning, he was asked if he has any regrets about going into iraq since no weapons of mass destruction were ever found. >> i still remain today absolutely convinced that that threat is the possibility of terrorists with a nuclear weapon in the middle of one of our cities. we need to do everything we can to make certain they never acquire that capability. one of the great events that happened five days after we captured saddam hussein was moammar gadhafi held a press conference and announced he was giving up all of his nuclear materials and all of that now resides in the united states. centrifuges, weapons design, all of that's in our control now. >> cheney predicted that heads would explode in washington after that book was released. former secretary of state

condoleezza rice doesn't appear to be on the brink of a blast but she is pushing back against something else cheney talks about in his memoir. take a listen. >> you also write about condi rice after the two of you had a disagreement. she came into my office, sat down in the chair next to my desk, and tearfully admitted i had been right. was she crying? >> she was tearful. that's why i wrote it. if i wanted to say she was crying, i would have said she was crying. >> you know that tearfully is a loaded description for powerful women in high office. it's going to be seen by a lot of people as provocative. could you have left that word out? >> it is an accurate description of what happened and what i saw. >> in an interview with reuters, rice says the claims were an attack on her integrity and cheney is taking cheap shots at her and other bush administration officials.

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the "washington post" says the u.s. embassy in tripoli has been looted, ransacked and burned. in just the past hour, a new audio message purportedly from moammar gadhafi was released. meanwhile, the search for gadhafi has taken a unique turn. he may be disguised as a woman. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel has more. >> reporter: rebels say they are now closing in on territory still held by moammar gadhafi's loyalists and fellow tribesmen. now amassed outside gadhafi's hometown of sirte, rebels have given gadhafi's men until saturday to surrender or they will invade. but gadhafi's own whereabouts remain unknown. in tripoli, rebels have been searching cars, even using photographs of how gadhafi might look dressed in disguise as a woman. what is known is that the gadhafi family has split up. last week, gadhafi's wife, two sons and a daughter named aisha

fled to neighboring algeria. aisha, who was pregnant, reportedly gave birth at the border. but two of gadhafi's other sons appear to still be in libya. and seem to be divided over what to do. on wednesday, gadhafi's son saadi told an arabic tv station he's willing to negotiate a surrender. if turning myself in would stop a bloodbath, i don't mind doing it, he said, without revealing his location. but in a separate call, another son, saif al islam, once heir apparent, says he and his father will fight on. the leader is good. we are in libya. we are fighting, he said. >> the fact he sent his wife and three of his children to algeria tells me now he appreciates that there is no return to the past. the gadhafi rule is over. the gadhafi dynasty is over. >> reporter: where could gadhafi be? he might be holed up in tripoli,

a city of two million. or in his hometown of sirte. another possibility, another gadhafi tribal stronghold. analysts suggest more likely, it's that gadhafi has fled to central or southern libya. it has pockets of loyalists and is difficult terrain. few roads, vast deserts, oasis, caves and canyons. the region is also closer to the borders of algeria, niger, chad and sudan, giving gadhafi more options to escape the country. rebels say if gadhafi is caught he will be executed by a firing squad. >> richard engel reporting. secretary of state hillary clinton says the u.s. will release more than $700 million of the more than $1.5 billion in unfrozen funds. thanks for joining us. i'm veronica de la cruz. always good to see you.

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