get walls. i want to paint something else. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. refresh your home inside or out with behr premium plus ultra. interior flat starts at $31.98 a gallon. ♪ right now on "andrea mitchell reports" -- a celebration fit for a future king. congratulations pouring in from around the globe for the little prince. today the proud grandparents have already arrived at the hospital to meet their new grandson. >> he's absolutely beautiful. they're both doing really well. we're so thrilled. >> crowds are still gathered outside st. mary's hospital for the first public glimpse of the royal baby and to hear from the new parents.

31 years ago those same steps the world first met another future king. reject trag digsing traditional measures like the bulletproof car, the pope was mobbed as crowds brought his motorcade to a halt in rio de janeiro. the pope even stopped at one point to kiss a baby but is the pope's hands-on approach too much of a safety risk? health care, immigration, now the economy. the president tries to hit the restart button on his second-term agenda. >> i'm going to talk about where we need to go from here, how we need to put behind us the distractions and the phony debates and nonsense that somehow passes for politics these days and get back to basics. and late night comedians can't hide their excitement about the royal baby's arrival. >> oh, my god, oh, my god! oh my god! oh my god! oh my god! oh my god! oh my god!

oh my god! yes yes yes! a son! a son! >> there is a royal baby! and, the world is in the grips of postpartum jubilation. >> the staff likes to call me, the royal baby. >> the royal baby is 8 pounds. but then again, you can't really put a price on a child. >> kate middleton went into labor this morning in london. when the rest of the royal family heard that, they were like, oh, my god, what's labor? we have to work? good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. beaming grandparents, the middletons, left st. mary's hospital. prince charles was just there as well. reporting that the new grandson, according to the middletons, is absolutely beautiful. no hints yet on the baby's chosen name. >> he's absolutely beautiful. they're both doing really well. we're so thrilled. >> how are the parents doing. >> fabulously.

>> what was the first cuddle like? >> amazing. it's all coming back. nbc's jim maceda joins us now from st. mary's hospital and nbc's anabel roberts joins us from buckingham palace. we know something could happen at any minute. charles just left. jim maceda, what are we expecting? >> reporter: that's right, andrea. it could happen any minute, though it may not happen any minute. that lends to the usual tension and festivities here but the new grandparents, you're right, prince charles and camilla, arrived about a half-hour ago. charles asked a reporter if she had waited a long time. and then he and the duchess of cornwall looking relaxed and quite happy entered the hospital. it is what happened when they came out of the hospital that matters right to you. charles was shouted out a few questions, someone asked how's the baby. he said absolutely marvelous. and then i quote, "wait and see. you're going to see it --" or

"you're going to see him in a minute." now that could and royal minute or a real minute. in any case, that's created an absolute flurly -- a flurry of tension activity. everybody now is on their "a" game here. i am looking at about 400 or 500 cameramen who would shoot me if i stand here much longer. so if you see me go down, it is because we know something -- they're about to come out. in the meantime, we mentioned kate's parents, carol and michael. yes, they arrived in a black cab. she came out with him afterwards, saying that the new prince is absolutely beautiful, as well. right now, there's still no sign of the royal baby but i think we are getting very close. whatever that means. back to you. >> very close indeed. we'll let you get out of the way. anabel roberts over at buckingham palace, obviously a lot of anticipation there as well and celebration throughout british isles. >> reporter: that's right,

andrea. people who have bothered to come to buckingham palace today have had a treat. they've been lining up. along the railings outside buckingham palace because the easel that announced the birth yesterday is still there so people have been cueing up to have their photo taken beside that. that's been going on all day. also today here we had one of the 41-gun salute took part just beside buckingham palace. the carriages and horses all rolled past us here. that was exciting. also changing of the guard this morning, as you would expect, that happens at 11:00 every morning. well, today they played lots of very happy celebratory music for the marching bands. so plenty going on here but of course, the main focus of attention right now is on that door. we were told early this morning that if kate left today, it would be around 6:00 london time, which is right now. so of course, that has added to

our sense of anticipation that this might be about to happen, tied in with what jim was just telling you about prince charles' comments when he left the hospital a short time ago. >> prince charles' hint was certainly a very broad hint. tina brown joins us now, from the daily beast and author of her book on diana. of course, this is bittersweet, the diana chronicles is your book. you know better than anyone that the one person missing from this very happy family portrait is diana who would have been 52 as a young, young grandmother. >> she would. but she would have felt such joy and such sort of vindication if you like of her own parenting skills. because she raised william to be this very grounded, very contemporary, very elegant guy who has a tremendous sense of how to communicate. and has picked this woman, kate, who has been such a kind of stabilizing force in the whole royal family. she'd be absolutely thrilled at

what she has. >> people are both inside that smoked glass and we see the reflections of course of the photographers outside. we are zooming if on that door, tina and anabel and jim maceda. tina, the fact, the way she raised those children, all of those pictures with her and wills and harry, and brought them to places that were very normal childhood places. she, of course, the first to give birth in the hospital. the first royal birth in st. mary's. that set the stage for this very different modern birth. >> absolutely. she was also a mother who went down the water slide with her kids with the splashing of the water park. she was a mother who took them to see batman. she was a mother who took them to see all these movies and went

to theme parks and really gave them a kind of modern childhood which certainly prince charles had never had or any royal child before. but of course it is going to be even harder for the child of kate and william because they will make tremendous efforts to circle that child in privacy, rigorous efforts. i think the press will be more compliant perhaps than they were with diana. but we also have the the era of the iphone camera and an era of absolute transparency on the internet. so it is going to be a very difficult thing to protect the child and it is going to be a full-scale sort of royal attempt to shield that child and at the same time keep that child unpampered and unpretentious. >> tina, what do you make of all the talk of the middletons and kate wanting to bring up this child in a very normal way without a nanny, without any kind of help. they are in this two bedroom cottage now on the skaestate at kensington palace and will move into that 20-room palace when it

is renovated but is that really realistic within the palace context? >> i don't think it is realistic to say it won't be a nanny but i think it is the kind of nanny. it is quite possible it could be a roster of part-time work as opposed to a live-in nan nay. the notion of the nerm neperman nanny in royal terms has a dragon-like flavor. there used to be these very in-control nannienannies. charles' nanny was the primary caregiver. i think kate is trying to indicate she is the primary caregiver. she'll have housekeepers and a nanny who comes in and baby-sits and all of that but she's not going to be a person who hands over her child to a kind of matriarch of the nursery. that is not going to happen. >> we should point out that all this anticipation and camera shot of the doorway is not without reason. palace has put out official guidance that the duke and duchess of cambridge and their baby are expected to leave the hospital later this evening.

that of course is uk time. it is 6:00. we will see them tonight and that's what prince charles was broadly hinting. >> that's right. was down at kensington palace earlier today. that's where william and kate and their unnamed baby will be heading. the moment they leave the hospital, if they do, as we all begin to expect they might, later this evening. they're going to be living in a small two-bedroom cottage while the renovations are completed in the big 20 1-room apartment thas still under work there. should be finished in the autumn. it is thought now william will have two weeks paid paternity leave from his job as an raf rescue pilot in wales. he and kate will spend that two weeks here in london together at kensington palace. at that point he'll return to work in wales and she likely will spend the rest of her time at her parents a short distance

from london where she grew up and there it is. were you asking about the influence of carol and michael middleton. right from the start here, it is very likely that carol middleton will have a very great influence on how this future king is brought up. andrea. >> in fact, there was some evidence, without any guidance, had they said, of extra security in that smallville animal already today, not that they thought they were coming right from hospital to the in-laws, to the grandparents, but that they were doing it just as a protective run. right now we see the door opening and at least somebody is coming out in advance. jim maceda, what are you seeing from your vantage point? >> you must be seeing a different door than we are, andrea. >> no one has come in or out for some time.

there are serve hundred staff of this hospital that are on either side of the door. they go back 20 or 25 feet deep. all wearing their staff badges. they clearly work here. that's the kind of scenario or kind of theatrical scene that you would expect of when the royals come out. i would be surprised if this isn't going to happen sooner now than later. though it is now 6:12 our time. we were supposed to get a 30 to 60-minute warning throughout they came out, throughout the day in fact, and that wording never came. someone saw in the press corps thought he saw kate's hair dresser arriving and going in several hours ago. it turned out that it was someone else. then the palace also denied that. but that's how excited people are right now and maybe some of them are just hallucinating. back to you.

>> well, and tina brown, when we talk about the excitement, it is on this side of the pond as well over this child. the fact is that the royal brand, if you will, has had quite a revival after the wedding two years ago and the popularity of this young couple. >> it really has. i think people see them as a joyful but modern and somehow untainted couple really. i mean one of the things that's so great about kate is that she's both hip and beautiful and fun, but at the same time she's also always a lady. she's always a girl who keeps her discretion, who has her poise. there's nothing trashy about her and i think that people are tired, in a sense, of the trashiness of celebrity and the trashiness and ephemeralness. she's way traditional but with a way contemporary and elegant and

modern flavor that's very, very appealing. >> well, we will keep our eyes on the door and tina brown, thank you. we'll talk with you throughout the hour. anabel roberts as well. and of course, jim maceda at your vantage point at st. mary's. here in new york, laguardia airport in new york city back up and running again after the hard landing of a southwest airlines jet yesterday. after the front landing gear collapsed, the boeing 737 skidded to a stop with flames shooting out from beneath the plane. the passengers felt a hard jolt. six passengers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. the faa and ntsb of course are just beginning their investigation into what went wrong. steve check was on the runway when he saw the hard landing. >> all of a sudden you heard the pilots go holy cow. i just looked up and looked to the right out the right side of the plane and there was just this fireball going down the

runway. it was unbelievable. [ male announcer ] this is betsy. her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪ his dad knows he's not. that's why dad got allstate accident forgiveness. it starts the day you sign up. [ female announcer ] with accident forgiveness from allstate, your rates won't go up just because of an accident, even if it's your fault. call 866-735-9100 now. kim and james are what you might call...overly protective. especially behind the wheel. nothing wrong with that. in fact, allstate gives them a bonus twice a year -- for being safe drivers. [ female announcer ] get two safe driving bonus checks a year

for driving safely. switch to allstate today! call an allstate agent now and see how much you could save. now that the kids are out of the house, so are frank and sandy. hitting every flea market they can find. but the best deal so far... is the one from allstate. [ female announcer ] drivers who switched to allstate saved an average of $498 a year! how much could you save? call 866-735-9100 and find out. [ dennis ] let an allstate agent help you save. are you in good hands? [ female announcer ] call an allstate agent and get a quote now.

nobody spent more time trying to fix a broken immigration system than i have. i talked about it the day after the election and i've talked about about a hundred times since. >> but what has he said about it? he says he's not been hands-off on the immigration debate. we've heard the senate's comprehensive bill is dead on arrival in the house so what are the major options getting some traction among conservatives, if any? joining me now for our "daily fix," chris cillizza and amy walter, national editor for the cook political report. welcome, both. there is a door in london -- we are keeping an eye on that doorway. if we break away suddenly, it is

because we're introducing george or philip or alexander -- >> we know where we stand, trust us. >> you are royal to me. but safe to say there is another little bitty baby that's a little more important today. amy, you've been writing about immigration. the speaker is trying to say i'm not the one blocking it but many are writing that he has lost control of his caucus and in conversations with the president in the last couple of weeks there's been a back and forth over whether or not they can even get to it before the break. i think now democrats agree let's give this more time. >> let's see where it goes from here. listen, it is pretty clear that as you pointed out the senate bill is going nowhere in the house. there is no appetite by house members for it, there is no appetite among primary voters, republican primary voters. a piece today on new polling that came out from a conservative group called the american action network that's trying to get the house to pass immigration reform and they're advocating much of what john boehner talked about -- make it piecemeal, make sure it is not

called comprehensive and there probably will be no such thing as a pathway to citizenship. they'll call it something else, legal status, but pathway to citizenship is all but dead. the question is do they just pass something out of the house and put it in the harry reid's court, say to him it is up to you now, we've passed something, the senate's passed something, now you have to take our bill or -- >> we'll go to conference. >> -- or go to conference, which i don't know that will happen. at the very least i think what leadership would like to do is simply get it off their plate, move on and move on to something else. >> briefly before we talk about some of these emerging senate races, chris, i want to ask you about bob goodlatte, the politico story the house chair is talking about doing this with the traditional path to citizenship, marry somebody, get another way to citizenship. but not one that is newly legislated. >> right. andrea, getting it to conference committee where they try to sort of marry the two bills

legislatively speaking. i don't even know if that's possible given that if -- it seems extremely unlikely that house -- the republican controlled house takes up anything that has any pathway to citizenship. as you point out, new legislation dealing with the 12 million or so undocumented immigrants in this country. given that, it is such a huge part of the senate bill. i just don't know how you conference those things together. senate democrats aren't going to say, oh, okay, we'll just take the house bill. house republicans have made clear, as amy said, they're not just going to take the senate bill. so the idea of a conference committee sounds appealing but if there is one thing that each side won't give on and that's the key to getting a compromise, just doesn't seem to me like -- you can form the conference committee but it may not do anything. >> want to also play for you guys a new eliot spitzer youtube. is a new commercial.

let's watch. >> look. i failed. big time. i hurt a lot of people. when you dig yourself a hole, you can either lie it in the rest of your life or do something positive. >> well? he's doing something about it. >> the rest of that commercial goes on to say, but remember, when i was in office, i took on the big, bad guys especially wall street. there is a classic rule if politics which is -- even if people don't like you, there's probably somebody else they like even less than you. in this case it is wall street. it's wall street and the big banks. >> before i let you go, want to ask you about michelle nunn. daughter of the legendary senate armed services chair, sam nunn, and a real contributor in georgia. she's been active with points of light so she has a lot of friends with the bush 41 family and colleagues. what are her chances now in

georgia, the saxby chambliss seat opening up? >> i think some of it, andrea, has to do with who republicans nominate. i would say a lot of it has to do with who republicans nominate. there are a couple candidates running who i think could fall in to the sort of richard mourdock in indiana in 2012 situation which is he's just too conservative, even for a conservative leaning state. if that happens, i think michelle nunn becomes a real chance. certainly i would say a long-ish shot chance but certainly not out of the question. if republicans nominate someone like jack kingston, more establishment republican nominee, i think that's going to be very hard. numbers to get to 51% are a lot harder to see in georgia. that's her challenge. she's a known name with real credibility and someone who's sort of a known commodity, aside from her father in the state, all those things working in her

favor. but watch that republican primary. >> mitch mcconnell gets a tea party opponent. he's become pry married and harry reid doesn't seem to be that unhappy to see his adversary having this problem. >> no. he made some comments last night about that saying that, you know, mitch mcconnell tried to make love to the tea party and they didn't like it. i don't know exactly what that means, but fundamentally this is what democrats are hoping for is that mitch mcconnell gets beat up in a republican primary and that he enters the fall campaign with a little less money in the bank, a few more bruises. but in both cases the georgia race and the kentucky race, these are red states in an off year. what the democratic candidate is going to have to do is not just pump up the base and african-american voters but they've also got to appeal to the sort of independent white voters. that's a balancing act that's very tough to do. barack obama was very good about pumping up the base. but the balancing act, not so

good at. >> amy walter, chris cillizza, thank you for our "daily fix." see? we got it in and we still have an eye on the door. we'll be right back in a moment we hope with some happy news out of st. mary's hospital. stay with us. ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker every day. ♪ ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker and i'm working every day. ♪ ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker and i'm saving all my pay. ♪ small businesses get up earlier and stay later. and to help all that hard work pay off, membership brings out millions of us on small business saturday and every day

to make shopping small huge. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

it's been that way since the day you met. but your erectile dysfunction - it could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat,

or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. welcome back. any moment we expect that door to open and the duke and dutch cles ess to come out with the new royal baby. anabel roberts over at buckingham palace, this is great excitement of course, this is the second time this has happened. we all remember 31 years ago when prince william emerged with princess diana who would have been 52 years old at the birth of her first grandchild. prince charles and camilla were there earlier today, i guess about an hour ago. prince charles said it was marvelous and that we would all meet him or it -- not sure whether he said him or it -- in a few moments. >> reporter: that's right. that somehow threw us off track

because we thought why would prince charles and camilla be going to visit their new grandson if he was coming out straight away after. but the palace has confirmed they are about to leave hospital. they've confirmed that kate has been discharged from hospital and that she and the unnamed baby and william will be heading home to kensington palace shortly. we expect that to happen imminently. great excitement. here at buckingham palace, crowds have been milling around all day. plenty still cueing up to have their photo taken beside the easel that was used yesterday that announced the birth of the baby. i've also been down to kensington palace today where the couple do live, where this baby will join them. there are excited crowds there today as well. great excitement as really the eyes of this country are focused on that front door of the lindo wing. we are used to waiting for this baby. it's been a long saga but this

is really the final moment and i think we're going to see this bundle within minutes. andrea. >> any bet at all on names? we're not going to hear names momentarily. you expect that that will take quite some time, additionally. >> reporter: i think that will take a little bit of time, yes. charles and diana took a week to announce william's name. i think kate and william will be a bit quicker than that. i'm sure they know the anticipation, excitement to work out the names, not to speak of all the many, many tens of thousands of people who have laid a bit of money on this. betting has been phenomenal on the name of the baby. so hopefully we'll know soon. top of the list, george, james right at the top of the list. but philip is in there, too, obviously reference out of respect for william's grandfather, prince philip. i think we will hopefully hear about that in the next few days but really the excitement now is

to glimpse this baby. as you said, we will get our first glimpse of this baby, the very same place that we first saw prince william in the arms of his mother diana 31 years ago in june when she emerged carrying william in her arms with prince charles. and how poignant that he is going to be standing on those same steps with his new baby. we understand that the couple will come out holding the baby. pose for photos. william might even say a few words. then they will return back inside the lindo wing and off they go. >> chris jansing is of course there at her post. chris, have you been there throughout. as you pointed out, memorably last night, a big boy indeed, this child. >> reporter: yes. 8 pounds 6 ounces. and prince charles who was here earlier pronounced him marvelous. that's when we got the first tantalizing clue about when we

would see the future king of england because he essentially said you'll see shortly. we had a number of visitors here today. we saw the middletons. carol middleton was asked whether she had any suggestions for the couple about naming the baby. she said absolutely not. then we saw prince charles coming in. for him quite a bit of levity, joking with the press, have you been waiting a while, which of course they have. i wish i could show you what i can see behind me, andrea. because row after row after row of cameras. and as you can see, we're very close. couldn't get a better location directly across the street from the door and those truly iconic steps where we first prince william in diana and charles' arms 31 years ago. but they have these tremendous long lenses because this is of course the money shot. this is what everyone has been waiting to see. we know that just about an hour or so ago three future kings of england were in the same room at

the same time. of course prince charles, prince william and this yet to be named prince. the betting has been going crazy here. it's at about $750,000 with the folks from patty power. george, by far the most popular choice. but we're just going to have to wait and see. everyone wants to get their first look at this baby who immediately on stepping out here in all these pictures, all this video being taken, andrea, will immediately be the most famous baby in the world. >> martin bashir, our colleague, is in new york. martin, in watching this and the excitement over this child and the fact that actually to have four generations for the first time since victoria, four generations of royals who are going to be future monarchs. what about the paparazzi? this is a completely different experience in the digital age to

what poor diana had to experience with the paparazzi chasing her through that horrible tunnel in paris. but now any cell phone, any device that this child experiences at school or at play can expose the baby to all sorts of publicity. how do you raise a child in that environment? >> i think that prince william and the whole royal family have learned some very hard lessons from the experience of princess diana. i think you can see from what's been happening throughout the marriage of prince william and princess katherine, that they have taken to choreographing and controlling the media in a far more professional fashion than ever before in the history of the royal family. when princess diana became engaged to prince charles, she was literally left to go back to her job in the nursery followed by something like 300 cameramen. well, that did not happen with princess katherine. you will remember that there was that staged event when the engagement was announced, and

since then they've got -- and developed a huge professional media team that operates now. so i think to some extent the advancement in digital media will be matched by the advancement in terms of the preparation and organization of the royal family. and they've really accepted that doing things in the way they used to is no longer possible. this child is, chris jansing just said, will be the most famous child in the world, on the planet, and i think that for that reason they have got a team -- media team that is as detailed, professional as money can buy. >> martin, as you point out, they've already adjusted the fact that they are gone online to make these announcements. they didn't wait for the palace envoy to go and put the statement on the easel. that did happen, of course, but they also went online and

they've been sending announcements to all of us, the palace has. so they've obviously made this adjustment and to try to minimize to what extent they can the chaos of the media hordes that have been camped outside the hospital for these many weeks. >> the pressure on princess katherine must be incredible. she has conceived and carried a baby that, to all intents and purposes, is hers hand her husband's. but in reality, as you were just saying that child was saying, is going to be monarch of the united kingdom. the queen is currently the head of state of 15 countries in a commonwealth that numbers about 83 other nations. this child to some extent is owned by the monarchy and that produces all kinds of pressures. i understand that there's already pressure on prince william an princess katherine to make a major overseas trip in the next year, possibly to australia.

and that was exactly what princess diana and prince charles did when prince william was only 8 months old and they decided to take william with them. so it is an incredibly difficult and pressured environment. but it comes with the territory. and i think princess katherine, having taken a great deal more time -- remember, andrea, diana was 20 when she had had wiprinc william. this young woman is 31. she's been to a university. she's lived with her husband-to-be. she's been able to develop her own personal and professional interests and i think that that will, to some extent, shape the way this family manages the future. but it's an enormously difficult position to be in, because as i said, this child is not really just theirs but it's the nation's. >> you, of course, had the memorable interview and you knew diana. talk to me a bit about diana and

just the pain presumably from william and for the rest of the family that she is not with them. >> well, it's obviously a bittersweet occasion but i think that the arrival of the middletons first to the hospital is an indication that william is minded to rely on that family and to allow his wife to have full and unfettered access to that family. you'll remember that when william was born, there was an argument between prince charles and princess diana over who should be the nanny of that child. and actually diana won the argument. but in this case, i think william has learned enormously from his mother in terms of her attempts to at least have some semblance of normality in his life. and i think the fact that they stayed with princess katherine's

parents for a long period towards the end of the pregnancy. the fact that the parents were the first to come and not prince charles and the duchess of cornwall, is an indication, i think, that william and katherine are shaping their future around the stability and normality of the middleton family. he's clearly extremely fond of them. they spent christmas last year together with the middleton family. of course, christmas in the united kingdom is a huge royal occasion. normally spent at the queen's estate where the family then attends church on christmas day. of course, prince william and then kate were not -- sorry, princess katherine were not there. they were with her family. so i think you're seeing attempts both in terms of the media management, the team that they've put together, and the way they're conducting themselves to try and normalize as best they can the life that they have ahead of them.

>> of course, the queen mother then alive was a very big influence on the training and adjustment of diana. how hand-on do you think her majesty queen elizabeth is going to be with this infant and with the rearing of this child? >> there's no doubt that they have been very clear that they plan to be very hands on and in fact not to have a nanny, very different than we've ever seen before. not to pretend that they're not going to have help, but there is a sense here that this is a very modern couple and i think that prince william has also made it very clear that he loved that he had these moments of normalcy, if you will, when he was a child. certainly a very different upbringing for katherine. and so when you go around, as i did today, and talk to so many people earlier today and now you can't even get near this, but this morning torrential downpours. people just stood in the rain.

they didn't have umbrellas. they were soaking wet, and yet they stayed. i asked them why are you here? especially the young people said, they really love the modernity of this couple. they of love the fact they're sort of willing to take things on in as normal a way as you possibly can given the fact that the eyes of the world are on you non-stop. now is that to say that there has not been a lot of guidance? i think martin said it very well. the mistakes, if you will put it that way, that the royal family feels were made for diana. kate was in this family for ten years and got a tremendous amount of guidance and has handled herself with so much grace. and so they look at things in a very different way. but so much of this is informed by the experiences that prince william has had had and i was asking camilla tominy a little earlier, princess diana came out at 21 hours. if we see kate and wills in the

next few minutes or so, it will have been 26 hours, another five hours. i said why do you think they're staying in there? she said, there is a real realization by this couple that this is the last time that this baby is really private. now he sort of becomes this public entity, as i said earlier, the most famous baby in the world, his face will be on the covers of newspapers everywhere. will be everywhere online. so maybe they're just savoring these few last hours as a family just the three of them, before this whole media eruption happens, andrea. >> chris, as we are talking to you, we see behind you what seems to be normal traffic, bicycles and taxis and cars going right by the lingo wing of st. mary's hospital. they haven't closed the street. >> no with, they haven't.

it's remarkable, isn't it? i have to say, there is plenty of police presence and they do have guardrails up obviously to control the media, but also to control the public as this crowd gro grows and grows and it gets out on social media that this really does look like it is going to happen but it has been amazing how normal things have been. not only do you have the hospital here but over there you have another hospital wing. you have a restaurant. and throughout these last couple of days, as the amount of media and the amount of spectators has grown, people have just sort of had had to fight their way through. if you had an appointment in one of these buildings, you walk in and you kind of fought your way through. and of course, i think given the hour now we have a lot of hospital employees who normally would have been going home by now but they're all staying. there is a bridge that connects these two buildings obviously the lindo wing, one part of the wing, then across to the hospital building behind me. that is completely packed. everywhere that i can look

people are six, seven, eight deep and all kind of squashed in. but yes, every time a car would come up you would start looking, especially earlier today when we heard the middletons might come. they came up in a normal taxi, got out and the taxi drove away. it is this sort of juxtaposition. you have all of this media here, and yet in some crazy way a little bit of life is going on as normal. if you can call this in any way normal, andrea. >> i think, chris, one of the most interesting moments was in your interview, your comments last night with ben fogle, our colleague and contributor who had gone because his sister was giving birth and so he actually was inside the lindo wing last night and experienced firsthand what the security was like inside. but it's also notable, anabel roberts, that last night the longer statement that the duke and duchess issued was thanks

and gratitude to all of the staff and patients and sort of normal life blood of that hospital, all the people who had had been so kind to them and put up with their presence. because certainly it had to be somewhat disruptive to all the other patients and visitors at the hospital. >> that's right. yes. in fact, there's been another tweet just in the last few minutes from their office, again expressing their thanks to the staff at the hospital and saying that they've been look after incredibly well but you can imagine the disruption that they must cause to the other women in labor or going in to that wing for check-ups who are pregnant ladies going in for check-ups to have all this commotion, all the press that chris was describing lined up outside the hospital, all the crowds there now. obviously it's been a big disruption. william and kate generally don't like that kind of fuss. they really do like to keep under the radar, strange as that may seem, whenever possible. i understand that they would feel very uncomfortable to think

that their presence has put other people out especially women in labor giving birth to their children. that wouldn't be something they would be very comfortable with. it wouldn't surprise me at all that they are taking their time to emerge because they are personally thanking the staff and doctors who's looked after them and other patients at the hospital or the relatives of the women at the wing there to thank them for their understanding for this what's been going on today. but still a few people coming in and out of that door but not the people that we are waiting for. but we understand it will be happening imminently. they are due to leave this evening but they will return to kensington palace to the little two-bedroom cottage that's on the grounds of the palace where kate and william are currently living while their main apartment at the palace is being converted. that was previously inhabited by princess margaret, the queen's sister, and it hasn't been done up orrefurbished since the

1960s. there's all sorts of quite extensive work that needs to be done. it's cost quite a lot of money. it is due to be finished in the autumn. when it is done, they'll have a four-room house in kensington palace with a nursery, space for their private offices, prince harry as well. this will really be the nerve center but for the time being they are going to be returning to their two bedroom cottage on the grounds of kensington palace. i was out there today. there was a bit of excitement already. a lot of tourists curious to understand that this was where the focus of attention was going to be and excitement that that is where they're heading. so still no sign from the lindo wing door. i'm keeping an eye on it as well while i'm talking to you. we can expect shortly, we hope, to get a glimpse of the yet unnamed baby, third in line to the throne. andrea, lots of bets being placed on what this baby might be called. as you said, james an george, top of the list but they have

plenty of choice really because royals have a lot of names, four or five. so they could put in a few paying tribute perhaps to philip, william's grandfather, in there as well. i hope we'll have news of that in the next few days, what names they have pick. >> i don't recall all of the names that prince charles has but i do recall that the names were slightly out of order in that wedding ceremony with diana that. archbishop of canterbury got one or two of the names slightly confused. one other nice note is the minting of silver pennies by the royal mint, 2013 silver pennies to babies born on the same day in the uk as the duke and duchess of cambridge's son. according to traditional folklore, crossing the palm of a new baby born with silver or offering them a silver penny is good luck. chris jansing, that's good luck for fortune ahead.

>> reporter: i actually went to a maternity ward at another hospital today, andrea, and a couple of very interesting things. one, i met an american couple whose baby was born yesterday. they have lived here in london about a year-and-a-half and they had a little baby girl, absolutely beautiful, sasha. they are absolutely convinced that she will marry this prince and one day be queen. and the public relations folks there were laughing and saying, every single mother in this hospital of every little girl is talking about the fact that, well, maybe she could be the next kate middleton. so there is a lot of hopefulness out there. we had a good joke about it and finally the dad picked up the 6-pound, less than 1 day-old-baby and said, of course what he had to say, was it doesn't matter if she's royal, she'll always be my little princess. but a lot of excitement about those coins. you actually have to make an

application, send in the birth certificate and make the application, then you'll get the coin. they talked about having that framed with maybe some of the headlines that are in all the newspapers. but it just gives you an idea of the kind of excitement that tha. in fact, when that couple came out of delivery, they actually got the word that kate was in labor and they got very excited that their daughter and the new prince who will be king one day might have the same birthday. so it turned out, andrea. >> and martin bashir, are you a little surprised that here in the states where we fought a little war back in 1776 that there is so much excitement about a new 8.6 pound british monarch to be? >> andrea, i'm not surprised at all. to a large extent, this is the legacy of princess diana. america took her to its heart.

she wore her vulnerabilities on her sleeve. she loved the united states. i remember having a drink with her at the carlisle hotel here in new york on a couple of occasions. she came and gave a major speech here where she talked about cancer and talked about the "c" word but not just it being a "c" word for cancer, but a "c" word for courage. in many ways, i think america's affection for prince william was formed on the basis of its affection for diana. i should also point out, andrea, that st. mary's hospital paddington is part of the jewel in the british crown, which is the national health service. although the lindo wing is a private wing, it's directly connected to the rest of the hospital where they have a very large maternity wing and plenty of women have babies there. my own wife was a midwife in

london. all three of our children were born at the hospital where she worked as a midwife, at st. george's hospital in south london. you were talking earlier about the crowds of people who are gathered. the national health service is something that everybody is engaged in. of course, in this country, we've had such a contentious fight over the affordable care act. and i was interested in looking at the facts about infant mortality in this country. the united states has one of the worst levels of infant mortality in the developed world. to a large extent, that's because women don't have sufficient maternity care cover. now, the affordable care act, when it comes into force next year, is actually going to contain enforcements so that women who are pregnant and who have children will be properly covered with maternity care. and that's a fantastic part of the affordable care act,

notwithstanding the fact that speaker boehner and the caucus like to spend every week trying to repeal it. >> and it's the prenatal and nutrition and all the care that's part of that. it's a healthy reminder, no pun intended, that the national health service in the u.k. is celebrated for many, many reasons. this is just one of them. obviously, the royals would have access to the very best of everything, but it is universally available to people in great britain. >> i have to tell you, andrea, that all three of our children were born in the nhs, and we were served by the most wonderful midwives, and all three of them were healthy and everything went well. we didn't pay an additional cent beyond our own taxation. it is a wonderful thing, a wonderful part of britain. my wife works here in new york for a number of charities. to see the kind of difference

between the two systems can be a little bit depressing because there are large numbers of people who have no medical health care whatsoever in this country. >> and martin, the point that you're making about diana, i remember when she used to come to washington for the breast cancer charities and meet with all of us. such an advocate for the less well known issue of land mines. actually, also a.i.d.s. and introducing her children to all of these issues. william and harry as very young children were acclimated to those causines as well. annabell roberts, once they leave the hospital, they're going to kensington palace. you were there today. the renovations extensive. is that on the public dime? is that from the royal purse? who pays for that? >> reporter: part of that is

being picked up by the taxpayers. roughly 1 million pounds will come out of the public purse. generally, the taxpayer does contribute to the upkeep of the royal palaces, buckingham palace behind me, of course, and windsor castle. kensington palace too. but it's much discussed whether we get a return on our investment in the monarchy and the general conclusion is that we do because they are expensive to run, if i can phrase it like that. however, the attraction that they are, the amount of tourists that attract them, as you can see behind me, all the thousands of people who travel here to enjoy visiting the royal palaces, buying products related to the royal family is a huge boost to our economy. so generally -- there is a republican movement in this country. let's not forget that. as you may have seen, the front page of "private eye" which is a

satirical newspaper was "woman has baby." so, you know, there is a little bit of cynicism about this. in fact, i can show you that if you bear with me. >> please do. >> reporter: here we go. this is the front page. i'll move my fingers. "woman has baby." it says at the bottom "inside, some other stuff." so we have a sense of humor about our obsession with the royal family. by and large, there is a sense there's a good return on the investment. the republican movement is tiny. a little bit vocal. i spoke to the organizer of the republican movement who was trying to gain momentum during the jubilee, but they don't get that much air time. i'm sure martin will be able to vouch for that as well. >> wow. it's been quite an hour. and just to texplain, as you knw very well, the palace did say -- first of all, we heard from prince charles a little more than an hour ago that it was going to be momentarily.

the baby was going to come out. we now know the palace has said there will be the release from the hospital of the duke and duchess and their baby son tonight. then they said it was going to be about a half hour ago at 1:30 our time, eastern time, 6:30 their time. then that it was going to be about five minutes from a quarter of 2:00. so we've been on the air for a reason. we will, of course, be continuously bringing you the latest from london as well as all of the other news of the day. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow the show online and on twitter @mitchellreports. as we watch the door there at st. mary's hospital of the lindo wing, my colleague tamron hall is going to take it from here, continuing to wait for william and kate to emerge with their new baby. tamron? >> that's right, andrea -- [ female announcer ] it's simple physics...

a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods.

nsaids, like celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions, or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. don't take celebrex if you have bleeding in the stomach or intestine, or had an asthma attack, hives, other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history. and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion.

there's a new way to fight litter box odor. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. introducing tidy cats with glade tough odor solutions. two trusted names, one amazing product.