ground. a cable on the scaffolding the window washers were standing on, snapped. two are hanging from the scaffolding. police and fire department are on the scene. on the phone with me now is former new york fire department commissioner, who served under mayor bloomberg. nick, tell us what's going on at this moment. >> well, it's hard for me to tell you from behind my desk, but typically what will happen now is that the fire department that has tremendous experience tease in dealing with collapses like this, scaffold collapses, will, obviously, will obviously try to secure those two people. i understand they may be hanging -- i mean, that is that they have a capable someone told me earlier, they're not in danger. i don't know that for a fact but it's a dangerous situation, obviously, and i think the fire departme

department, i would think, is going to deal directly with that scaffold probably through a window because going all the way to the top of the world trade center just seems to invite the possibility of more trouble. >> one would have to assume there's some sort of fail-safe. this is a very dangerous profession climbing up the side of a very tall, tall building. what are the fail-safes so probabli to bring someone down. >> this high, 69 floors, i would think they would go from inside the building and probably break the window. to reach them both and have a safety rope they'll attach to them and bring them in before they try to move off the scaffold. >> so, you're essentially -- >> i did think in terms of safety nets or things of that sort from that height. it would not -- it would not be possible. >> what you were saying earlier is that it's safer to go from inside the building and bring

them in rather than bring them up, even though that are more than halfway up? >> i think so, because halfway is still another 60, 70 floors. it escapes me right now how many floors are in the world trade center, but that would be quite a lift. it's not impossible but i think it's easier for the department to go through a window and attach safety ropes to both men. and it's more a strength and be willing to -- maybe have to go out on the scaffold and firefighters do that kind of thing all the time. >> indeed. you said you can't think in terms of safety nets but one has to assume, is there something you can do on the ground? because obviously nothing is 100% certain. is there some way to secure

potentially these two people from below in case the worst would happen and they can't keep that scaffolding occur? >> it doesn't -- what i think they would do is try get a window alongside where the men are or close to the cable and perhaps pull it in. make sure they get a rope around them and secure the men. what kind of danger does that present to the firemen? firefighters would presumably have to go out a certain distance from the building themselves, no? >> yes, they may have to. and they are accustomed to taking that risk. firefighters put their life on the line every time they respond to emergencies. and without seeing the

circumstances, without seeing the physical layout it's impossible to tell what they're going to do next but i would guess they would try to get to the men from inside the building. >> just resetting for our viewers who may just be joining us, new york city firefighters are on the scene of the nation's tallest skyscraper at one world center, where two window washers are 69 stories above street level. that building rebuilt after 9/11. police official did tell the associated press that partially collapsed scaffolding is hanging at 75-degree angle. the fire department says the workers are tethered, communicating with rescuers. nbc stephanie gosk is joining us on the phone as well. nick, if you can hang on. do we know anything more about the attempts to rescue these two men? >> well, at the moment i'm on the ground right now. you can imagine there's a fair bit of confusion. there are a lot of fire

department trucks on the ground here. just bymy immediate count, close to 20. not to mention the police that are here as well and onlookers. a lot of people obviously working today on the streets. everyone craning up to see if they can see anything. from down here, you can't see much but you get an incredible appreciation for, very quickly, is how unbelievably high they are. it's a terrifying sight. >> yeah, i can only imagine. are there being attempts -- you said people are gathering and collecting and obviously there will be because of all the news -- media being drawn to it, now. is there an attempt to clear the area completely and get people back? >> reporter: at the moment, no. you know, the street right below where they're hanging has not been cleared. there are still people walking on that sidewalk. you can walk around the entire building. they do have the road itself blocked off but the far sidewalk

is open and people are walking below it. >> i don't know if you're still on the phone, nick. >> i am. >> is that normal procedure, not to clear the sidewalk, because obviously there's -- >> well, usually, that would be a police function. and they will clear as much space as they need to make sure no one else gets hurt, if the scaffolding falls, get them far enough back. and they will want to give the firefighters room to move in. you have just spoken about the large number of fire trucks and ladders that have responded. there's two people whose lives are at stake. and they want to be certain that they have as many people there, depending on what happens. >> i want to ask nick to hold on. stephanie gosk, hold on. i want to bring in juliette from 1010 winn. do you have any update on what plans or what method might be

used to get these two gentlemen off that scaffold? >> yeah, we're looking at one -- earlier i spoke to a spokesman from the fire department. i'm looking at the scaffold. it is drooping from the left side. it's three-quarters up the building, facing south. the two gentlemen are hanging on. they are tethered to the scaffold and they also have a line from the roof they're tethered to. they do have double protection. what the fire department spokesman told me about, i'd say, half an hour ago, is that they -- firefighters are either going to get up to the 69th floor and remove a window to get them through. we have not seen that happen yet. but what is happening, and this is unbelievably dramatic, is another safety scaffold is being lowered from the roof. it's about three stories down from the top of this world trade center building.

perhaps this is a secondary form of rescue in case the window situation doesn't work. we're not quite sure. but that is being lowered. it's an amazing scene. i've never seen anything quite like this, but i guess this is what you do now when there are tall buildings. hopefully these guys are hanging on and that they're calm and they feel protected by the lines they're hanging on to and wrapped around until the firefighters get to them. >> nick, i don't know if you could hear juliette -- >> i did. hi, juliette. >> does that sound like the right thing to do? >> well, that's another alternative to come down from the roof and if they get down and close to the firefighters, the two men, they will be able to reach them and put safety ropes around them and make sure that whatever they're tethered to is very secure. and guarantee their safety.

>> would it be less risky to try to move the men from one scaffold to another rather than bring them in? of the two options, if it were -- you know, which is the least potentially harmful to the men? >> well, i think another concern here would be the cable that is holding the scaffold that they're tethered to. i'm happy to hear they got a rope down from the roof so they have that protection as well as whatever is holding what remains of the scaffold. it's obviously a very dangerous situation. one slip moving these people from that height, it's going to mean real catastrophe. but i repeat myself a little. the fire department responds to

scaffold collapses all the time. they have a lot of experience with it and say lot of expertise. they'll pick the method of removing the men that is the safest and makes the most sense. >> and i want to bring back in stephanie gosk. this is a building owned by the port authority of new york and new jersey. actually, i think we might have lost stephanie. nick, staying with you just for a moment, this is a publicly owned building. a lot of people would wonder in 2014, this is an extremely dangerous way to clean a building. is this something that you've seen in your history as a fire department fairly frequently happen with these kinds of window watchers? >> well, scaffold collapses are not totally rare. they do happen and the fire department responds to every one of them. so that -- without seeing what the commanders are seeing, i wouldn't be able to go beyond that.

>> indeed. earlier stephanie gosk was saying at this point police and fire officials are not clearing the ground below. how long do you think a situation like that will continue before police and fire officials would want to completely clear the area below? as you said, the scaffold is not just a threat to the men who are on it? also potentially a threat to the people on the ground. >> sure. that's a judgment how much space they need. and the firefighters, of course, will be talking to them, if they think there's any chance that scaffold is going to come down. they would make sufficient space so no one else gets hurt. >> i want to go to craig melvin who's monitoring the situation from the ground. what have you got for us? >> reporter: i was just outside. one of the things these guys have working in their

advantage -- or working to their advantage, it would seem, the weather conditions so far seem like outside, it's, it's not too windy. i want to bring in msnbc meteorologist douminica davis. she's standing by. talk to us about the weather conditions as it stands here in the city. >> the current winds in the city is not a problem because variable wind of 7 miles an hour, which is okay. i want to point out, can you see when the picture was scanning up, we have mostly cloudy skies. no major weather but we've been talking about this cold weather, right? the front is getting ready to move through later this afternoon, early this evening in new york. when that front does start to push through, the winds will pick up. so, the winds are okay now at about 7 miles per hour, but continuing -- it depends how long this event goes on. that could factor into this the longer this goes. right now the front is about to come through about 5:00 in the afternoon. hopefully it doesn't last that

long but it could definitely be an issue. fog was an issue earlier today. earlier this morning we had a lot of fog. right now we're only seeing reports of fog at kennedy airport. rear looking at the city right now. visibility around that area is 8 miles. average visibility on a clear day is 10 miles. so the fog -- >> let me cut you off because as you're talking, we can see the fire officials. we just talked about fire officials opening up a window on the 75th floor, i believe. it appears they have managed to do that. as we watch this unfold live, i want to be careful not to speculate. it looks as if they are getting one of these two workers out of the scaffolding. again, this is 69 stories above ground, one world trade. first tenants just moved in, as you know, joy, last week.

more than 13 years after the original world trade center was destroyed. 104 stories in all. and it appears as if -- again, as we watch this unfold, it looks like they're having some success right now, if they're not having success right now, they're pretty doggone close to getting one of these workers off the scaffold. >> indeed. craig, just to give viewers a sense of the scale, as you were discussing this building, they're three stories down from the top of the building and still three-quarters of the way up, 69 floors up, two workers around 1 p.m., we understand, that scaffolding did break. these two window washers then hanging with the actual scaffold hanging at an angle. so, as you can see from the pictures on your screen, these firefighters have managed to cut through a window on one world trade center, south-facing side of the building. they're attempting to bring one of the firefighters in. we know there was a second scaffold being lowered from the roof. is that still happening, to your

knowledge? >> to my knowledge -- to my knowledge, yes. but again, that was -- you know, that was ten minutes ago. we have not seen that. we should note here that at least as of 10, 15 minutes ago fire foe fishls were insisting these workers were in a harness, they were in secure and not in imminent danger, according to fire officials. again, we see that and we're not the ones dangling some 69 stories above ground. >> indeed. they were actually being secured, craig, from the top of the building. we understand they had cabling. nick, you may be able to see what we're watching right now. we have now seen firefighters cut through the windows of the building. they're beginning to bring the men in. at this stage, nick, is there -- does there have to be an attempt

to secure the scaffold or is the priority to get them off it? >> oh, sure, they can't leave it dangling and have it maybe come down on the crowd. of course, they will have to secure it. >> once the men are off the scaffold, at that point -- earlier you said going up and just as dangerous as going down. in terms of bringing that scaffold out of harm for the people on the ground, at that point would then the operation be to try to take that scaffold slowly to the ground or bring it up to -- >> oh, no, i think they would probably bring it into the building. i don't have the benefit of viewing what circumstances they're operating under. but i would think they would pull it into the building. >> for our viewers, you can now see firefighters, they have pulled that scaffold close to the building. it's touching the building. it looks like they're bringing a worker up off the scaffold. the workers were attached to the building through a harness. one worker appears to be coming out. actually, that's the second guy.

it appears they've taken the worker off the scaffold. you can see probably a very relieved man going in. i think he gave the thumbs up. going into the building. i'm sure they're quite relieved. now, nick, the next phase would be to get the scaffold, which is dangling at a very precarious position, to get it out of position, right? >> yes, i would think so. you just have to chalk up another great save to the fdny. the guys are remarkable. they do what they have to do at whatever risk they have to take. >> indeed. craig, so it looks like a successful operation there, america's bravest, new york's bravest, apparently have gotten those guys in. i'm sure quite a relief. >> lots of folks breathing a tremendous sigh of relief here, joy reid, as we saw the firefighters work carefully quickly here to get those two folks off that scaffolding. again, you know, dominica was with us a few moments ago. imagine if this had been one of

those days here in new york city where the wind had been gusting or, god forbid, there had been heavy rain or snow even. i mean, the conditions the conditions worked to the rescuer's vaj advantage as we watched this play out. >> this building was owned by port authority, rebuilt on the grounds of the world trade center. the safety features that had to be built into a building like this, obviously taking into account everything dealing with this building. those windows had to be both secure and obviously something these workers could get through in a short amount of time. >> we're still watching here, joy. i'm trying to make out -- we saw the two folks come off the scaffolding, so our assumption here is that -- is that these two folks are just fine. we have not gotten -- at least i have not gotten any official

word that's the case just yet. but it still looked as if they were trying to, perhaps, get something else off the scaffolding. or maybe they are just detaching those harnesses they were using. so, at this point we're just waiting for some official word. you can see dozens of fire officials at the top of that building there that have assembles. this was quite the rescue operation we watched unfold. >> nick, it's not over. there's a part two to it because you have a large apparatus hanging from that building and it looks pretty precarious. >> i imagine if they were able to get the men off, they're also able to secure that scaffold, i would assume. fire commissioner is a friend. he was chief of department when i became commissioner. i just to want say a well done to him and his team.

i'm assuming the next phase is to determine what went wrong here. the men were secured by safety harnesses. we don't know if they were at all injured when that accident took place around 1 p.m. eastern time when that cable actually broke as the two men were washing those windows. who would handle that type of investigation? would the fire department be intimately involved in that? >> they would be intimately involved because they would have a lot to say about what they found, at the very least they would be potential witnesses if it came to that, but, sure, they would be intimately involved and cooperate with the investigators. >> craig, we were asking about this earlier but i wonder if there are a lot of people potentially assembling on the ground because this is something people are drawn to watch but it's not safe to do so from under that scaffolding. >> you wouldn't think so. as you were talking, we see the camera pan down to the ground there. it does not look like a large

group has assembled. but it looks like police and other emergency officials have done a good job cordoning off that area. i can tell you also that we have gotten -- it looks like word that the two have been rescued safely. the two window washers have been rescued safely. you raise a good point, joy. right now we have that massive apparatus that's hanging off the side of one world trade. one would assume if they could get those two folks off, they shouldn't have a huge problem getting that device, getting that scaffolding raised. >> the only issue, craig, i would bring up is that it's huge. it's massive. you can see the hole that was cut through the window of one

world trade center to get those men in. the scaffolding is considerably bigger than that. it doesn't look like something they could easily fit into that same space, so i think, nick, we're left with the same dilemma of whether to go up or down, unless of course they can get an even bigger hole in that building. it doesn't look visually like they could get it inside any other way. >> well, they can do a number of things. i don't think they'll try to dismantle it. i think they'll just try to get it in. i hope you're through with me. i'm at my law firm and a bunch of people sitting in the conference room waiting for me to come back. >> i appreciate it. i'm going back to my college, craig melvin, who will update us on this very dramatic rescue. >> very dramatic, indeed. the scaffolding broke, for those who just joining us, broke on

the south side of the building around 12:45. new york city fire department official said that both victims were tied off securely. they were fastened to ropes. they were not in immediate danger but they were dangling there, nonetheless, for the better part of an hour and a half. this is the scene we saw play out. fdny managing to get those two folks off that scaffolding, those two window washers off that scaffolding, into the 69th floor of the building. three floors -- three floors from the top, we're told. three floors near the top part of that portion of the building, the building itself, as you know, 1776 feet in height. the tallest building in the western hemisphere. and these two folks, no doubt, not just these two folks, lots of folks breathing a heavy sigh of relief as we watch them get dragged to safety. they cut a hole out of the

window. it's difficult to tell from this vantage point but it looked like they cut a window to pull them in. >> i want to talk to ziad, an nbc produce other the ground. any word from what happened down there? did any glass fall? are people close to the building? what can you tell us? >> we can't see any glass fallen on the ground here, but what we can see is a big open section of window. appears the glass was removed. we see at least a dozen fdny and emergency vehicles here on the ground. the scaffolding itself, i'm sure you have the live picture, is swaying a little bit. that's what we can see here on the ground from one world trade center. >> we were talking about the weather conditions earlier with craig. what are the conditions like now? you said the scaffold is swaying a little bit. what is the wind like there where you are? >> from here on the ground the

wind is slightly windy, not terribly windy from where i'm standing. as you can imagine more windy up there. as i said, you can see the scaffolding moving ever so slightly as those cables move on the side of that building. >> and, indeed, a successful rescue effort for two window washers who were at one point dangling 69 stories above street level at one world trade center in downtown new york city. we can see the rescue workers there on top of the building. a pretty dramatic scene as that scaffold continues to hang off the side of the building. it's about three stories down from the top. and i believe actually we still have nick because the next phase of this, nick, despite that dramatic and very successful rescue of these two men is really going to be figuring out how to get that very hulking structure that's listing at about a 75-degree angle, to get it to the ground. >> sure. they're totally capable of doing

that, even if they have to remove some portions of it and just saw through it. scaffolds are usually wood. and can be taken apart by the fire department. they're skilled enough to do that, no matter how high they are up. >> let's get to stephanie gosk. there will be an investigation as to what happened. this is a port authority building. what do we know at this point? what about the condition of these two men? we don't know if they were injured in the initial accident that caused the scaffold to list? do we know anything about that? and let's anticipate what we'll see next, port authority on the ground, are investigators already starting to gather? >> i think right now the focus is going to be to get this scaffolding down as safely as possible. you know, with the men safe, you then have to worry about how you remove this from the side of the

building. you can only imagine the l logistical challenge that will present. officials on the ground are making sure people on the ground are safe. there are people working in this building. they moved into this building ten days ago. a lot of confusion rights now for sure. >> you can see many firefighters through the window from this aerial shot, a lot of firefighters inside that building where those two men were pulled through a hold, which definitely does not look big enough to bring that scaffolding inside. the next possibility to cut a bigger opening, bring it up or bring it down? and obviously the firefighters are in huge luck there's not a huge crowds milling around down below? >> they can take the scaffolding apart and bring it in by pieces but that's a judgment they have to make. >> the scaffold appears it's

still connected by cables. can you see cables coming from it, obviously going to the roof. at one point our craig melvin was reporting there was a second potential scaffolding being lowered for the men. that's not happening now. could that same apparatus -- lowering something from the roof, if taking it apart is not an option or not quick enough, nick, could lowering something from the top and sort of trying to crane the thing back up to the roof be a possibility? >> yeah, they'll make that judgment. is it secure enough? is the cable that's attached secure enough? or will they decide to put an additional cable on the collapsed scaffold? and then pull it up? i mean, there are lots of things they can do and they'll make that judgment. >> obviously, this is a very heavy, very large piece of equipment listing to one side. it's really only suspended by half the cables it's supposed to be. stephanie is still with us on the ground. have you talked to officials who might be trying to piece

together what happened here earlier today at about 1 p.m. eastern time? >> reporter: we haven't had a chance. we can tell you a lot of them are milling about in the memorial garden. we see dozens down there. we aren't getting much information down here. what we have are a lot -- streets closed off, media, and onlookers, people stopped in their tracks and craning their heads up to see what's happening. >> stephanie, i'm wonder how far back police and firefighters are keeping those people? that scaffolding looks pretty good to me and it's only being suspended by half the cables that are supposed to hold it up. >> reporter: at the moment, we're being prevented from getting right directly in front of the building. but you're able to walk on the other side of the block, for the most part. and you're relatively close. it's hard to imagine if it fell that it would hit any pedestrians. certainly no one is walking that close to it or standing, looking up that close.

>> to reset for our viewers. two window washers rescued in pretty dramatic fashion by new york firefighters from the site of one world trade center. they were on a scaffolding that broke and left them suspended 69 stories above street level. this unfolded earlier this wednesday. let's go back to craig melvin and see who we can see inside the building. there's a lot of firefighters but people are also working in that building. it's a working building at this point. >> it is a working building. it hasn't been open two weeks yet, joy. we're told that about 56% of that building has been leased so far. you know, stephanie gosk just mentioned condi nas in that building, another hospitality company in that building. it appears for folks watching this, it appears there's a lot of open space in that building. it looks that way because it is that way. a number of occupants have not moved in just yet.

we do not know what was on the 69th floor where this unfolded. as can you see here, some of new york's bravest assembled at the top of this building. we're told more than 100 firefighters, at least, were involved in this rescue operation. here's something else that might surprise a lot of folks from other parts of this country. scaffolding rescues are not as uncommon as you might think, especially in cities like new york. earlier this year firefighters managed to rescue a couple workers who were on a scaffold when it collapsed over on new york's upper east side. a few months ago this summer, another two workers rescued in midtown on scaffolding they were standing on suddenly tilted. they were dangling 12 foerz above ground until emergency responders from fdny showed up to save the day. so, this is, unfortunately, not as uncommon as you might think.

this is uncommon. one world trade center, tallest building in the western hemisphere and, again, these two folks washing windows, perhaps in the process of starting to wash windows when that cable snapped. as you can see on the ground, those two victims are being loaded into -- loaded into an ambulance. we have not gotten any indication as with regards to their condition. they appeared, appeared to be okay as they were taken in from that scaffolding a short time ago. again, we've watched this story play out from the beginning, these two guys damaging, they were brought in and now loaded in an ambulance to be checked out here at one of new york's hospitals. >> indeed, craig melvin, thank you very much. i want to bring in gerard and he, himself, is former window

washer and head of the union representing these folks. a very harrowing sight -- i think we lost him. i was going to ask him. i mean, this is a pretty dangerous and high-flying and almost daredevilish looking profession. you're going up very high, 69 stories. and people might be surprised, this is still the way we get it done, clean these very tall buildings. and what are the safety precautions taken to make sure these folks are safe, craig. >> we were told earlier by the fire department that these workers, they were harnessed to the scaffolding. and that there's another -- some sort of additional safety mechanism that's used as well. they were fairly insistent over the past hour and a half these two individuals were not in danger. you hit the nail on the head there, being a window washer, that's scary business. being a window washer at one

world trade, tallest building in america, that's an even -- a far scarier proposition. but going back to what dominica was mentioning earlier, think about how blessed these two individuals were, not just that the fire department of new york city was close by and able to respond so quickly, but the conditions today, i mean, there was some light mist at one point, but by and large, had this -- had the wind picked up, had there been heavy rain, had there been snow, the outcome may have been far different. right now, those two workers getting checked out, presumably at this point okay. >> craig, you definitely said a mouthful. fortuitous day weatherwise. skills of the new york city fire department able to bring them in. craig, thank you. let's take a break as you can see the hole cut into the side of one world trade center as firefighters rescued two

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welcome back. we've been following high drama at one world trade center in new york city where two window washers were rescued from a scaffolding where the cable snapped, leaving them dangling 69 stories above the ground. this is the tallest building in the western hemisphere. the two men successfully rescued by new york city fire department firefighters. there's a hole cut in the side of that building as fire department officials figure out how to get that scaffolding safely to the ground or potentially safely inside the building. we'll continue to follow that breaking news. a dramatic scene in downtown new york city this afternoon. we'll keep you up to date on that. meanwhile, the world's two biggest polluters, the united states and china, have reached a major deal to reduce carbon

emissions. president obama and chinese president xi jinping announced the agreement after working on the issue for months behind the scene. under the deal the u.s. would cut emissions by 26% to 28% by the year 2025. while china set a target for emissions to peak by 2030. president obama called the agreement a step in the right direction. >> this is an ambitious goal but it is an achievable goal. it will double the pace at which we're reducing carbon pollution in the united states. it puts us on a path to achieving the deep emissions reductions by advanced economies that the scientific community says is necessary to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change. >> joining me to talk about that and a new white house initiative, senior adviser valerie jarrett. thank you for taking the time to be here. >> good afternoon, joy. how are you doing? >> very well. a little drama going on in new york city. >> i heard. >> it's been pretty dramatic.

a little drama taking place in u.s./china relationship, an important climate deal reached between the united states and china. i want to ask you about the immediate response that came from your colleagues on capitol hill on the republican side. i'll play a little bit of their reaction. >> i was particularly distressed by the deal. apparently he's reached with the chinese he's reached on his current trip, which as i read the agreement requires the chinese to do nothing at all for 16 years, while these carbon emissions are creating havoc in my state and other states around the country. >> that is, of course, the presumably new majority leader of the united states senate, immediately coming out as did several other republicans, essentially throwing cold water on this deal. not an awe suspicious way to

start off. >> we hope we'll find ways of working with senator mcconnell and his team. both the folks and the team in the house in january. we'll continue those efforts. this is a very important deal and china has to take major steps between now and 2030 in order to reach the goal that's set forth. what i think is interesting is last night when i was on the phone talking to major business leaders here in the united states, who have just returned from china, and who echo just what we heard from the president about how serious china is taking this task and what enormous opportunities there are for u.s. companies to do business in the clean energy sphere in china that will create jobs right back here in the united states, and that's what has me very excited about this. it's unprecedented to have the two leaders stand up and speak together. we hope other countries will follow their lead. >> you talk about bringing business to the table early. is that part of the strategy the white house is looking at going forward?

because on this and on issues like immigration, it seems that the white house shares a position broadly with business and that that might be the way that your strategy is to combat what could be opposition from the senate? >> we try to include business leaders, include all stakeholders, include the american people. i think clearly on issues of growth and development and expanded opportunity here in america, the american people want to know their elected officials are doing everything possible to create jobs right back here. and this is one very good example that will be to the benefit of the american people. we want a broad coalition of people who support the president's position and hopefully we'll be able to have that constructive working relationship with the senate and house. >> speaking of issues that theoretically could be bipartisan or broadly shared goals for the country, there's a new white house report you guys have released today about the status of women and girls with good news and bad news.

tell us a little bit about that. >> well, yes, we just released a report today about the challenges and opportunities for improvement for women and girls of color. and we are seeing great strides over the last six years. this is a part of the white house council on women and girls initiative that has been in place since march of the first year the president was in office. and so, for example, in growth of businesses, women of color are growing exponentially and creating their own businesses. college graduation rates are up. dropout rates are down. teenage pregnant is down but still on a relative basis we're seeing women and girls are lagging by other indicators. so i just stepped out of the conference we're having and congressman beattie was talking about how important it is we approach this in an inclusive way because if america succeeds, women succeed. and so many of the programs and initiatives that are all embodied in our report that was released today, summarize the status of women and girls and

importantly where we can work together to level that playing field to make sure every young girl in america has an equal chance for success. >> and was part of the reason to really emphasize this, there was some push back on my brother's keeper that girls weren't included. is that an attempt to address that? >> we met with those who had concern around the launch of my brother's keeper, we could look at the evidence and see where there might be opportunities to drill down and make more progress. out of those conversations came this report. and it's the first time we have a comprehensive report. and it is going to help guide where we put our emphasis going forward. when i say we, i don't mean just the federal government, joy. mean, all of the partners who have to be involved, state and local government, stakeholders, foundations, mentors, businesses, people who fight against violence against women, people who fight to reform our criminal and juvenile justice system to make sure that young

people are not being suspended from school but have incentives to stay in school so they can reach that american dream. so, there is lots of rich information in here that will guide our investments going forward. i can't wait to get back and hear about the panel discussion we have going on from representatives of the administration, talking about, again, the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. >> and i would be remiss if i didn't give you the opportunity to respond. there have been a lot of reports about your influence in the white house that have been circulating around in the beltway. do you have any response to those reports? >> joy, i would say when you break glass ceilings you'll get a minor chard or two from the glass. what i focus on is the hard work we have in the last two years and i wake up every morning, as i know the president does, focusing on people who are trying to get ahead, who are counting on us to work for them. congress man beattie in the conference was talking about women's suffrage and the sacrifices women had to make back then when they went on fastings to try to get

attention. just thinking about lelly led bett lilly ledbetter and everything she went through to get equal pay. fy take a bump or bruise along the way, that's nothing the sacrifices the woman whose shoulders i stan took along the way. >> thank you very much. we are watching events unfold in lower manhattan. moments ago we witnessed the dramatic sky high-rescue of two window washers. new york city firefighters cut through window glass to complete that rescue. one person was taken away in an glance. we'll keep you updated on the status of the scaffolding, as you can see, is still dangling outside that building. l you outlive your money? uhhh. no, that can't happen. that's the thing, you don't know how long it has to last. everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive..

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with the midterm elections in the rearview mirror, congress heads back to work today. welcome back. final days of the 113th congress began with a senate hearing on the government response to ebola. earlier today, mitch mcconnell

greeted freshman republican senator who is will help make him the new senate majority leader in congress. for more on the lame duck session, we're joined from capitol hill. what can we expect? >> reporter: well, you're starting to see some of this play out. senator mary landrieu is on the senate floor talking about how she wants to ask unanimous consent to pass the keystone pipeline. she's still fighting foreher seat down in louisiana. otherwise, it's looking like the waters of the lame duck will be calm. they have to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government before december 12th. it looks like they'll punt the attorney general's nomination for loretta lynch into the next session of congress. so, at this point it's just setting the stage for the new congress coming up in january. all the new freshmen, incoming freshmen, newly elected senators are here today. they're doing orientation. they were on the senate floor for the first time.

most of their main questions had to do with whether or not they could bring their iphones and blackberries onto the senate floor with them. >> a hard-working crew. unlike our own msnbc kasie hunt who is always working extremely hard. thank you. appreciate it. angela rye and e.j. the lame duck session, they will punt on attorney general nominee, chuck schumer making that asounsment yesterday saying i think our republican colleagues don't want it during the lame duck and we'll go with that request. not coming out with a roar, more like a whimper. >> what's unfortunate about this is this election has not taught us, as democrats, enough lessons. i think it's very clear that mitch mcconnell and john boehner are coming out swinging in the new congress, 114th. why would we not end this with a

bang? loretta lynch, who is one of so many nominees that are being held up on the senate floor, we should be trying to clean that slate. so i wish that, you know, for senator reid's legacy that he would have tried to clean that slate. >> the last lame duck congress passed a monumental of legislation, repeal of don't ask, don't tell, it was very forthright congress that went in, determined to get some policy done. why do you suppose the change? because the result in the midterms was not that much different. >> well, i think they are determined to put the lame back into lame duck. and i think that is very unfortunate. i mean, part of the problem is you do have a ton of nominations pending. what i'm wondering about is if they are putting lynch off till next year because they think they're going to get her anyway, and they're trying make a deal -- i'm so sorry -- trying

to make a deal on other nominees, but they're not trying to push through any legislation except for this keystone xl pipeline bill, where they're trying to help mary landrieu down in louisiana. i wish they were trying to do more. >> and, angie, that's the other issue, is that there seems to still be the same attempt to sort of trade conservative policy for, perhaps, saving this seat of mary landrieu but that conservative policy trade didn't work in the actual election. >> and it never does. i think the thing that's interesting to me, that i just can't figure out, is you have mary lan drushgs unless she's going to say, i'm going to caucus with the republicans next year, the republicans even will get credit for what happens in the lame duck with this vote, this group of voters that we had in this election. i don't think she's going to get credit for passing keystone pipeline. i just don't think that's how her constituency was working. i think they'll say, that was cassidy. they have not relied on any type

of facts. they have relied on whatever messaging has been put out by republican groups by outside spending and the re.c. now they'll go through her district and not rely on facts and they'll say f you vote for cassidy, you'll get more of the keystone pipeline passing, tax extendsers and all the rest that will help business. they're not going to give her credit for that. >> e.j., we just came from a forum this morning at brookings in which a lot was said electorates said they were interested in even in this conservative-leaning republican victory in the midterms. things like keystone didn't make the list. people were talking about the economy, right? >> i think they're just making a one-time gamble on landrieu and we'll see how that works out. but what really came out of our session, i think, that the democrats were hurt because their side was asleep. they did nothing to mobilize them. real sharp drop in turnout among young people. really sharp drop in turnout among latinos. and i think you'll see president obama finally try to do

something about that. with executive orders on immigration. but what really strikes me is democrats are coming as quickly as i've ever seen to a consensus that they don't have a coherent message on the economy about what they've accomplished but also what they need to do to lift living standards. you only wish they had come to that consensus about a consistent set of policies and a message about four months before the election instead of about a week after it. >> no consensus and no real belief in what they've done. at the end of the day, you have to have both. and then have you to have money because we have post citizens united, joy, that means you have to pay to play, unfortunately. until voters get out and say there has to be something very different and our strategy changes, it's going to be more of the same. >> happy lame duck session, democrats. thank you for being here. that wraps things up for "the reid report." i'll see you tomorrow at 2 p.m. eastern. arching band playing ]

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break news leads "the cycle." two window washers trapped outside the 69th floor of one world trade center are safely inside. the scaffolding they're dangling on, that remains hanging off the building. nbc's stephanie gosk is on the scene. stephanie, walk us through what we're looking at right now. >> reporter: well, i mean, you can see the precarious angle that this scaffolding is hanging at. obviously, the big concern is trying to get that down and trying to get it down as safely as possible. it's got to be an incredible logistical challenge. on the ground right now, there's a huge assembly of media as well as onlookers who have been watching this drama unfold here for the last hour and a half or so. also, a number of streets have been blocked off by police and fire departments. there are, by my unofficial

count, hundreds of emergency officials down here, emergency responders. the good news is they did rescue those two window washers. we're told by officials on the ground here that they're okay. they're being brought to the hospital. we saw one of them on the stretcher being put into an ambulance. that's being done, they say, out of an abundance of caution. >> the big question on a lot of people's minds right now, now that we know the two window washers are safe, do we have any idea of how they're going to get that scaffolding safely secured? >> reporter: no. and i can't imagine how you would go about doing it. i think the question that would have to be answered is, what exactly happened to it? are you talking about a cable being broken? what you would have to do to resecure it. do you lift it up? do you pull it down? all of those things, i would imagine, they're trying to figure out. in the meantime, they have moved the public back away from the memorial garden and set up a kind of boundary in