they are on or perhaps they will now be willing to talk to us within the context of the six-party talks about the international desire to see them denuclearized. >> your husband spent more than three hours with kim jong-il. he is the highest ranking person to visit north korea, you know, in more than a decade. is that a possible breakthrough? >> well, we won't know. i mean that wasn't the purpose of it and it certainly is not anything worth counting on, because the obama administration has to deal with north korea going forward but i hope that north korea makes the right choice. i hope that they realize that we are sincere in our offer to have a different relationship with them if they are willing to move toward the full and verifiable

denuclearization. and i think the entire world would welcome that change on their part. >> so there were talks between the united states and north korea? that's step. >> well, we do have some channels to talk with north korea and as the background briefing you received from high administration officials made clear overnight, when the message came us to from the young women themselves to their families, to former vice president gore and then to the administration, that sending my husband would be the best way to ensure their release. of course we took that very seriously, discussed it. the white house reached out, as th they said torque my husband to ask him about that there were briefings about it. but in order to man ability

logistics of it, it did require communication with channels representing the north korean government. that is not the first time, nor will it be the last that something like that happened. but we would like to see our conversations back in a broader context where we can be exploring ways to end north korea's isolation by denuclearizing the pebble anyone sul la and -- the peninsula and steps toward denuclearization. >> you have been very successful in the first six months keeping your role very separate from his, despite all the suggestions beforehand that there would be mixed messages and signals. what about the fact that he was taking on this role? did you have any doubts? was there a downside that there would either confuse who -- the secretary of the state and the former president or send too important a signal of respect to north korea at a time when they

have been behaving very badly? >> you know, ever since the two young women were arrested, and especially since their trial which ended in sentences of 12 years in labor camps, i, president obama, our entire team have been committed to doing what we could to try to get them home. and when the word came that this would get that done, i was very much in favor of it because i wanted to see una and laura returned. again, i'm sure that i was thinking about it in part as, you know, the mother of a daughter and an adventurous daughter who goes around the world and goes places i never went at her age. and i think the fact that my husband was willing to do it and made it very clear, a private humanitarian mission shouldn't confuse anyone. our policy remains the same.

we have made it clear as to what the options are to north korea and it's up to them after their consideration, what they intend to do. >> president obama credited both al gore and former president clinton with winning the women's release. nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie joins us now. savannah, we have been now briefed because when bill clinton was on the ground, they didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the mission. but that has been lifted. this has been going on quite some time, diplomatic overtures to the north, principally to the u.n. ambassador, ambassador in new york, but at some point, the key was north korea suggesting two of the young women who told their families, who told al gore that bill clinton would be the man to get them out. >> exactly, the back story fascinated and consistent with what you reported yesterday, a andrea.

this was a thoroughly vetted mission and what you learned from the background we received, some of the reporters received, almost from the moment these two women were taken into custody, there was a direction from the president and the secretary of state to pursue whatever channel there is could be to try to get their release. as you mentioned, could you really only do this once and through a series of phone conversations. in fact, at some point, the north koreans started to allow these two women to speak to family members at home and pass on what the north korean officials were saying to them and that, of course works get passed on to some of the washington channels. in any event, it was, in fact, the north koreans who suggested in mid july that if former president clinton would travel to north korea, he could get their release. at that point, former vice president al gore reached out to clinton to take his temperature, would he be willing. of course, his natural first question is this going to be a successful mission? there was a thorough vetting of this, what the officials called due diligence. they really wanted to make sure that the north koreans were

serious and they pursued that through a variety of channels, some of which they wouldn't reveal to us and quite fascinating right there but i think they used the word direct, there is some communication going on with the north koreans. >> that is through the u.n. ambassador, i'm told, sway direct -- direct channel with the north korean u.n. ambassador in new york. the other point, fascinating that bill clinton does something to help the obama administration. we talk about team of rivals, a savannah. normally we think of hillary clinton and barack obama because they ran against each other but in fact, there was really a great deal more attention during the campaign and took a longer time to heal between barack obama and bill clinton. it took a longer time for him to get past this, perhaps even more so than hillary clinton, but all of that seems like a distant memory all good

feelings and warm words today. not a full debriefing, not a long conversation, that will come down the road but an opportunity for to okay thank former president clinton for his good auspices in north korea. >> you can bet they all want to know one important thing, what is the health and condition of kim jong-il and what did you pick up about a possible succession fight in north korea? there will be a lot of conversation at various levels going on including between bill clinton and his wife, of course, the secretary of state. thank you, savannah and all the help you do pitching in this week and co-hosting and it is a great help to all of us. now we go to victor cha, by skype. in pyongyang. we went together to pyongyang with bill richardson. what did you think of the way it was ork xes straightened and

what it mayor for tell about a possibility of the change in direction with pyongyang? >> i think as savannah was saying that a lot of communications went through the families as well as through what we call the new york channel, which is the state department to the north korean mission in new york. clearly it was very successful. while i think a lot of it may have been a done deal before president clinton went, we shouldn't take away anything from president clinton because nothing is a done deal with the north koreans until you are actually in country. as you remember, never a done deal we brought back the names of those missing american servicemen. in terms of the path ahead -- >> exactly. >> i think it helps to rachet down some of the tens we have seen since the nuclear test he is and the missile tests. all those these two issue, humanitarian mission and six-party talks are directly related, there is clearly an

opportunity window here for the north to re-engage with the united states. >> victor this happened this outreach with bill clinton happened exactly when hillary clinton was taking shot at them, calling them unruly teenagers and they, in turn, said she akd sometimes like a school girl and sometimes like a pensioner out shopping, very sexist, nasty, undiplomatic comments from the north koreans toward hillary clinton. so, two tracks here, the same time, they were throwing spit ball at each other, they were telling through the fam licks al gore, come and you will be successful. >> yeah, i think you often see that in diplomacy there could be a question that is asked, ecis sits a particular response, secretary of state on the north korean side and the north feels they have to respond to things

like that while all that is happening beneath surt face at the working level, people are trying to find out, find the right formula for bringing these two americans back. so, i mean, i this thank you is something you often see in u.s./dprk relations, the sort of signal-to-noise ratio can often be quite balanced an that just happens sometimes. >> victor cha, studies the north koreans, met with them sturkddyed them and worked with the national security council. thanks for joining us from hawaii. when we come bark, we will talk about the meaning of this mission here today and all this week. and next, hillary clinton trying to put attention on poverty, the overwhelming issue of poverty and governmental corruption, they go hand in hand. we will talk to david lane, executive ceo and head of the one campaign, when we come back. "andrea mitchell reports" live from nairobi. 100 potato chips...

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corruption makes doing business more expensive. it deprives people of the rewards of democracy, where they believe their voice counts and they are equal to anyone else in the society. it is an impediment to african development. some good steps are being taken in some parts of africa, but so much more needs to be done and we want to both deliver a strong message about that, but also offer help and assistance. >> hillary clinton here in nairobi today had some tough words about corruption, especially corruption in this government here in nairobi, kenya, problems with the coalition government, the fact

they have not been following deal with the crime and ravages of the postelection violence in december and 2007 and january and february of 2008, at least 1500 people killed and 500,000 people displaced. david lane joins us now from washington, the president and ceo of the one campaign, co-founded by bono. david, thanks so much for joining us. the issue that you have been bringing to the could have friends and kenya is that corruption worked hand in hand with poverty, one feeds the other and until governments clean up their act, they will not be able to get the foreign investments and foreign health, frankly, from governments such as ours that they need. do you agree that assessment? >> i do,thy think a very powerful message she deliver nerd her speech today and builds on what president obama said a few weeks agoship. he emphasized that genuine prosper sit going to come from private investment and trade and

nobody wants to invest when they can't trust in the rule of law and a responsive -- a government should also say that the people of africa, forget about outside government, seem to be demanding this more than anyone else. they -- they want to be sure not just that investment but that foreign assistance comes in their pocket doesn't line the pockets of foreign leaders but actually addresses the intended effects and has the impact it needs to have. >> now the one campaign, you, bono and all of your colleagues have been here before a lot of us were paying attention to this the root cause of the problem and also hiv will/aids. i was told 500,000 -- excuse me, $500 million is being spent, a come combination of the cdc and groups such as yours where are you in this battle against aids and hiv? >> let me take a step back and say that president obama has put

forward a pretty bold global health spending initiative and the first to admit that he is building on success from the bush administration with their historic pepfar initiative that enjoyed bipartisan support it is really quite dramatic. just the last fews, the number of people in africa suffering from aids, on treatment, on arvilles moved from 50,000 to 372 million and that is measurable and documentable and i think back to the point you mentioned earlier about corruption, i think there were very strong accountability measures built into the pepfar initiative that is one of the reason it is has been effective and that enjoys public support and strong bipartisan support, i think enormous progress on the treatment side, still much more to do, especially on the prevention side, because as you probably know, stigma and the sort of social unease with aids is a big 00 raj to people being

tested into making progress, but there has been enormous progress the last few years. >> if you had one message that would you like hillary clinton to deliver as she travels to seven countries this week and next, what would that message be? >> well, it depends on who she is speaking to. i think i should say that their message of government needing to be responsive to its people, i think, is exactly the right message. coupled with that, i think that the u.s. is ready to respond to strong african leadership when that occurs, but i think i also hope that she sends a message back home that would probably surprise most of the public, that actually there's been enormous progress in the last ten years. when the american public sees africa on the news, for very good reason, they usually are seeing zimbabwe, sudan, the congress goes, the kenyan election, somalia, those are all very important issues and she is right to focus on them, but as the public should know in just the last ten or so years, another 34 million kids in

africa have been -- have gone into school as a result of debt relief. and this 3.2 million on arv treatment for aids. and in fact, a number of countries that i just visited, by the way, with bolton and lake and other american political leaders, ghana and ethiopia, both reduced deaths from malaria by 50% in just the last -- just the last couple of years. so, there has been dramatic progress and i'm thrilled that the obama administration is continuing to focus on africa and make it a priority because we need to keep doing what we can to support african leadership that's on its way. >> thank you so much. david lane of the one campaign. thank you for joining us today. >> thank you. >> when we come back, john pender gs of the enough project talking about some of the regional military disputes and political rivalries that have so plagued many of these countries. you are watching andrea mitchell

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again. hillary clinton is at a gala dinner for the trade summit meeting here as she continues on this trip, one place she will visit next week is congo, visiting seven countries. joining us now, john pender cga, the enough project, joining us from philadelphia. you have been focusing on the issues of general side, the questions of what is happening in darfur and whether thiser predecessorses have been doing enough what kind of report would you give since president obama was here in the continent visiting ghana and speaking out on subjects regional of importance to africa? >> you know, as you were just

talking with david lane, so much news coming out of africa on the democratization front or economic front. what pulls africa down is the conflicts, particularly the biggest two biggest conflicts frankly in the world since world war two deadliest conflicts, sudan and congo. so, the administration has begun to try to deal with these issues in sudan and congo, but it is very incomplete. congo, haven't yet name third special envoy. in sudan, named the envoy but they are divided. there is intention to do something but application and implementation, a lot to be desired. >> talk about that split in policy, there was testimony last week by the envoy on darfur, on sudan, general scott grecian and that was in conflict with what the state department has been saying. flesh that out for me. >> yeah, a really interesting issue. here is a government in sudan

that has been responsible, either directly or indirectly, for about two and a half million deaths in southern sudan and in darfur, so the central question that the administration is debating, do you engage that government primarily backed by carrots and incentives or do you engage with pressures and with sticks? and there is a very deep division between some of the keyliers in the obama administration about which way to go. and the special envoy is moving into that vacuum and saying we ought to be pushing the incentives approach. we ought to be removing some of these pressures from the sudan government. i, personally, disagree strongly with this approach. i think the government of sudan is going to eat these carrots and continue with the status quo, which is very version deadly for the people of sudan. >> finally, john what more would you like to see the administration do if hillary clinton in her travels here

could forcefully make points when she meets with the other leaders here, goes to the congo next week? >> you know this is the most important -- it is the deadliest conflict in the world since the holocaust, the most dangerous police in the world to be a woman or a girl because of the kinds of race, used as a tool of war. she ought to say very clearly, the united states is going to get involved in congo, we are going to work on the root causes, not just going to treat the symptoms and we are going to deal with the raw materials that are mined in the congo that go into our cell phones and our laptops. we are directly complicit in the conflict in congo. we need to own up to that and figure out a way to deal with how to clean up the supply chain for electronic product it is a we use every day. just like with blood die mons in sierra leone, there are solutions and we need to be part of the solutions in congo and bring the deadliest war in the world to an end. >> much -- one of the issues that is much less known, much less, you know, widely known, i know the project is trying to

bring to our attention. thank you very much, john. >> thank you. another rising threat, the threat of terror in the horn of africa, something the administration is deeply concerned about. we will be talking to roger kress circumstance nbc's terror expert, when we come back from nairob nairobi. has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". (announcer) regular kool-aid. goes almost three times further than soda.

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well, it looks like you haven't had a claim in over four years, so you don't have to pay a deductible. that means you saved $500! $500? i could get an electronic fish-finder. that's the spirit. saving you money on boat insurance. now that's progressive. call or click today. good day, i'm savannah guthrie in washington. first, developing news in pennsylvania, disturbing journal entries from an alleged gunman who opened fire in an exercise class health club killing three women. we expect to hear from police in an hour at a news conference. brian moore is in bridgeville, pennsylvania, with us. this website allegedly maintained by the gunman contain a lot of information. what is the latest you are hearing? >> reporter: savannah it is

troubling, it is ominous and police will get questions how this bloodbath could have been in the plannings on the internet for nine months and nobody alerted authorities to it. nobody knew about it until they started checking this man's name, 48-year-old george sodini left behind a rambling 400 -- 4600-word journal, a blog that sort of took the form of a resume, in which he had his date of birth and his date of death as well. he complained about his trouble in getting relationships going with women. in fact, he said he hadn't had a girlfriend since 1984. and he said that there are 30 million women in this country. he couldn't figure out why wouldn't wouldn't be tomorrow go out with him. thunderstorms say they are looking into this man's past. it is unlikely anyone could have stopped this, but with such an extensive blueprint, today, savannah, one question

authorities are getting, why didn't they stop in? >> a question they will be getting an hour from now, they hold that news conference. nbc's brian more for us in bridgeville, pennsylvania, thank you. now let's go to africa, andrea mitchell nairobi. what is the latest? >> thanks savannah. here in nairobi tomorrow, a somber moment. hillary clinton will be joining other diplomats in commemorated the 11th anniversary of the terror bombings that leveled the embassy building in nairobi as experts are warning there san increasing terror threat in the horn of africa. i asked her about that today. how great a concern is terrorism and is there anything more the united states can do? >> terrorism remains our number one security threat and concern. i had a very long discussion today with the president, prime minister, vice president, other ministers in the keepian government about somalia about the threat posed by the terrorist group al shabab.

the horn of africa is a strategic location important to africa, important as we have seen with the piracy challenge to global trade. we remain vigilant and focused on what we can do to assist other countries in dealing with the threat of terrorism. i think will is no doubt that the terrorists, particularly al qaeda, have suffered some setbacks. their financing is not what it once was. they don't have the freedom of movement, but as we just saw a few weeks ago in jakarta, they are part of a syndicate of terror and they, unfortunately have people on every continent who are prepared to commit violence. but i'm in africa in large measure to you know exemphasize the president's message in can nah, a message of responsibility, a message that good governance, transparency, accountability, are essential ingredients for economic growth

and prosperity and to visit seven countries, starting here in kenya, that hold both promise and problems and to look for ways that the united states can be a more effective partner. >> you haven't sugarcoated the message about the problem of corruption and how it feeds into poverty and keeps people in these terrible situations. >> you can't sugar can coat it, andrea, because it's tragic. >> hillary clinton talking to us earlier today about terrorism and the cycle of violence in some of these countries. roger kresscy joins us from washington, nbc terror analyst. roger, we have been talking about el shabab, help us understand better their role, their roots in he somalia and whether they can become a regional threat, wait al qaeda grew before 9/11? >> i think it is important to understand where the threat ranks, vis-a-vis the rest of the world, probably number three in terms of concern by the u.s.

intelligence committee after afghanistan, pakistan and the a arabian peninsula. the horn of africa, somalia and kenya are high priority. el shabab in many respects is an indigenous phenomenon to somalia. while they are simplet this ittic to al qaeda, they don't have what i call direct links at this point. what most people are worried about, kenyan officials and american officials is this porous border between kenya and somalia and the ability of operatives to be able to move across, avoid tracking and therefore, if they are going to do operational planning, this he can do it in a way there is a high degree of confidence they won't get caught. >> of course, the porous boarder is rooted in the precolonial history. i mean, these were peoples who lived together, the somalis in kenya are the same as the somalis in somalia. so, you -- the colonial governments established these borders and it's very hard to even keep the borders -- the

borders properly patrolled for normal traffic to say nothing of terrorists. >> that is exactly right. so think about lines on a map that really have no meaning for tribings and for how tribes have interacted for centuries and you also compound that with the real that there is no government in somalia it is a failed state. and what many people are worried about is that al shabab and other like-minded groups and other individuals can use the ray is jobs a chaos and lack of governance structure can use the safe haven and infrastructure, they can do two things, one to conduct attacks in the region whichic i think is a very real possibility and the issue of projecting power out. you saw most recently the arrests in australia of several australian citizens, lebanese descent, conducted jihad there fought with al shabab and then went back to australia and were planning to launch an attack against an australian military base. that type of back and forth,

while it may not be directed and trained by al shabab directly there is a relationship and that is what the international concern is. >> the cannian government deeply concerned about the refugee problem that is inherenting because of that border what hillary clinton had to say about it at a news conference here today. >> we recognize the border problem that kenya has with this long board we are somalia. we certainly offered what ever help and assistance we could provide to kenya to deal with the border, the refugee flow, which kenya is trying to absorb, 6,000 refugees. >> 10,000 a month. >> 10,000 a month. which know we are facing a very difficult conflict also know the president of al shabab and terrorist elements within somalia poses a threat, poses a threat to kenya, poses a threat

to the stability of africa and beyond. >> roger, the kenyan government itself so divided, government fraught with difficulties, anyway this government by itself can handle this problem? >> absolutely not, andrea. i mean, you are dealing with a growing humanitarian crisis on top of the reality that that the kenyan government, as you said is very fractured and very weak. the united states and its allies need to play a strong role in shoring up kenya. we do it through a variety of means, one of which is through military support there is a combined joint task force operating out of djibouti, whose responsibility is the horn of africa, the second is intelligence support and the this sird providing aid, humanitarian aid, economic aid to deal with the immediate humanitarian crisis but provide support to the kenyan government so they can do more on their own. they will never be able to to solve it on their own but has to be a combined effort between us and the kenyans. >> and we will be speaking next,

roger, thank you so much with martin from brookings to talk about iran and other major foreign policy crisis. right now, you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" live from nairobi. k... so much real cheese in such small bites? ♪ baking complete! well, now you know. cheez-it. the big cheese. beauty editors and research institutes are seeing results. [ male announcer ] best cleanser, essence magazine. hydrates better than the $350 cream. [ female announcer ] most importantly, men are seeing results. and still no drastic measures. olay regenerist.

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by unitedhealth educational publishing group. it will help you better understand all your choices. so don't wait. call today for your free guide. >> no doubt that he took office today and was inaugurated again as president, but there's also no i'll do the that there continue -- doubt that there continues to be a lot of foment and ferment within iran itself, many people bravely pursuing reform agenda. >> secretary clinton talking today about the newly rei inaugurated ahmadinejad, the president of iran, a after extraordinary turmoil. martin join us from the savan center at brookings. martin, thanks so much. what have we learned -- what have we learned in the last couple of days or weeks about iran and the direction it's taking, given the fact that the

protests do not seem to have prevented the inauguration of ahmadinejad? we now have to deal with him. >> in one way or another, that's very true, andrea, but the fact is we're dealing with a leadership, not just ahmadinejad, but the supreme leader, khomeini, whose legitimacy is being challenged, almost on a daily basis, by people in the streets of iran and by people within the regime, including some of the former main stays of the regime. that makes it cheer that iran is not ten feet tall in the way that it looked up until this election to many, especially in the middle east region. it means that the leadership is inevitably going to be preoccupied. overall its status of legitimacy

internationally is going to be questioned. so in some ways, that makes it perhaps easier to deal with the kind of challenges that this regime has been putting forward, but on the other hand, it becomes entirely unpredictable as to how they will proceed. will they, in response to this domestic challenge take a tougher stand internationally or will they try to seek to engage with the obama administration as a way of legitimizing themselves at home? it is a very fluid situation and we will have to be very agile in the way that we deal with it. >> now, speaking of fluid situations and leaders are not ten feet tall, here we have bill clinton meeting for three hours and 15 minutes with kim jong-il. and we see the reclusive leader coming back from the stroke. he clearly was, you know, fairly

ebuell ye ebuell yent, the overture from the north koreans to bring clinton there happened exactly as hillary clinton and the north koreans were in a verbal spat. let me show you, i asked her about that today. >> you speak of yourself as a mother and referred not too long ago of the mother in you that reminded you of small children and unruly teenage dealers manneding attention this in the way north korean behaving and they, said we cannot but regard mrs. clinton as a funny lady such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community. sometime she is looks like a primary school girl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping. >> those are mixed metaphors. >> a big change from bill clinton being greeted by a school child with flowers at pyongyang airport and having a long dinner with kim jong-il. >> i think it illustrates that

our position in the obama administration is very clear. we are concerned by the actions north korea engages in. pleased that we obtained toughest support for the sanctions to be imposed on north korea. our dip prop massey, engagement with partners in the six-party talks and the u.n. is where we are putting our energy.lomacy, partners in the six-party talks and the u.n. is where we are putting our energy. at the same time, i am concerned about the future of the young women and very pleased we can see them coming home safely but our policy is in no way affected by this humanitarian mission. >> that is hillary clinton, martin, briefly. this is a moment it could go to a different direction. marten? it can certainly open that

up that possibility. no doubt, president clinton was talking about the nuclear program. [ inaudible ] in which diplomacy can start to work again. a couple weeks ago, as you would note, andrea, the whole question of where with the tension has gone. and today, both clintons are very much back. >> thanks so much. when we come back what is -- will we be talking about in the next 24? we return next from nairobi. 90. ♪ singer: buckle up, everybody 'cause we're taking a ride ♪

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welcome back to andrea mitchell reports. >> you know this well, but the clintons are once again sort of astride the world stage. bill clinton, obviously with the freeing of the two journalists in north korea. you were with the secretary of state in kenya. i think this is what barack obama hoped when he named hillary clinton secretary of state. this is the best of the clintons. their ability to go almost

anywhere, command and audience and get things done. and particularly in regards to bill clinton, to do so in an unofficial capacity that doesn't get in the way of diplomatic relations. >> chris, one of the interesting things though is that we had clinton working with al gore. they were as much rivals in the past as obama and bill clinton. maybe not as much, but still a lot of tension there. >> i was, like i do every morning, watching msnbc, and i saw the images of the former vice president speaking and the former president standing in the background and i thought politics is a strange world. everything comes full circle. a remarkable pairing. >> all right. you're a remarkable pal. thanks so much, chris cillizza, for being with us. and we'll be back tomorrow from nairobi, continuing to cover

hillary clinton's trip to africa starting in kenya. we'll be back at 1:00. msnbc continues. the place for politics. come on. [ kissing ] come on. good girl. mollie's never looked better. i really was amazed to see the changin her coat. people stop us when we're walking, and they'll say, "did you shine up her spots?" [ woman announcing ] just another way purina one... unlocks the brilliance of nature... to transform the life of your dog.

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good wednesday, everyone. i'm contessa brewer. ahead this hour, a news conference expected in a mass murder in a pennsylvania gym. his online blog a testament toward his fury of attractive women. >> we are very grateful that we were granted amnesty by the government of north korea and we are so happy to be home. >> a family's joy. their loved ones rescued from prison in north korea. lisa ling and euna lee back on

u.s. soil. but three americans are being held in iran. a few republicans and democrats are joining forces on a health care plan. it seems workable, so why won't the party leaders jump on this and push this through? president obama visits indiana and explains why his plan will help one of the hardest hit towns in the nation. that's where we begin this hour, with president obama pushing the positive signs we're seeing in the economy. he spoke to people struggling in indiana. as part of msnbc's award winning project. the president then gave an exclusive interview to chuck todd. >> our goal is to first of all, rescue the economy from the brink and you're starting to see unemployment drop a little bit here.

the most important thing we're going to have to do is help elkhart reinvent itself. >> mike viqueira joins us now. when you talk to people who have lost their jobs, they have highly technical skills they can't apply in the same career. what is the president's plan for transferring all the know-how and put it to use? >> you found a lot of that in the stimulus package, something is president was touting in his speech today. high-speed rail, smart grid electricity, making medical records available on the internet, things of that nature. they're talking about plussing up. he was announcing a $2.5 billion grant for an electric hybrid vehicle project. elkhart, indiana, calls itself the rv capital of the world and

has fallen on hard times. you're going to see all eyes in washington and elsewhere on a statistic that comes out friday and that is the latest unemployment figures for the month. the unemployment rate now is 9.5%. the president has said he expected it to reach more than 10%, so they have already tried to set the expectations here. it's not been in double digits since 1983 in this country. experts guessing where it's going to end up and the administration time after time, ever since the president started really tooting the horn, touting his accomplishments, ever since last week when he appeared in raleigh, north carolina, he spent is first half hour talking about the stimulus and economy, but it's all tempered with caveats and conditions. officials have