well aware they're looking for other suspects here. what can you tell us about that? >> the search goes on for other suspects. we have more time than i thought we had. in the months leading up to his trip to new york, he drove there just before the 9/11 anniversary and he bought the chemicals needed to make this explosive. he and associates, the fbi says, went to beauty supply stores because they were looking for two chemicals that are commonly sold in beauty supply stores and that three times he rented or got a hotel room in the denver area that had a stove in it that he was using to heat these chemicals up to concentrate them and make them more concentrated and boil off the water in them to make them less dilute so he could try to build the formula. apparently judging from to the court documents he could never quite get it right and he was communicating with someone else who we thought knew how to do this and they say every time they communicated a little more

urgently apparently saying i still can't get this right, help me figure out how to do this. we assume from the court documents that he never did make any explosive and what we understand when he drove to new york, no explosive was found in his car. >> thank you, pete, for the latest on that developmenting story. also today the u.n. security council voted unanimously. open to talk with all marties but will rogue nations like iran and north korea really comply and with us now senator bob casey and he serves as both the foreign relation and health committee. thank you, senator, for joining us today. >> thank you, good to be with you. >> what is your reaction to the president and member of the u.n. security council and standing strong and really seemingly wanting to step up the effort here. >> i think it's critically important to follow the president's lead here where he's xwin very aggressive about making sure the disarmorment is

part going forward and working in conjunction with countries across the world. our allies and others. this threat remains and we have to be vigilant and we have to have a strategy in place to make sure that when it comes to proliferation of nuclear weapons that we're focusesed very intensively on making sure that we can limit and control that proliferation and we don't have it right yet. we have a ways to go. >> we, obviously, know that russia said it is willing to comply with sanctions against iran. china is not agreeing at this point and you still go back to the conversation, i think people do, of how you have power behind the words and you hear so many people talking today, senator, about whether the president has really shown power as the u.n. and his respected remarks in pittsburgh at the g-20. >> well, first of all, one meeting or one speech does not make a policy.

there are, there are plenty of ways to exert power and they're also a number of ways to demonstrate leadership. the president has pointed us in the right direction. when you consider not only the broader question of the nuclear threat, but in particular, the threat posed by iran making sure that we're putting every possible or applying, i should say, every possible element of pressure on iran, whether it's economic or diplomatic or several other points of pressure to make sure that the iranians don't develop the nuclear capability, as well as the launch capability to threaten not only the middle east, and not only the region, but even threaten our security. so, i think we've got to be very tough and resolute when it comes to iran's nuclear threat. i'm the lead on legislation with regard to divesting pension funds out of companies that do business with iran's energy sector as well as a co-sponsor

of legislation to get very tough on iran to keep that kind of pressure. but some of this is going to be engaged with other countries like china and russia. >> which is key. let me switch topics here. of course, the domestic hot topic, health care. the markup happening with the baucus proposal. earlier you said that you were not happy the public option was not included and not stronger language to make it illegal for people not to be treated who have pre-existing conditions. more than 500 amendments and also reports of fighting within the democrats in the house. >> we're making progress. we're at a point now where the country has never been. our health education committee that i voted in the middle of july to get our bill out, we have hundreds of amendments we dealt with and the key thing here, though, is keeping our eye

on the ball. for those that are insured we want to provide some stability. one way to do that is to say to insurance companies it is illegal to deny pre-existing conditions and illegal for you going forward to charge exorbitant pocket costs and making those changes are essential, as well as covering more americans that don't have coverage right now. we're paying for the uninsured right now and we need to enhance quality, control costs and also do our best to provide choices to the american public. i think we can do that. >> let me get you to respond to the stories out there that the democrats are creating problems within their own party. you have democratic end fighting. never mind the acquisitions that the republicans are stalling and that the problem is within the party. what is your response to that? >> well, i think some of that is a little overdramatized. it's important that the democrats debate among ourselves about important provisions here. most people in the democratic party want a public option, i'm

one of them. some don't. we're debating that and we're debating a lot of elements in this bill. i, for example, sent a letter the other day about colleagues of the children's health insurance program. we have to make sure we keep that in tact as it is. it's working, not broken. in the end, democrats will vote for reform and keep it moving forward. i have no doubt that we will line-up the votes to do that. i think we can, in the end, come together. >> senator bob casey, always a pleasure seeing and talking with you. >> thank you. paul kirk, long-time senior aide and friend of senator ted kennedy will serve as his replacement in the senate until the massachusetts special election. governor duval patrick made that announcement this morning and will not seek the special election happening in january. >> to also have the encouragement and support of his family that i'd be a voice and a voice and a vote for his causes

and his constituents in the senate that he loved is a blessing i can only repay by giving my very best efforts to be the best public servant i can be in the few months ahead. already some are criticizing kirk's background. this now gives senate democrats a crucial 60th vote needed to pass health care reform. other top headlines we're following this hour. a census worker found hanging near a tree near a kentucky cemetery has prompted an fbi investigation. 51-year-old bill sparkman was found hanging from a rope with the word fed scrawled across his chest. the fbi is trying to determine if he was the victim of anti-government sentiment. and crews in southern california are battling a wildfire that has grown to more than 25 square miles. so far it scorched more than 16,000 acres and ranchers and

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senators accusing each other of delaying a vote in and across capitol hill eric canter says speaker nancy pelosi is living in another world she seeks anti-reform protests will not get violent. here with us now, eric cantser, house republican whip and ways and means committee, thank you, congressman, for joining us. >> thank you. >> what did you mean by that she's living in another world? >> you know, i just don't see the world she describes about violence being in the offing. clearly over the month of august and leading into the fall, we've seen americans awaken to the fact that what they're seeing in washington as far as the health care situation and others is not really their vision for the future and i don't believe, though, when we have impassioned individuals gathering in civil

forums that we could predict there would be violence in the offing. >> i have to ask something about something that has been getting a lot of play on the internet sites about a town hall meeting that you recently held and a woman in the audience and she asked about a friend that was losing her job and she needed surgery and let me play your response to that woman on how she should get help. >> sure. >> i am asking you, what would you do if this was your close relative? >> first of all, i guess i would ask what the situation is in terms of income eligibility and the existing programs that are out there. because if we look at the uninsured right now, there is probably 23, 24% of the uninsured that is already eligible for an existing government program and i know that there are programs, there are charitable organizations and there are hospitals here who do

provide charity care that if there's an instance and the individual is not eligible for existing programs that there can be some cooperative effort. >> congressman y know you're well aware and you told this woman to get charity so she could get medicaid essentially turning to the government. isn't that the problem with the health care system that so many people are forced to go broke just to get the care they deserve as americans? >> first of all, i said nothing of the sort to go broke at all. listen, tamron, the way i responded that was a constituent and desperate need. i was dealing with it in its immediacy as if she was asking me for advice right here and now. the fact is that washington in terms of the legislation being discussed it won't act until 2013. the incident before us was an individual woman who had breast cancer and being diagnosed and was threatened and had her

insurance taken away from her. so, i looked at it from the immediacy and, in fact, the kind of response that i gave is very similar to that which appears on the american cancer society website. it is in no way intended to say exactly what you are saying. in fact, some of the high prbally on the blogs around this incident is very harmful to the discussion of what we're trying to do here in washington, which is, reflective of the fact that none of us accept the status quo. none of us like the situation that this woman's friend finds herself in and we're trying to find an answer so that we can get reform that works. but in this particular case, it was the immediacy of the question that i was responding to. >> let me ask you about comments that were attributed to you that says this health care debate is detracting other business and other domestic issues.

"a" did you say that and what other issue is important right now domestically right now than this health reform? >> where we ought to be focused first and foremost is making sure people have a job. we have joblessness at historic levels at this point and when people lose their job in this country, most likely, they're also losing their health care. when employers and small businesses are having difficulty, even keeping the lights on, they'll no longer be able to provide their employees with health care. we have to take health care in the context of a larger, more difficult economy right now. we need to take first things first and address people's fears about this economy. at the same time, try some positive reform in health care that can open up more choices that can preserve people's ability to choose what their health care is with their doctor. >> you mentioned, of course, the economy and you have the g-20 happening in pittsburgh and the president expected to land there around 3:20 eastern time.

what is the message you feel needs to come from this president? >> well, i mean, clearly, i think the president has to feel that we have a lot on our plate in this country and we should be working with our allies and we have got to be focused on the economy. we, in america, should be constantly focused on growth-oriented policies. we want to get people back to work. when we're talking about stimulus policies, the best stimulus is a job and i'm hopeful that what we hear from the president is meaningful efforts to get our growing deficit under control so that our international allies, global investors, will be able to regain their confidence in america as a destination for risk-based investment and for capital formation. >> congressman canter, certain appreciate you answering those questions. greatly appreciate it, thank you. >> thank you. want to take you to the u.n.

where benjamin netanyahu is addressing the general assembly. let's listen. >> as they bravely stand up for freedom. will it take action against the dictators who stole an election in broad daylight and then gunned down iranian protesters who died in the sidewalks on the streets choking in their own blood. will the international community the world's sponsor and practitioner of terrorism. above all, will the international community stop the terrorist regime of iran from developing atomic weapons, thereby, endangering the peace of the entire world. the people of iran are courageously standing up to this regime. people of good will around the world stand with them.

as do thousands of people who have been protesting and demonstrating outside this hall all of this week. will the united nations stand by their side. well, ladies and gentlemen, the jury is still out on the united nations. and recent signs, recent signs are not encouraging. rather than condemning the terrorists and their iranian patrons, some here in the united nations have condemned their victims. this is exactly what a recent u.n. report on gaza did, falsely equating terrorists with those they targeted. for eight long years hamas fired rockets, fired those rockets

from gaza on nearby israeli citizen and citizens. thousands of missiles, mortars hurling down from the sky on schools, on homes, shopping centers, bus stops. year after year as these missiles were deliberately fired on our citizens, not a single, not one u.n. resolution was passed condemning those criminal attacks. we heard nothing, absolutely nothing from the u.n. human rights council on this named institution, if there ever was one.

in 2005, hoping to advance pe e peace, israel unilaterally withdrew from every inch of gaza. it was very painful. we dismantled 21 settlements, really bedroom communities and farms. we had over 8,000 israelis. just yanked them out from their homes. we did this because many in israel believed that this would get peace. well, we didn't get peace. instead, we got an iranian-backed terrorism base to miles from tel aviv, but life in the israeli towns and cities next to gaza became nothing less than a nightmare. you see the hamas rocket

launchers and the rocket attacks not only continued after we left, they actually increased dramatically, they increased ten-fold. and, again, the u.n. was silent, absolutely silent. well, finally, after eight years of this unremitting assault, israel was forced to respond. but how should we have responded? well, there's only one example in history of thousands of rockets being fired on the country's civilian population. this happened when the nazis rocketed british cities during world war ii. during that war, the allies leveled german cities, causing hundreds of thousands of casualties.

i'm not passing judgment, i'm stating a fact. a fact that is a product of a decision of great and honorable men, the leaders of britain and the united states fighting an evil force in world war ii. it is also a fact that israel chose to respond differently. faced with an enemy of committing a double war crime, firing on civilians while hiding behind civilians, israel sought to conduct surgical strikes directed against the rocket launcher themselves. now, mind you, that was no easy task. because the terrorists were

firing their missiles from homes and from schools. they were using mosques as weapons depots and missile cach caches. israel by contrast tried to minimize casualties by urging palestinian civilians to vacate the targeted areas. we dropped countless fliers, they cannot be counted. so many, obviously. countless fliers over their homes. we sent thousands and thousands of text messages to the palestinian residents. we made thousands and thousands of cellular phone calls urging them to vacate, to leave. never as a country gone to such extraordinary lengths to remove the enemy civilian population from harm's way.

yet faced with an absolutely clear cut case of aggressor and victim, who do you think the united nations human rights council decided to condemn? israel. a democracy legitimately defending itself against terror is morally hang, drawn and given an unfair trial to boot. by these twisted standards, the united nations human rights council would have dragged roosevelt and churchill. what a proversion of truth, what a perversion of justice. now, delegates of the united nations, and the governments

whom you represent, you have a decision to make. will you accept this farce? because if you do, the united nations would revert to its darkest days when the worst violators of human rights sat in judgment against the law-abiding democracies. when zionism was equated with racism. and when an automatic majority could be mustered to declare that the earth is flat. if you had to choose a date when the united nations began its decent, almost a freefall and lost the respect of many thoughtful people in the international community, it was that decision in 1975 to equate zionism with racism. now, this body has a choice to

make. if it does not make reject this bias report, it would begin or rebegin the process of vishiating itself from its own relevance or importance. but it would do something else. it would send a mesage to the terrorists everywhere saying terrorism pays. all you have to do is launch your attacks from densely populated areas and you will win immunity. and then a third thing, in condemning israel, this body would deal a mortal blow to peace. let me explain why. when israel left gaza, many hoped the attacks would stop. others believed that even if they don't stop, at the very

least, israel would have made this gesture, extraordinary gesture for peace but it would have legitimacy to exercise its right of self-defense if peace failed. what legitimacy? what self-defense? the same u.n. that cheered israel as we left gaza. the same u.n. that promised to back our right of self-defense now accuses us, my people, my country of being war criminals and for what? for acting responsibly in self-defense and for acting in a way that any country would act with a restrained unmatched by many. what a travesty. ladies and gentlemen, israel

justly defended itself against terror. this bias and unjust report provides a clear cut test for all governments. will you stand with israel or will you stand with the terrorists? we must know the answer to that question now, now, not later. because if israel is, again, asked to take more risk for peace, we must know today that you will stand with us tomorrow. only if we have the confidence that we can defend ourselves can we take further risks for peace. and make no mistake about it, all of israel wants peace.

any time an arab leader genuinely wanted peace with us, we make peace. we made peace with egypt, we made peace with jordan led by king hussein and if the palestinians truly want peace, i and my government and my people will make peace. but we want a genuine peace. a defensible peace. a permanent peace. in 1947, this body voted to establish two states for two peoples. a jewish state and an arab state. the jews accepted this resolution. the arabs rejected it. and invaded the jewish state with the hopes of annihilating it. we asked the palestinians to finally do what they refuse to

do for 62 years. say yes to a jewish state. just as simple as that. just as we are asked to recognize the palestinian state for the palestinian people, they must be asked to recognize the nation state of the jewish people. the jewish people are not foreign conqurers in the land of israel. it is the land of our forefathers. inscribed on the walls outside this building is the great biblical vision of peace. nations should not lift up sword against nation. they shall learn war no more. these words were spoken by the great jewish prophet isaiah 2800 years ago as he walked in my country, in my city in the hills

of jew dia and in the streets of jerusalem. we are not strangers to this land, this is our homeland. but as deeply connected as we are to our homeland, we also recognize that the palestinians also lived there and they want a home of their own. we want to live side by side with them. two free peoples living in peace, living in prosperity, living in dignity. peace, prosperity and dignity require one other element. we must have security. the palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, except a handful of powers that

put in danger israel. this is why the palestinian state must be effectively debillterized. i say effectively because we don't want another, another gaza or another south lebanon and another iraq-backed terrorism base and perched on the hills a few kilometers from tel aviv. we want peace. and i believe that with good will and with hard work such a peace can be achieved. but it requires from all of us to roll back the forces of terror led by iran that seek to destroy peace, that seek to

eliminate israel and to overthrow the world order. the question facing the international community is whether it is prepared to confront those forces or to accommodate them. over 70 years ago winston churchill amended what he called, he called it the confirm ed, by that he meant the unfortunate habit of civilized societies to sleep and to slumber until danger nearly overtakes them. churchill bemoaned what he called the want of foresight, the unwillingness to act when action will be simple and effective. the lack of clear thinking, the confusion of council until the

emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong. ladies and gentlemen, i speak here today in the hope that churchi churchill's assessment of the unteachable of man kind is for once proven wrong. i speak here today in the hope that we can learn from history. that we can prevent danger in time. in the spirit of the timeless words spoken to joshua over 3,000 years ago, let us be strong and of good courage. let us confront this peril, secure our future and, god willing, forge an enduring peace for generations to come.

thank you very much. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu addressing the u.n. general assembly saying in part peace, prosperity and dignity is a must for that region to exist and must also be security and the prime minister saying quite definitely that israel justified in defending itself against terror and must be clear cut whether you stand with israel or stand with terrorism. very strong words from israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu on the heels of that meeting and the president of authority and president obama. much more on the reaction of that strong speech by israel's prime minister and just ahead former prime minister tony blair explains why he expects peace negotiations between israeli and palestinian leaders to start in

the coming weeks. and thousands of protesters promise an angry welcome for world leaders converging on pittsburgh for the start of the g-20 summit. you're watching andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. died, most trusted, anti-fever, anti-inflammatory, and anti-pain medications in the world. from pain killer to life saver, bayer aspirin is the wonder drug that works wonders. according to a study presented by better homes and gardens, definity color recapture. it corrects the look of wrinkles and discoloration. 50,000 voters. one brilliant winner.

welcome back. word just in that democratic senator robert byrd has been released from the hospital after a two-day stay to treat a spike in his white blood cell count. they gave him antibiotic treatment. byrd will continue the treatment from home over the next few days. now to the g-20 summit where the world economic leaders want reassurance that washington is serious about regulatory reform to prevent another economic crisis or we can just say the global crisis. they also want an end to an end game to wind down financial stimulus but human rights activists are rallying across

pittsburgh and 15 have been arrested. nbc news white house correspondent savannah guthrie is on the road in pittsburgh before we talk about the protesters on the ground, what are the reaction from the president his u.n. address yesterday, like anything, was met with mixed reviews. >> i think two big agenda items and you mentioned both of them. what are we going to do about financial regulatory reform. the leaders will come to these meetings and come with agreements that everyone can get onboard with and the biggest, most pressing issue on that is whether or not countries will act to reform the way the financial system is regulated so we don't have another financial crisis and we can see that debate going on, as we speak, in our own country. the president will want to talk about, of course, that he has proposed a major overhaul of the system and the question is, is the political will there to get it done. that's one issue. the other is unwinding this

fiscal stimulus. herculean efforts to save the world economy from depression and how do you extract yourself from it without triggering another crisis. >> savannah, real quick on the protesters. they've already been on the ground, 15 arrested. what is the latest there? >> well, i think our sense is that we're not getting the protest that some of us might see. there have been 15 arrests but reporters around pittsburgh who haven't really seen the kind of huge protests we have seen at other meetings like this, certainly at the g-20 in london. much more dramatic protests and the viewpoint of the pittsburgh police, so far so good. >> thank you for the update. is victory obtainable in afghanistan. new yorker george packer explains why the debate over more troops verse as change in strategy is just delaying the inevitable. garth, you're up. hold on, i'm at capitalone.com picking a photo...

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are welcome back. china now says applying more pressure on tehran won't stop the iran weapons program and ahead of next week's scheduled nuclear negotiations, iran now says it is committed to nuclear nonproliferation if conditions are met. today former prime minister tony blair said iran could be signaling a possible change in approach. >> prime minister, thanks so much for being with us.

mr. blair, iran. we've seen the, some would say, crazy accusations in the ahmadinejad speech and appearances here, but has he now opened the door a little bit to negotiations to diplomacy on the nuclear issue? >> i think people are beginning to understand that it's either diplomacy or a confrontation and since most people, obviously, want to avoid a confrontation and i assume iran is sensible enough to realize it in its own interest and then there may be diplomatic leeway and i think what is good is there a sense in the international communities that there is a clear line and it has to be drawn and it has to be kept to. >> president, president obama seems to have gotten some concessions from the russians that he would consider punishing iran with sanctions, if diplomacy doesn't work. that is a step. >> it is a step. the other thing is everybody has

agreed that there is a complete acceptance of the fact that iran should, if it wants to, develop several nuclear power and also a stated acceptance that iran should not have nuclear weapon capability. the question is whether people agree on the general principal iran should not have nuclear weapons capability and at what point do you say they have crossed that threshold? that is one part of the discussion and the negotiation, if you like. the other thing that is very important is that there is a sense of coming together and, you know, also president obama is offering iran, if it wants to have a different relationship, to have that different relationship and, in the interest of the iranian people, it is pretty clear they would want that. >> how can we rely on negotiations with ahmadinejad? first of all, it does seem the u.s. intelligence certainly indicates that there is a regime that is fractured. we don't know really who is in charge in iran.

whom do you negotiate you nego? >> well, that's good point, but i think you have to negotiate at least formally, at the level of the presidency and the people that they appoint to conduct those negotiations. >> so, we're stuck with him? >> for now. well, i think to an ex-tent we are. on the other hand, i think it's also very clear that there will be a whole set of interactions with other people in the hierarchy of the iranian government and obviously, the -- >> behind the scenes? >> yeah. the question is, in the end, do they understand the intent of the international community is serious? and personally, i think that it would be really unacceptably dangerous and irresponsible to allow iran to acquire that nuclear weapons capability. if what they want to do is genuinely to get civil nuclear power for whatever reason they wish that, then i think that

offer is there, but if they don't, then it's a different matter. >> does it hurt negotiations, diplomacy might just be getting under way to have saber rattling and threatening a military strike? can we get israel to back down on that? should we? >> to be fair to israel, they ask the question the whole time. look, you have the president of a country, that country appears to be trying to seek nuclear weapons capability. the president of that country says i believe israel should be wiped off the face of the map. i mean, if you are an israeli citizen, never mind part of the israeli government it is hardly surprising if you're alarmed and anxious about that. so israel will be asked the question and obviously, i spend a lot of time out there my view is that israel would find it completely unacceptable. >> and if israel were to attack iran, the impact on u.s. national security, british national security, the rest of the world? >> the consequence of the confrontation is such, for that

very reason it is best to avoid it. and that's why there is this tremendous diplomatic push, and also the obama administration saying effectively to the iranian leadership, at every level, look, if you want a different relationship, we may disagree with you completely, the way you are running your country but if you want a different relationship it is an offer but it is an offer on these terms and these terms are very clear. >> the middle east, you have been so deeply involved in the negotiations, but it does seem that the u.s. has now waivered on its very hard line with israel, that it has to halt settlement. and the palestinians are feeling a little bit shut out, they don't have as much leverage as they had. where are we? we don't seem to be getting anywhere. >> i actually think that we will get somewhere and i think we will get somewhere reasonably quickly over the next few weeks, let's go back to the obligation there is already. israel freezes the settlement, reciprocal gestures by other countries we launch the negotiations in that context. now, i think the package that

the americans are working on with the palestinians and israelis, even if it doesn't give everything that everybody wants and these things never work out like that i still think, and believe it will be a strong enough package, to allow these negotiations to be launched with credibility. >> prime minister tony blair, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> fascinating interview there. but on to afghanistan and the request for more u.s. troops in afghanistan is expected at the defense department by tomorrow, but there's word that request won't be happened over to the white house right away, as the obama administration huddles on a strategy. and the september 28th issue of the new yorker, george packer writes about the situation happening in that country and joins us from berlin, germany, via skype. george, thank you so much for joining us. you recently traveled with richard holbrooke, the obama administration's special representative to the region. what -- what perspective can can you give us, having been there on the ground and hearing the many voices in this

conversation? >> well, what ambassador holbrooke is responsible for is the civilian side of our effort in afghanistan and it was remarkable to see how large and rebust that effort is. i mean, he is talking about increasing the number of agriculture experts six-fold. he is talking about reform of the justice system. he is talking about getting away from crop eradication to drug interdiction. so pretty big policy changes on the civilian side. but meanwhile, there's two other problems which seem to be sort of out of his hands and maybe out of our hands. one is the afghan government, which in the middle of his efforts, has come very close to stealing an election. and what that is takes away the possibility that we have a legitimate partner in kabul. and there's really no way to fight a counterinsurgency

without a partner whom we, the international community and afghans think of as legitimate. >> i want to follow up on that point because you have both general petraeus and general mcchrystal saying more troops are needed, however, the report, the assessment of the situation made before that election and many are saying that's why we are seek the obama administration take a step back, because without a true government, one that you can support, any strategy will be very difficult, let alone putting more men and women on the ground there. >> right a. well, i think mcchrystal handed in his report about august 30th, the election is august 20th. you're right, the assessment was done before the election. my sense is that mcchrystal absolutely knows that the afghan government is key. i mean, his report says clearly, the corruption of the afghan government is just as much a threat to success as the taliban, on equal levels of threatening our ability to achieve our goals in afghanistan but mcchrystal isn't really responsible for the afghan election. what can he do about it? he is responsible for the

military side of counterinsurgency and on that side, i think his evaluation is pretty clear, we need more troops. maybe not americans, maybe nato, maybe of a gap, but we need more troops. and anyone who visits the battlefields of afghanistan knows that that's undeniable that we are short-handed. >> you mentioned the civilian aspect of it. what is the tone there regarding more troops if they are sent there, from the afghanis? >> well, there are two different points of view and they are beginning to reach a point of collision. one is we don't want nato here as an occupying army, of course, and we don't want civilian casualties, which has been a big problem which mcchrystal has tried to do something about, but we do still need security, we don't want the taliban back in power we know what that's like. on the other handing we have really worn out our welcome. we have been there eight years. a lot of soldier says to me, what were we doing those eight years? they don't understand. we have finally begun to get a strategy of counterinsurgency

and at that moment that the american and afghan publics are beginning to lose their patience. >> george parker with ""the new yorker."" thank you very much. we certainly appreciate your insight into this. that does it for me this hour. i'm tamron hall. andrea mitchell will be back tomorrow. we have the latest on the terror suspect now charged with that plot to attack new york city. contessa brewer and melissa francis are up next with "it's the economy." discover friskies indoor wet cat food. and unlock the freshness of the outdoors for your indoor cat.

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world leaders converge on pittsburgh, putting their heads together to figure out how to get the global economy back on track, but protestors are also swarming to steel city, intent on getting their message across. well, so much for hoping families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes a new report shows the mediation that's supposed to help really doesn't do much. big banks are taking a lot of heat for their fees and taking action. but today, we get real. when banks go bad.

one woman's story about her bank utterly failed her when she had already been taken for a ride. >> no, it's a not a tribute for the dear leader in north korea or homage for another leader it is an american teacher having her students sing the praises of the president. >> i can't wait to hear that story. >> "it's the economy" on msnbc. i'm contessa brewer. >> i'm melissa francis from cnbc. the g20 summit due to get under way in a few hours, a city that saw half its population leave in the '80s after the steel industry collapsed but it is making its way back. >> its unemployment rate is low and so is its foreclosure rate. according to the mayor, g20 atenders and protestersec