right now on "andrea mitchell reports" live from geneva the beginning of a new era in u.s. relations with iran. important meetings today with the iranians and the u.s. and other world powers. they held their first direct talk with iran during a lunch break at a meeting with world powers. the first direct talk in 30 years. officials called the one-on-one talk a significant conversation.

all sides agreed to second meeting before the end of the month. iran agreed to prompt inspections within weeks with inspectors from the u.n. seeing the new nuclear facility and moments ago at a news conference just inside this building, european minister talked about the break through. i asked him this question. are you persuaded after today that iran will permit the kinds of inspections that the united states has been requesting and was there talk about the freeze of iran's nuclear program? >> get engaged now. >> they also agreed to talk about a new plan which would have iran give its low grade uranium to other countries sit as france and russia and have it brought back after it is further

enriched to iran for medical purposes. this could be the beginning of a uranium swap that could lead to iran disbanding its own nuclear program. a possibility of a further break through. hillary clinton today called this very productive talks, but she wants to see whether or not the delivery is concrete. more on that in a minute and coming up here, david kay, former u.n. weapon inspector and ambassador wendy sherman and chair of the house intelligence committee, subcommittee jane harmine and talking about afghanistan, jeff moral and majority leader hoyer. live in a very busy day in geneva. geneva has been the center of international diplomacy and clearly the top story today at the white house. let's go to savannah guthrie. savannah, big developments within the hour. we have seen iran agree to inspections and we are told they are prompt within weeks and told another high-level meeting and

another point is that the uranium foreign minister at the u.n. said he wants to bump the talks up to the summit level. don't think they can go to the summit right away but hillary clinton coming to geneva within weeks and meeting with her iranian counterpart. >> these are all good signs and the u.s. has to be pleased with what they see so far from these talks but as you mentioned, it's where the rubber meets the road and the details and whether iran is really willing to let the inspectors go and also open up the people documents. so, it's really how robust the cooperation is. probably a good sign that they have scheduled another talks. u.s. officials felt these were fruitless or not a genuine effort by the iranians to engage here that they wouldn't likely waste their times. these are productive signs, at the same time, as you well know, the u.s. also has another track going, a sanctions track and has been working on a raid of possible sanctions if it comes

to that. i think they're probably pleased so far and we'll get a readout from robert gibbs about how officials feel about the talks how they have gone so far in geneva. >> we'll get a read out here off camera and interesting, savannah, the iranians are having a briefing in that big room. the iranians have been on camera and the americans are taking a very low-key approach to this. they don't want to be validating this, i think, until they see whether or not it's real. thanks, savannah guthrie, we look forward to what gibbs says. we know you'll be there. coming up we'll talk to geoff morrell on developments on all of this and particularly afghanistan. where does the review of the u.s. policy stand. first, let's go to david albright, one of the top experts on all things nuclear in the world. david, you know what was going on here and what the stakes were but what could turn out to be

the most interesting development is that iran has agreed to a proposal that ahmadinejad first discussed with a briefing at the "washington post" about a week ago where iranian low grade, low enriched uranium would be stand out to france or russia and further enriched up to close to 20% enrichment and then brought back to iran for use in medical research. this is an acknowledgment that they need this kind of enrichment, but down the road, this could be the first step towards them giving up their own enrichment facility. we're a long way from there, but how do you resist development? >> if iran has truly agreed to this, it's very important. it's a small amount of enriched uranium that iran needs, so if this is what iran defines as its enrichment requirements, it can pretty soon shut down the plant. it won't need to operate that. in fact, iran doesn't need any

low-enriched uranium besides this small amount used for the research reactor in the city of tehran. i think if iran can be convinced that the outside world will help it meet its long-term needs for its power reactors and be reliable supplier, then i think you could eliminate from an economic point of view any need to operate enrichment program inside of iran. >> you could almost describe this as a pilot project. iran proposed it, it was discussed that table today and it has been agreed to and they will have technical discussions in vienna on october 18th. they're moving ahead with this, but as hillary clinton said and we'll bring you some of that in a bit, she wants to see whether or not this is contreat. that's what the united states is going to say. sort of a recasting of ronald reagan's trust to verify and see if the iranians are real this is a different kind of talk.

what happened today is very different and most notably because the united states was at the table. >> impression is very important. he has been involved in this for years. if he said it's important, i would trust him. andi and having the united states and iran talk in a substantive way is important and very important. we have to judge it whether progress is going to be made from a u.s. point of view. iran could pocket this concession and in a sense a concession to iran and it needs this small amount for its tehran research reactor. it still may plan to run because it wants to run the tons. i'm not sure the u.s. is going to get what it needs. further, if true negotiators are going to have to happen and iran will suspend its enrichment activities and suspend

activities until the world could have confidence that iran is not planni planning on building and so far iran has shown no willingness to accept those kinds of goals. >> exactly right. they will permit inspectors to come in. but what the u.s. wants to see is whether they really permit the inspectors to come in, to see the people, to talk to the engineers and look at the documents and look at the facilities and there's always the possibility of them hiding something. >> no, it certainly is. questions about whether there are other secret sites that were constructed that would, in a sense, feed the materials needed in that centrifuge plant. so is iran willing to open up and be transparent and show a different side which has been hiding facilities and that test

is going to be critical. >> when we come back, we'll talk to another former u.n. inspector david kay as well as geoff morrell from the pentagon. stai. it helps get the toughest stains out the first time. whoa, that's a first. [ female announcer ] that's because new tide stain release is a revolutionary in-wash booster that works with your detergent to help remove the toughest stains... ...the first time. mom, let me grab that. another first. [ female announcer ] new tide stain release. stains out. no doubt.

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>> on the margins of today's meeting it was agreed in principal that the low enriched uranium produced would be transported to the country for further enrichment and fabrication and families for tehran and react. david kay is a former u.n. weapons inspector and now a

director of the potomac, david, good to see you. >> glad to be with you. >> just outlined a plan and we have a lot to chew over here because what he is talking about is iran proposing that some of the very low enriched uranium from its research reactor in tehran be transported out to other countries, russia and france we're told are the countries, they would further enrich the uranium up to 20% and then go back to iran for medical research purposes. this is a small deal, but couldn't it become, couldn't it set the stage for a larger program. long ago russia was suggesting it would take over the fuel from iran. this would be at least setting up a protocol that could be expanded on. >> andrea, i think you ought to recognize that this was a clever diplomatic trap by the iranians. when they offered to the washington post editors and the security council this offer if

the u.s. and the other western powers said, no, we're not going to do it, iran would have had a primaphasia case for saying, look, that's why we need our own larger enrichment capacity because you could turn our reactors off. if this would take place, i think it's an interesting opening. i don't think it guarantees anything about their larger plant. they've invested so much into that, it is really hard to believe that they'll walk away from it. >> they say that they're going to have technical talks on october 18th and they also suggested that they raise the level of the second round of talks that all sides agree to today to the minister level. there is a possibility that that could take place, we're told. where do you see u.s. iranian relations now progressing? >> i think, well, what we really don't know is that if things in tehran have really changed.

have the iranians decided rather than be clever with diplomatic ploys so their enrichment efforts could proceed are they now on a path that would say, look, we're willing to pause the enrichment efforts and let's have serious talks about a number of things that concern us in the u.s. relationships. if that's true, look, this is the start of a very important series of meetings. >> as a former u.n. weapons inspector who played cat and mouse with saddam hussein for so many, what would the iaea inspectors have to do when they go in this month when they come in, what would they be looking for? >> you don't want to be a tourist and led around a facility. you need to see a diagram, the construction diagrams and how it was built and what needs to be put in and you need tee talk to

the architects and engineers and see all the documents about the centrifuges and you need to see where the centrifuges were manufactured and going to and you really need to be able to physically sample and map out the place. it has to be not a tourist inspection, it has to be a serious inspection. >> if they don't live up to all of those standards, should the u.s. and the other rest of the country proceed down this road? i mean, is that where the rubber meets the road? >> i don't know what down this road means. should you continue talks with the iranians, i think you should, but realize the limitations of where you're going to get. now is the time to educate the iranians on the serious steps that lie ahead if they refuse to end their enrichment program and engage in serious negotiations. i'm not sure the iranians yet believe our picture of what lies ahead. the chinese and the russians and

to some extent the germans have been far less tough about the type of sanctions that they're willing to see. >> today we're told they're all in agreement and they took one line and a line for all six of the parties. wait to see whether that actually happens. david kay, thank you so much for helping us understand better what the inspectors will be facing when they get into it and take a look at this reactor. we have been focusing on foreign policy here in geneva and you have been busy as the senate marks up the health care bill and the house works on all its agenda. what have you seen so far from the senate side? they rejected a lot of the key points that the house members wanted. >> they, clearly, andrea, are differences in approach and how we get to where we want to get between the senate and the house reflected in the senate finance mark

markup. great agreement between the senate health and education labor committee bill and the bill that we have marked up or the bills that we have marked up in the house. there's an agreement there and senator reid is clearly indicated that when the senate finance committee completes their work they have to meld together their two bills and we will see at that point in time where the differences lay. there is no difference between the senate and the house majority is that we need to pass a health reform bill we're being driven by costs for individuals and families and businesses, as well as for government that the present system is not sustainable for any of those folks. >> what the speaker said today what has been her position although there has been a wiggle room at various times is that you all don't intend to go to the floor without a public option. does that mean that you have to

deal with those differences in conference? >> i think we will have the speaker absolutely correct and i think we will have a public option and the difference is how exactly will that public option be framed and there is a difference between the ways and means committee and the vergence of the public option and the energy in commerce public option. we'll get those worked out and i think she's absolutely right, we'll have a public option and, yes, if the senate bill does not include a public option, we have to work that out in conference. the president and the house and the senate committee, education committee believed that in order to bring down prices to have viable competition a public option which is a choice and alternative available to americans is necessary to have to drive down prices and keep competition honest. if it's not in the senate bill, as they pass it, we have to work it out in conference. >> let me play for you a bit of

what your counterpart, your republican counterpart john boehner had to say about the democratic approach. >> democrat takeover of health care will cut medicare benefits for millions of seniors and by drafting amounts. how cthey can stand there and claim that they're saving medicare while they're proposing some $500 billion in cuts to medicare over the next ten years does not pass the straight face test. >> what are your response to that republican charge? >> what doesn't pass the credibility test is the republicans who have frankly been not in favor of medicare throughout its life and who have designed a program medicare advantage which ultimately would drive medicare out of business and then make it more expensive. what we're trying to do, yes, make sure that medicare is available to people long term. we think we are going to do that

and medicare advantage is, by everybody's estimate, substantially overpaid. as a result of that overpayment, medicare recipients are subsidizing those who are in medicare advantage. that's what they're referring to, but, in fact, the overpayment is not sustainable or medicare will not be sustainable in the long run. we are moving to save medicare and we do believe that the people understand that it has been democrats who have promoted, supported and sustained medicare over the years, not the republicans. so, there seems to be somewhat of a wolf crying that they're in sheep's clothing. >> let me ask you speaking of people crying out and saying things that get a little bit confusing, alan grayson, democratic congressman suggests that republicans want people to die and joe wilson, should he

apologize. does it elevate the debate or further demean congressional rhetoric? >> andrea, joe wilson clearly broke the rules of the house and call under to question the integrity of the president of the united states. that was a totally different character, i think, however, i would hope that members on both sides of the aisle would de-escalate their rhetoric. very bad statements made by republicans on the floor and town meetings about what our proposal would do. clearly, no republicans who want to see people die. the fact of the matter is we ought to de-escalate the debate and focuses on substance and focus on facts so the american public can make a sound judgment. >> he certainly didn't apologize

publicly, but you've told congressman grayson -- >> no, what i said -- >> what did you say? >> what i said to congressman grayson y didn't ask him to apologize and we have a whole rank of republicans to ask to apologize for the heated rhetoric during the course of this debate. what i did ask him to say, you're right, he didn't say it on the floor, his rhetoric may have been harsh, harsher than necessary, but the rhetoric on both sides had been harsh and what he would hope and what i would hope is that we deal with the facts, deal with what the consequences of the proposals that are being made and the need for action and the american public could make a judgment based upon that kind of rhetoric not on the hot rhetoric that too many are using. >> all right, congressman thank you very much.

right now we have to go to the democratic governor's lunch being addressed by the president of the united states. >> a few aspiring governors that may be in the room because i'm absolutely committed to making sure that our governors have the support that they need to move their states forward and i'm absolutely committed to working with each and every one of them in the years ahead to move america forward. i don't think it's any secret, these are challenging times for america and challenging times for each of the to states. if you understand that better than the nation's governor. all of them are on the front lines governing their states unlike an xlk crisis unlike anything we've seen since the great depression and they're witnessing the toll of this crisis that has, that families and small businesses and neighborhoods are all experiencing. they're being made to govern in a time of shrinking revenues and budget shortfalls and they're

facing tough choices about where to save, where to spend and how to navigate their states and their people through this economic storm. i also have to be honest that the tough choices they'll have to make will not end any time soon. but what i hope has made their job easier and will continue to make their job easier is knowing that they have a full committed partner in the white house. and i know that -- and i also know their job has been made a little bit easier because of the recovery act that was passed here at the beginning of my administration and being carried out with my help. an act that has not only broken our economic freefall but eased the burden on our state and help get our states back on track. let me just describe what the recovery act has meant. because of the recovery act,

we're helping close budget gaps and preventing layoffs and teachers and police officers and america. we put a tax cut in the pockets of 95% of working families to help them pay for their everyday needs. we're increasing and extending unemployment insurance to 12 million americans to help them weather the economic storm and we lowered the cost of cobra coverage for people who have lost their jobs so that it is 65% lower and they can keep their health insurance as they're looking for work. rebuilding roads and bridges and new schools and all matter of construction project across all 50 states. it's the largest single investment of infrastructure in this country since eisenhower built the system back in the 1950s.

we know that the recovery act is making a difference. it's made a difference for our families and for our states and making a difference for the nation, but i'm not going to rest. i know the governors and candidates here today are not going to rest and i know the american people are not going to rest until everybody who is looking for work can find a job and until our workers are not afraid that they'll be the next ones let go and until our markets are not only climbing again, but our businesses are hiring again. and while unemployment is usually the last measure to improve during a recovery, we're not going to rest until it does. in our cities and our states and across the country. now, it's going to take a number of steps to reverse the current job climate and create jobs in this country and that's why my administration has been working with our governors on a number of different fronts. under the outstanding leadership of my secretary of education arne duncan, we're working to

transform our entire education system because we know that countries that outeducate us today will outcompete us tomorrow. we're investing in a clean energy sector that will not only help free america from the grip of foreign oil but create new jobs that pay well and not be outsourced and an extraordinary leader on clean energy agendas. we're working to reform our health insurance system because one of the best ways to spur economic growth is to ease the back breaking burden of health care costs on america's business. this is a point that has got lost a little bit over the past few months during the health care debate. so, let me just talk about that. over the past few weeks and month we spent a lot of time talking about health inshrps reform would offer stability and -- >> president obama talking about insurance. we'll monitor that and bring you any headlines. let's go to the pentagon and

geoff morrell assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. critical turning point for the president and all of you as you make decisions on afghanistan. where do you see the timing now? i know there are going to be four more meetings and a total of five meetings they said yesterday and when will the president get to the point when he's ready to address the key question of resources? >> probably the white house is the best place to direct that question. i can tell you this. two meetings one on the 13th and one yesterday and lasted three hours with the president and his top national security advisors and including general mcchrystal and ambassador pakistan and he's getting ground level perspective on the ground there. two more meetings scheduled of similar length with the president and his full team. secretary gates said over the weekend that he anticipates a decision within weeks and i would remind you that the bush

administration whether they were deliberating took three months to come to that conclusion and secretary gates does not anticipate ts would require that much time to get our strategy set and what the resources would require. >> let me play for you, geoff, a little bit of what general mcchrystal had to say in a speech in london today and ask you about it on the other side. >> at the end of the day, we don't win by destroying the taliban, we don't win by body count and we don't win by number of successful military raids or attacks. we win when the people decide we win. >> does that mean our hearts and mind strategy. do you have to get people in afghanistan to accept what the u.s. wants, which is a peaceful country responding to a central government. is that the definition of victory? >> clearly, not hearts and minds general mcchrystal calls it. it's trust and confidence. that's what we're aiming for. his strategy is radically

different than any that has been tried there before. his point is, it's not the size of the force that we put in afghanistan and he would argue that we're way too preoccupied at least inside the beltway discussion about resources and we need to be much more focused on changing the strategy, changing how we behave on the ground in afghanistan. if we were able to win the trust and confidence of the afghan people and if they trust we are there by their side and committed to being there for the duration, he believes that we can succeed and the secretary, i think, is growing increasingly comfortable with that notion. as you said, he has said publicly, he was too worried about having a foreign footprint in afghanistan for fear it was viewed as an occupying force. it's not the size of the force, it's how that force behaves and he does believe right now that the afghan people do not have a problem with us, the coalition forces or even a larger

coalition or american force and provided we look out for things for civilian casualties which are dramatically down under general mcchrystal's leadership and prove that we are there to help defeat this enemy in their midst. >> let me ask you about something just breaking from the pentagon that senior officials are telling nbc news, our colleagues there, that there has been a decision to expand the duty and tourists of at least as many 800 marines in anbar province and for as long as 11 weeks and perhaps a smaller number of army personnel for as long as three weeks until they can get through the january elections. is that accurate? can you give me more detail on that? >> i can't tell you with precision, but we're waiting anxiously for the council in baghdad to move on the election law because by constitution they have to have these elections by january the 31st.

our troop drawdown to have a successful election and then have a level of security in the intervening weeks where there would be a transition in power in iraq and i think whether or not we're extending forces because of some change in the election situation, i can't tell you with precision. i will note, however, andrea, all marine combat units are out of anbar province. there is still a marine headquarters there, but the marines, which had such a difficult time and such great success in anbar over the last few years in iraq are now out of that country and out of that province. >> thank you very much, geoff, very good to see you. >> good to see you, take care. we'll talk to jane harmin and ambassador wendy shurmman.

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welcome back to "andrea mitchell reports." now to capitol hill and congresswoman jane harmin. a big day here with at least the start of talks and iran saying it will now cooperate with iran nuclear inspectors and permit them back in after talks have been suspended and they have not had substenative inspections. >> i agree with ambassador albright who was just on your show when he says that we need full access to every facility. it's a small facility and it could be a decoy to focus all our attention on that and take our eye off the ball, which is full transparency in iran so we understand not just their

intentions, which i worry about, but also their capabilities which i worry about. this is really good news and really brilliant that the second round of talks, i understand they were just anounszed, will take place in turkey in a month predominantly muslim country and this is a fine outcome and i also think it's essential for congress to proceed as i believe we are in passing sanctions bills, both in the house and the senate and the sanction refine petroleum products. we need to negotiate from the position of strength and i think the things that president obama did at the u.n. last week were very helpful to generating the mood we saw today and i also want to applaud the bilateral lunch meeting as i understand it because ambassador burns and the iranian ambassador. >> at this stage, what is the point of legislation when the united states is committed to proceeding with diplomacy up until the point they believe

it's not working. >> will include a presidential waiver but it is a tool, i think, may have to be used if the iranians don't fully cooperate. i am very worried about them running out the clock and this is a good day and maybe october will be a good month, but it cannot be followed by months and months of talks leading to talks. iran, we know, is proceeding to develop, at least, i believe this is the case, a nuclear capability which, at least according to the statements it makes could be aimed at democratic ally in the middle east and some of our nato allies and missile capability and i'm not prepared just to trust y want to do what ronald reagan told us to do, i want to verify. if they don't allow us to do that, then i want to move in the ways that i think is effective and that is through worldwide economic sanctions that really choke up iran's ability to behave in a normal fashion

unless and until it cooperates with the world community and the u.n. resolutions. >> congresswoman jane harmin, thank you. see you soon. joining us now, ambassador wendy sherm sherman. thank you for joining us. you have been across the table from some of these players and you know what the stakes are, how did the u.s. handle it today as far as you're concerned and agreeing to these one-on-one talks. i. >> i think you heard consistent statements today that we're looking for transparency and accountability and, andrea, this is not the end of the beginning. this is the beginning of the beginning of a very long and difficult negotiating process. it sounds like everyone did a very fine job in this first direct talks between ambassador bill burns and the iranian chief negotiator. it sounds like all the parties

together put their cards on the table and we have a long way to go and we have to see whether this inspection is a real and substantive one handing over documents and meeting with personnel as we heard from david kay, a true inspection. we know and suspect there may be other sites that we have to look at. this is the beginning of a long process, a good first step but many, many more to come. >> let me play for you, ambassador, what one of your colleagues, hillary clinton, had to say. secretary of state clinton when asked about this today. >> i think it was a productive day but the proof of that has not yet come to froufrtrufruiti. we want to see concrete action and results and today's meeting opened the door, but let's see

what happens. >> so, we are talking about the importance of seeing this as only a first step. we're told now that the president will have a statement at 3:00 this afternoon which, of course, we'll carry live. so, clearly, the president wants to come out and respond to it, i would assume, showing that we know that this was a serious moment, a turning point but that we have to see whether iran is ready to deliver. >> i would suspect that the president would be somewhat like secretary clinton and that is glad that the first day was productive and that a second round of talks are planned and that the iaea is to get access and i think he will be very measured and very cautious. he has laid out a tough line appropriately in new york last week and seeing concrete action and significant cooperation and i think we'll all have some positive but cautious and wearing sentiment today. >> without getting too hopeful

about all this, they did, going into this, say that they did not discuss the nuclear issues and they had a right to peaceful nuclear energy and they were denouncing western criticism of the plant and the fact that they came in and they talked so seriously about the nuclear questions and it was deflected and one-on-one talks with the united states. should we see this as the possibility of a turning point? >> i think we can see it as a possibility, but there is a lot left to be proven here. and there's always an orchestration of a very complex diplomatic dance in all of these negotiations and iran is a country with a great history of being part of the world civilization. they have a great deal of pride in their culture and their history and the iranian people and not always pride in the actions of the government to be sure and we see a lot of that playing out in every kind of negotiation like this where in front of the curtain we may see

tough words and behind the curtain we see progress and, of course, we all want to be hopeful and we need to see concrete step after step and, most of all, we need to see a freeze and a rollback of iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. >> one thing that i should point out, as well, i'm told now that the iranians did acknowledge american concerns about those three american hikers and that conversation did take place along the sidelines of these nuclear talks. so, perhaps there will be pause fv news for the families of the three americans that were held for so long in the tehran prison. there could be other positive results from this. thank you for joining us. ambassador wendy sherman of the albright stonehedge group and also a member of secretary gates policy board we should point out. good to talk to you today. when we come back on the other side of the break, we'll talk to senator kay bailey

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welcome back to "andrea mitchell reports." joining me is senator kay bailey hutchinson from texas. the white house and robert gibbs has now said that these talks -- good to be with you and big day here in foreign policy on the foreign relations ch s committe. robert gibbs said this is a constructive start and if iran appears to be dragging their feet the u.s. will consider other steps. we expect to hear from the president in an hour or so about the iran talks and they did acknowledge american concerns about the three american hikers that there were in addition to the lunch talk talk s one-on-on they talked about other issues,

including human rights which is a major u.s. concern. does that mean it was a good idea so far at least for president obama to engage in diplomatic engagement? >> you know, i think that probably it is okay as long as we have a dialogue, but don't give up any leverage or any rights of sovereignty that america has to act unilaterally. i think that if we can make break throughs in hostage information or other types of beginnings to talk about the iaea and getting into iran. of course, that would be very worthwhile. so, i think we have to just see if there are results and keep going forward. >> let me also ask you about some domestic issues. the abortion rights component of health care. you've been pretty concerned about that. why is it so important to you that there not be any federal funding for abortions?

you believe in a woman's right to choose, if i'm characterizing your provision correctly. why shouldn't that right of choice be available for women who cannot afford their own medical services? >> well, i think there should be restrictions on abortions, so, that is not exactly my position, as you stated it, but i'm very concerned about the number of abortions and limiting those. but, having said that, i am, i have never, ever supported federal funding because there are so many people who are taxpayers of our country who have deep religious beliefs against any abortion for any reason and there are available options that are not federally funded that i think should preclude federal funding and i've been very consistent on that. >> is it a deal breaker with you in terms of voting for any health care bill, is that your most important issue or are there others of concern as you watch these mark ups?

>> oh, this bill is so fraught with problems. the government takeover of health care. one-sixth of our economy and taking the way many of the choices and options that people have is a huge concern. i think certainly leaving the door open for federal funding of abortion would be a huge concern and i think that the taxation involved in this bill both families in the senate bill and of taxizatiation involved in this bill on the senate and the house bill is a huge concern. so right now, i think this bill is just headed in the wrong direction and it is a bad bill getting worse. >> senator kay bailey hutchison, a candidate running in a republican primary for governor. thank you very much. thanks, senator. >> thank you in geneva. >> thanks a lot. when we come back, we will talk about what's the biggest story in the next 24. anne cornbluth when we come

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what political story will be dominating the next 24 hours? i have a feeling it is beautiful, beautiful copenhagen. anne kornblut joins us now. i understand oprah is at the luncheon hosted by the danish side and we expect short lit first lady will arrive as well? we see the president walking across the south grounds. what are you expecting? >> well, and then he will take off, of course, tonight and fly to copenhagen and be there to make his remarks, make his final pitch to the committee. i think all eyes are going to be on that committee and the people who are choosing where the olympics will go and to see whether this last-minute effort by the president has an impact and whether chicago gets it. >> and we can see oprah today already at that luncheon meeting. first lady is going to be there. they certainly brought out all the stars with the president as

the closer. the odds are -- the betting odds have been really improved by the fact that the president is going, anne. >> that's right. up to this point, even when it was just the first lady and valerie jarrett, the senior adviser who were going to represent the white house, the speculation that was rio de janeiro might have the advantage but as soon as the white house announced the president himself would be going, which was unexpected, he initially said health care was too big a problem for him to leave it behind. he said we can take the time, health care is on a better course, as soon as they made the announcement, all the speculation, betting odds went up that chicago might get it now. >> what's the downside if the president goes all that way and doesn't get it? >> a big risk. he has gone out on a limb here, spending some of his diplomatic international capital in doing this in a way testing his popularity. he has been very popular around the world, even before the time he was elected and all of his foreign trips, met by huge crowds. in spending some of this capital, doesn't get it i think

they will all be asking, some of that star power diminished. again that is what we will find out tomorrow. >> we will talk about it tomorrow. we will be right here. thanks so much, anne kornblut that does it for me in geneva. i'm andrea mitchell. my colleague, norah o'donnell, will be picking it up on the other side. you are watching msnbc, the place for politics. wheat thins. that's what's gonna happen here. because you're tasty... with toasty whole grains. (crunch) wheat thins. toasted. whole grain. crunch. have at it. crunch. boon motorcycle insurance, rv,at geiccamper, boat insurance. nice work, everyone. exec: well, it's easy for him. he's a cute little lizard. gecko: ah, gecko, actually - exec: with all due respect, if i was tiny and green and had a british accent i'd have more folks paying attention to me too... i mean - (faux english accent) "save money! pip pip cheerio!" exec 2: british? i thought you were australian. gecko: well, it's funny you should ask. 'cause actually, i'm from - anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.