this off? >> one of the big pushes brazil made for their bid is that they are economically strong. the entire world is going through the recession and brazil has done rather well weathering through it. the economy is strong and the president is well liked and the other big concern, as you mentioned, the infrastructure. brazil had the pan american games in 2007 and that prepped them for the olympics and not a big thing, not a big concern that folks were talking about is the crime here in rio, that will be an issue. security will be beefed up as we approach the games, guys. >> live in rio de janeiro where the partying has just begun. miguel, thank you. >> you're welcome. politics, politics. ioc, global. we're talking politics. that's it today for "dr. nancy" join us at noon eastern tomorrow

and up next "andrea mitchell reports" andrea live in geneva. hello, andrea. >> hi, dr. nancy. what an exciting day and what an exciting day for rio and what a huge blow for chicago and, indirectly, for the president and first lady after they made that overnight flight and last-minute bid. let's go right away to copenhagen and jim maceda. jim, bring us up to date on how you think this decision was made. clearly, it was an attempt to give south america its first opportunity, first opportunity to host a global games for the olympics. >> it was that, andrea. no one didn't do anything wrong. chicago didn't make any mistakes, no one thinks. this was a four-horse race and it went into a two-horse race. we thought it would be rio and chicago, but chicago just came up short. rio has a lot going for it.

most of all, it has the geopolitical card to play. it played it dramatically. and every occasion the rio team would hold up this map. the map of the world with little red pins sticking into every place where there had been a previous olympic games and you would always see how blank the south american continent was. the president of brazil came in here two days ago and was very passionate and very articulate saying we need these games. it is our time. it is brazil's time and south america's time and it is rio's time. in fact, he cleverly stole or adopted the obama motto during the president obama campaign and, yes, we can. a lot of yes, we can, signs and chants from spirits back in rio de janeiro and also all the way to the presentations today, the

general feeling amongst the media here is that chicago's presentation was pretty flat. aside from the president and michelle obama who were very good one-two punch, the rest of it fell, some people think, quite flat, as compared to rio's presentation which was uplifting, vibrant, colorful and positive. so, again, i wouldn't say anything was wrong or done wrong, it's just that chicago came up against someone better perhaps this year. >> jim maceda in copenhagen, thanks so much. now, to the city that did lose the bid, chicago. john yang, let's talk about that contrast because i watched the two presentations here on foreign television and, frankly, the response of some of our colleagues here in europe was that chicago looked very american but that the other presentations looked global and we know that the ioc is trying to project that, that sense of

it being the global games. do you think that that had some factor, played some role in it? >> there are factors that go there to it. it is hard to say until we hear from the ioc members what was going on. the rio delegation had been asking some of the members, you don't necessarily have to be with us all the way, but they didn't want a strong vote for chicago on the first round. a little bit of surprise that when chicago did drop out of the first round. i watched a little bit of it, i was seeing tape a little bit of the presentation and there was one moment during the q and a session where you could almost sense that the president felt, i mean, being the great politician he is, he could read a room. and during the q and a session there was one point where he was not supposed to participate, pat ryan, the chairman, the head of the chicago bid. a question came up and you could

see the president reach over and pat ryan on the hand and say, let me handle this, let me answer this. maybe he sensed in the room that things weren't quite going their way. but i think that there is a quite, there was quite a bit of a surprise here in chicago in how it turned out. still a fair number of people here on daley plaza, but city hall watching on the screens and watching the dancing and the partying going on down in rio, wishing it was them. andrea? >> and there is a big economic impact, as well. of course, president lula of brazil, very charming and well regarded on the world stage and they've done a pretty good job of buffering brazil against the global erelatirecession. in terms of the domestic politics you covered this president and you covered the white house and you know the impact on that. was it a mistake for him to take this last-minute trip and personally leave the bid for chicago? >> the sense i was getting,

andrea, the sense i was getting in talking to folks was this was almost a defensive move. they wanted the president to go to avoid the blame, as it were, if chicago didn't get it. very interesting, though, to talk to people in washington and talk to people in chicago about it and say something about the attitudes of the two cities. when i talked to people in washington, they all felt it was defensive. he was going to avoid blame. here in chicago it was announced the president was going and everyone felt the fix was in and it's going to win. they say that chicago knows how to hold elections. you count the votes first before the election. they felt that the president would only go if he knew that chicago was going to win. i think once he got to that point it was a no-win situation. if he didn't go and chicago lost, he'd get blamed. if he goes and chicago loses, then people will be talking about diminished influence.

the other politician, i think you have to wonder what this does to him is mayor daley. of course, chicago being the great indoor sports the other great indoor sport here in chicago politics, mayor daley has had for the first time in his long tenure seen his approval ratings drop below 50% because of parking fees going up and a controversy over privatizing parking meters. he has got to and then he will make a decision if he will run for re-election and you have to wonder how today's decision will affect that decision. >> i will never bet against richard daley in chicago, but it is going to be an interesting political story to follow, absolutely. john yang thank you so much for joining us from chicago. now too, the center of action other than denmark, the white house. chuck todd, our chief white house correspondent and political director. chuck, what is the win/loss

ratio here for barack obama having joined michelle obama and valerie jarrett, flown overseas, put up with all the republican criticism that he's not dealing with the problems at home. the surprise appearance of general mcchrystal. take it from there. >> well, that's right. it's probably a good thing that general mcchrystal meeting happened. that can be, probably, had as much impact on the president as anything he did while on the ground in copenhagen. but, look, they're trying to make a pretty bitter tasting lemonade out of these lemons. you know, i had one aide say to me, imagine what the president would be feeling if he were sitting in the oval office when chicago got eliminated. muttering to himself, well, maybe, maybe mayor daley was right and i should have gone out there and done the final push. look, john yang had it right, the president was boxed in. that said, i wouldn't want to be a chicago elite, somebody who believes they're in this white

house looking for a favor from this white house any time soon. in many ways it was a very ham handed way that chicago pushed the president in to going into this thing. so, yes, i think a lot of people view this that he went in somewhat of a defensive posture. that said, look, david axelrod said on our air, the president is not going to apologize for trying to promote america around the world and that's how they're doing this and sometimes you take risks when you're promoting america and that's, that's the official line. but you're, look, a little bit of the shine is going to wear off today. it's a stomach punch. but we'll see, there will be plenty of people that will write on a lead to their column, boy, on a day the hometown went up, he couldn't bring it home. is this guy -- you could see how that storyline could shape itself. the president could use a victory here some time soon, that's for sure. >> well, it's a good thing he

did well in the diplomatic talks with iran, but that's another whole subject. >> that's a serious subject, to be honest. a very serious subject. >> before we talk about that and other things, let's go over the david axelrod comments a little over an hour ago that you just referenced. >> i am proud of this president of going and making the case for this country. i think this country can be proud of that and, again, we're disappointed it didn't work out. but it was well worth the effort. i'm not worried about the politics of it. any time you're going and making the case to the united states of america, you're doing the right thing. >> now, chuck, as you say, they're trying to make some kind of lemonade out of these lemons, but it is a political punch. and we've been reporting, the balls and the strikes and we were reporting last night about the very positive developments here on the surface if iran does deliver. but on this domestic political

front, he has had some problems. we have this olympic blow, really, and this at the same time as the unemployment numbers come back the factory orders and worse than they expected and would have been a big political stimulus. you couldn't have a bigger stimulus than the olympics. >> even just pr wise. there is something, look, everybody loves the olympics, even nonsports fans love the olympics. there is, it just gives you a good feeling. a lot of national pride. so, absolutely. these unemployment numbers, because they're coming on top of what underneath looks like a stagnation here. we're not, you know, if this is what recovery looks like, i don't think anybody wants to say they're participating in a recovery. look, he's facing a very serious problem. health care is a political problem and it's difficult on capitol hill trying to get that done. but he's also facing a very tough, i think challenge when you have this issue of jobs. a jobless recovery, you know,

the worst thing that could come out in the next month is if somehow a statistician says we're out of the recession, yet that isn't the public doesn't feel like things are getting better and if anything you see the up and down numbers. now, that said, this is one month and they feel like, hey, at least it hasn't hit 10% yet and the president himself said they expected to hit 10%. maybe that's one way of looking at it and that might be the next round of lemonade for them. we never hit 10. who knows the way this trend line is going, maybe it's 10 by the end of the year. >> i think it will hit 10 and ben bernanke has already called the rescission pretty much over. these recoveries have bits and starts and this is one of the fits and that's not terribly hopeful moment. in terms of the olympics, also, just the excitement of the olympics and the national pride that you referred to. that said, this olympics will be

in relatively our time zone, rio de janeiro is about an hour ahead of us. >> yep. >> it is good for broadcasters. let's just face it. nbc is pretty happy about this and if you look at the scene, looking at that video presentation that the brazilians put forth in copenhagen, it was a brilliantly produced video. >> absolutely. by the way, no truth to the rumor that later tonight the president is going to be watching the michael caine movie, "blame it on rio." i wanted to put that to rest. that said, rio, absolutely, a big deal for south america. in many ways, one of the -- you know, when you look at the world economy and the global economy, asia's taken off. europe with the eu has become this global force. you know, nothing better for the american economy if somehow the americas, this hemisphere becomes a global economic power

that can compete with all of asia and all of europe and, so, you know, plenty of people that argue that this is a good stimulus for south america and could end up being in the long term a good economic stimulus for the americas, plural, as its own, you know, when you look at this, when you're competing against an asia and a europe continent wise that it's good for america, south america is able to get more global. >> so, first argentina wins the men's u.s. open and i guess trumps obama. it has been a fascinating day and a setback for chicago, but it's still the olympic games. thank you so much, chuck todd. thanks. when we come back, we will go to rio de janeiro, a live report and the latest on the david letterman situation with the report on the indictment and

arraignment of that cbs producer today.

welcome back to "andrea mitchell reports." the news is rather strange on david letterman. peter alexander is at nbc headquarters. peter, tell us about what is going on with this indictment and the arraignment to come this afternoon on the cbs producer for allegedly, allegedly trying to blackmail david letterman. >> the word strange is an accurate one and discussing this situation. last night when david letterman made the revelation on his air it was unclear with nervous

laughter by the audience whether this was a revelation, a confession or a joke. what we do know right now is that in the next hour, 51-year-old robert haulderman, a producer for the "true crime" news show was arrested last thursday or yesterday, we should say. he will be indicted on one count of attempted first degree grand larceny. that is punishable by between 5 to 15 years, if he is convicted. i was just down listening to robert morgan, the district attorney from the city of new york and he said the following. he said that mr. haulderman left a letter and other material for mr. letterman early on september 9th and in that information he listed that he needed "to make a large chunk of money by essentially selling letterman what he referred to as a screenplay treatment." the letter said that letterman, that his world would, "collapse around him when the information about his private life was

disclosed. and that it would lead to ruining his reputation. all of this is significant because david letterman to come forward and acknowledge that he has been having sexual relationships with women who worked for him. >> well, peter, in fact, he disclosed that on the program last night. apparently, the sequence was that he went immediately, david letterman did to his lawyer. they jointly went to the district attorney in manhattan and, as one would advise someone in this kind of situation, he disclosed the situation and to very nervous laughter because people in the audience seem to think that he was telling a joke. he said, i want to tell you a story, this is part of what he said. >> the creepy stuff was that i have, had sex with women who work for me on this show. now, my response to that is, yes, i have. i have had sex with women who work on this show.

>> a very strange moment, indeed. so, the questions will, of course, evolve into what is the legal situation, what is the personal situation for him. he went on to say he needs to protect himself, his family and his career. peter y know you're going to work on this with nbc "nightly news" with brian williams tonight and check in on the arraignment to come with this producer. >> we'll do that. one final note, three meetings behind closed doors between the attorney for david letterman and him. a phony check for $2 million was turned over. but to give you a sense of what would have been desperation, it appears. mr. halderman tried to deposit that check at his bank in connecticut, of course, it bounced. >> well, if those are the kind of details we, we are just astounding. we'll learn more from you tonight on nbc "nightly news."

thanks so much peter alexander. and coming up next, we'll talk, again, about the economy and the impact of the failure of chicago to get that olympic bid and, in fact, jared bernstein from the white house is joining us right now. jared bernstein, top economic advi adviser to the president, thanks so much for being there. >> my pleasure. >> first of all, chicago, there was a lot at stake here. all the spending that would have gone on in chicago leading up to 2016. how big a disappointment and what do you think the factors were? >> it is a disappointment, but you can't win if you don't try. and there's no better ambassador for the interest of this country in any realm, whether it's the economy, the olympics, foreign policy than president barack obama. and i think myself and lots of other americans are proud of the president for getting over there and giving it his best.

you won't win every one, but you won't win if you don't try. >> now, the jobless numbers, another setback today. 9.8%. the job numbers worse than anticipated. i know that you and i have been talking all along during this recession and the fact is that unemployment is a lagging indicator and this is what your boss, the vice president, joe biden had to say about it earlier today. >> those facts and those realities aren't good enough for president obama and not good enough for me. we don't think that less bad is good. less bad is not our measure of success. one job lost is one job too many and still too much pain. there's still too many hard-working americans without a paycheck and still too many americans still struggling to get by. >> and on top of the unemployment numbers, bad numbers on factory orders. are you beginning to be concerned that the recession is not really over and the recovery is not rebounding as you all

have been expecting or hoping. >> well, it's a good question, andrea. and the answer, you're right, you and i have been talking about this from the beginning. is that you don't make a judgment based on one month of data. you have to look at the bigger picture. now, we have been very careful to say, and you and i have talked about this. it's not a recovery. whatever technical definition you want to give. not a recovery from the perspective of the american people unless it meets the criteria that the vice president just set out. if someone wants to point out better gdp, better retail sales, some better numbers on cars, fine. that's all true and we've helped. but it's jobs and incomes that matter the most. in that sense, we are moving in the right direction, but it's never going to be a straight line. some months they'll surprise on the upside and some on the downside. this was definitely the downside. if you go back to the first quarter of the year when you and

i first started talking about this. we were hammering jobs. if you look at the quarter that just ended. we lost jobs at a rate of 250,000 per month. two-thirds less. way too many, as you heard the vice president say. but on the right path. >> what about the factory orders? was that a surprise to you? >> no, again, that's a number that has bounced around, but the important thing i think there is to pick up on is that job losses, we're talking about job losses, job losses hurt manufacturing were, again, quite significant in september. but about half of what they were earlier in the first quarter. so, in that sector two, we have seen, as the vice president put it, we've seen results that are less bad. that is, a loss rate that has been significantly diminished, not good enough for us, but, again, moving in the right direction. >> jared, the republicans overnight have been attacking

the health care bill that came out of senate finance saying it is riddled with tax increases that will hurt the middle class. as the director of the vice president's middle class tax force, you want to, i want to give you a chance to respond to that. >> i've stayed very calm so far, but those are really, those are fighting words. i mean, you're right, you're the executive director of the middle class tax force and the vice president chairs that at the behaith of the president that has said so many times to not get this, you have to try hard not to pay attention that there will not be no increase on tax on middle-class families. not as part of the health care reform. we're still in the throws. the job market, the greatest recession since the great depression and middle class families struggling to get back on their feet. what this president has done is the largest tax cuts in history in terms of reaching the most households for working families.

the making work tax cut a critical part of the act. 90% of households reaching more families. that's a tax cut and that's, that's the facts. not the other stuff. >> what about the fact that they say that the plan that came out of senate finance doesn't protect those making less than $250,000. that was the promise. >> any plan that comes out of any committee is going to have to meet the criteria that the president has set out when it comes to taxes on the middle class. that's a fundamental position that we've taken whether it's health care reform, the budget, you name it and that's something that this administration is going to be extremely committed to. remember, again, as i said a second ago y want to repeat it. in the throws of the greatest depression, since the great depression, some improvement, yes, on a couple key fronts, but not on the job market. not as far as the middle class is concerned. they're still facing the toughest economy in decades.

this president and vice president know that, know that acutely. the last thing they're going to think about is raising to the contrary tax cuts for working families have been part of the recovery act and part of that agenda. >> are we going to hear from the president? we were expecting to when he lands on his way back, when he arrives at the white house. will he talk about the jobs numbers? >> my understanding is yes, but i'm not sure. >> okay. jared bernstein, thank you very much. thanks for joining us today. >> you're welcome, my pleasure. when we come back, we'll take you live to rio de janeiro where they're celebrating all over and all out on the beach. have some fun with that truck.

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striking indonesia. the united nations now puts the death toll at 1,100 people. thousands more are feared trapped under rubble. located two female survivors but they found uncovered dead bodies. meanwhile, the indonesian president said $10 million in relief funds would be put to work fast. when we come back, we'll be talking to david gregory about the olympics, iran and is the shift over war strategies in afghanistan and a live report from rio, which won the olympic bid for 2016 today. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" live from geneva only on msnbc.

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chilly, windy night in geneva and it's probably just as chilly in spirit in chicago, but

not in rio. a sunny day in rio and miguel joins us on the phone. miguel, what is reaction there? i can only imagine how excited they must be. >> it has just been going wild. exciting the last hour or so for the folks here. quite the celebration. i can tell you, i was on the beach when the announcement was made quite literally the floor of the beach shaked. the very famous stretch of land here has been literally transform under to a sea of yellow and gold. so much pride from this one area of rio de janeiro is that people were told not to go to sxwurk public schools were closed so that people could attend this party, this celebration. people were very concerned about chicago. they were very worried that president obama had made the trip to copenhagen and when chicago was out, there was

anticipation here and when that announcement, the crowd just exploded. they're expecting some 100,000 people to be here today. that number is hard to tell how many people are here, it could be much higher. this beach is packed with people and it is quite the celebration, andrea. and that excitement -- >> thanks so much, miguel. i think this is an assignment you ought to stake out early and stay there between now and 2016. looks like the place to be. in london, tom joins us. you can only imagine the excitement in latin and south america but europe has to be disappointed that madrid did not get the bid, but london it had the last time around, so there is an explanation. >> that's right, andrea. i think most people thinking

that south america never held the olympic games and it was simply their turn as far as the olympic committee was concerned. but all over europe, there is a feeling that it's been a sensational for chicago and when the 85 eligible members of the international olympic committee eliminated the windy city in the first round, it was a set back, really, for president obama and first lady michelle obama when they had gone into the danish capital in michelle's case, a couple days earlier and then in the president's case earlier this morning to personally lobthy committee. i think when chicago finished last in the four bids in the first round of voting and then the second round eliminated tokyo leaving rio and madrid and it went to rio, the overwhelming emotion must have been shock when chicago was put out, andrea. >> i know we'll have to find out what the ioc committee members really, what went into the determination. now, london in preparing for 2012 has a big, a big challenge

coming up because of the recession and the fact that the numbers going into their bid are no longer there. they don't have the infrastructure financially, at least, that they had going in. what is the challenge for london as they prepare for the big olympic game? >> well, i think simply to get the venues ready, as you say, money is in short supply right now. britain had been hit harder than most countries over the global recession and will take longer to recover than most countries despite what the government says and facing re-election in may of next year right now they're saying the problems are going to be acquiring the land they need for the venues and simply coming up with the money they need to pay for it. andrea? >> tom in london, as the whole world reacts to somewhat surprising, as you hear the traffic here in geneva behind me, surprising news in copenhagen, at least for all those that thought chicago had a

pretty good chance with michelle and barack obama and that last-minute bid and it was not to be. thank you. when we come back, david gregory, the host of "meet the press" to talk about what is coming up and what has gone on this week. an amazing week in politics and diplomacy. the olympic bid, his interview with john mccain and what's coming up on "meet the press" on sunday. stay with us. as washington continues the debate over health care reform, aarp has chosen a side-- yours.

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you're looking at live pictures of copenhagen where the members of the olympic committee just moments ago signed the official documents jacques rogge, the ioc leader and his colleagues, the official documents certifying that rio will get the olympics. and we know the excitement that they are feeling down in rio de janeiro as the first, the first olympic games for latin and south america. joining us now in washington,

david gregory, host of "meet the press." david, this is quite the setback, not only for chicago, but certainly for the president and the whole team from the white house that made the last-minute bid. >> well, you heard from the president and in his bid, in his attempt saying that he is putting the full weight of the white house and the state department behind getting these games. behind making a poesh olympic games in chicago a success. so, there's no question, there was a lot of political muscle, the most political muscle you can muster, frankly, as well as entertainment muscle with oprah winfrey brought to bear in this fight and it did not work out. the president was criticized for putting so much political capital on the line and distracting himself as some have alleged from other priorities right now to do this. i don't know that it was a huge distraction, the president was able to focus on other matters, as well, including afghanistan. nevertheless, there is the issue

of presidential prestige and it didn't bear out and one wonders, as well, what made the president change his mind when he said just a couple weeks ago that he was too preoccupied with health care to make this 4 over there. >> maybe it would have been best not to go, but as chuck faud pointed out earlier if he had not gone and chicago lost he would have taken a lot of the loss. he was in a lose/lose situation unless he came home with the gold. you had an opportunity to interview john mccain and ask him about the negotiations and the first in 30 years and in the steam of things that happened in the last week, we were at a fever pitch almost of escalated tensions last friday when the president announced with the other allies that this nuclear facility had been revealed. now, things have calmed down with very productive and constructive talks. you asked john mccain why the

united states, why people should believe the intelligence this time after what happened with iraq. this was his response, an interesting response, les let's watch. >> ying the what happened as far as iraq is concerned, including general powell's presentation to the national security council as hurt america's credibility. just a fact. so, there is understandable cynicism and i understand that, but i also believe that it's pretty clear that the iranians are bent on the development of nuclear weapons and all of this, as you know, is complicated by the fact that the israelis do not have unlimited patience. >> now, of course, the president himself, david, said i do not have unlimited patience. but, now, there's talk of military strikes is really much set aside, as well as talk of sanks for the next month, at least, while we see why the iranians deliver on these

promises. >> this is a test of engagement. if you sit down with the iranians, what does the u.s. have to show for it? so far the potential for an agreement where the iranians, as you've been reporting would export some of their lower grade uranium to be used for medical purposes, but they're still not getting to the real issue of negotiation, which is will the iranians talk about their enrichment process, the means by which they make nuclear weapons. will they negotiate that away or not? this is the test of whether there is going to be something for something here in terms of actual negotiations. and senator mccain and others brought up the point, look, you talk about all this unity at the united nations and the truth is that russia and china still appear reluckitant to get on board with real sanctions. the question comes back to, where is the leverage the united states has against iran and for that matter, what is the u.s. able to demonstrate that would keep the israelis from taking action that they think is inevitable. >> of course, robert gates said

very pointedly last week that military action would only slow down any kind of iranian nuclear development for a year to three years. it would not put it out of business because, in fact, we don't really know where all the sites are. and the important progress that was made here in geneva, if it does succeed, if the process is fulfilled. if they deliver on their promises, doesn't even get to the issue of what they have not yet disclosed. it only gets to what they are officially revealing about their nuclear stockpiles, not what we don't know. >> right. the question of what do we not know? these are just huge questions right now and the concern among those who are more skeptical about the administration's approach here is how much time will the iranians try to buy in order to conceal what they're actually doing? we don't know. there's certainly pretty broad-based support for the administration pursuing a tough line against iran at that

sanctions, so be it, but just a lot of skeptics. senator mccain suggested pursuing sanctions and trying to get russians and chinese onboard was the right thing to do, but, ultimately, the right thing to do is where the leverage that the u.s. has and what do the iranians prepare to do? >> david, we just learned that the president did learn of the failure of chicago's bid by watching television on air force one as he is flying back from denmark and he said, according to his advisors, they will convey that he was disappointed, but that chicago had made the right attempt. so, he expressed disappointment. i am sure it was stronger than that, but that's what they're telling us he said on his way back. >> so many chicagoens in the white house, as you well know, who were fully behind this effort and i think, as you said earlier, there was a calculation made at the end oof the day here that they had to make, you know, kind of state leader with state leader in terms of what brazil

was doing and they had to give it their best shot. >> so, the president made the effort to meet with general mcchrystal and bringing him in from london to denmark on air force one. they had that meeting. that certainly deflects the criticism or tried to deflect the criticism that he was doing something rather frivolous by going to denmark and not focusing on the war and health care and all the other issues the republicans are taking that shot. where does he stand at the end of the week and going into your "meet the press" broadcast on sunday. what is the scorecard? >> well, i think the reality is that he's dealing with a general commander on the ground who is requesting more resources, who wants more troops to fight the war in afghanistan and who is an outspoken advocate for those resources. i mean, he was brought in from london where he was speaking to military specialist there's. mcchrystal is not backing down and has been really pointed in what he had been saying that it would be the wrong strategy if they don't deploy more troops and commit more troops and chaos

in afghanistan and the u.s. would be on the trying to manage and the u.s. set with a very focal commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan and a divided national security team here in terms of the way they want to go with. the vice president on one side and according to people that i'm talking, the secretary of state on another in terms of which way to go. >> and, >> and david, sunday on "meet the press," you have got u.n. ambassador susan rice, so you can get into all of this and political roundtable? >> we do. we will talk a lot about these big foreign affairs in our exclusive >> interpreteinterview with ambassador rice and exclusive look at the economy, rachel maddow, e.j. dionne, mike murphy and david brooks of the new york times. it should be a good discussion. >> a great show. david gregory, thanks so much. >> thanks, andrea. and we will be right back. go and check my credit score ♪

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welcome back to "andrea mitchell reports" live from geneva. joining us, ken pollack from the brookings institution in washington. ken, there have been a lot of developments here in the last 48 hours with the iranians and tomorrow, mohamed elbaradei is heading to tehran and beginning to try to nail down the details of not only the inspectors going in to this kom facility, how much access they will get, but also this novel idea of them shipping out their low-grade enriched uranium to russia to be reprocessed and then fabricated in france and then sent back. tank let's take it one by one, the inspections, how much can we expect from that promise? >> i think the iranians right now have a desire to come clean, though the world this facility that it is not threatening and that they want to cooperate. my guess is that elbaradei will

get what they wants, the question is timing, how much do they feel they need to clean the place up before he goes in. >> and what about the idea of them shipping out what is described to me as 80% of their declared low-grade -- low-grade uranium? this is a considerable amount and the excitement of the white house officials, the state department officials here was that if it works if it works, which is a big if, that it would at least set them back, that it would take them a much longer time at their other facilities to get -- to restore those stockpiles and be again close to having enough to create a bomb. do you agree with that analysis? >> this is potentially quite significant for exactly the reasons that you mentioned, andrea, which is the iranians have this your rain yum sitting around, experts saying one of the tests we need to put to iranians is are you willing to do things with the low-enriched

uranium to give the world confidence planning to make a bomb with it at some point in time? this would be step in that direction. what we don't know is do the iranians have a secret facility like the one at kom, low enriched uranium nope to the world and iaea, that's why the talks are, on the one hand, important, but the other hand, not going to solve all of the mysteries out there about iran. >> ken pollack from brookings, wrapping up the week here for us from geneva. thanks so much, ken. that does it for me, i'm andrea mitchell here in geneva on msnbc. coming up next, the "new york times" hour with john harwood and norah o'donnell. have a great day. we know why we're here. to redefine air travel for a new generation. to ensure our forces are safer and stronger. to take the world we share to tomorrow and beyond.

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