hea heartbroken about josh and shane's continuing to be in prison. we're following all the developments on this release today, including her trip home for an eventual reunion with her family, and also, of course, the unknown fate of the two men who are still being held, the two other american hikers. with all of this, of course, the white house and the state department waiting for word. late today the president issued a statement acknowledging the release. he said i'm very pleased that sarah shourd has been released by the iranian government and will soon be reunited with her family. all mrns join with her courageous mother and family in celebrating her long-awaited return home. we are grateful to the swiss, the sultan of oman and other friends and allies around the world who worked tirelessly and admirably over the past several months to bring about this reunion. while sarah has been released,

shane bauer and josh fattal remain prisoners in iran. we remain hopeful that iran will ensure the return of shane, josh and all the other missing and detained americans in iran. we have gained strength from their resolve and will do everything we can to secure the release of their loved ones. also a statement from secretary of state hillary rodham clinton who was in the middle east, trying to negotiate between between the israelis and the palestinians, she said i welcome sarah shourd's release from detention in iran. i am pleased she will soon be reyew flighted with her famil d

reunited with her family. we urge iranian norauthorities extend the same consideration to others by resolving their cases immediately without delay and allowing them to return to their families. joining me is ali arouzi, our tehran bureau chief. this has been on again/off again. now many questions about whether bail was actually paid. there is certainly some indications. the rumor mills, we have no hard facts on this yet, that money was exchanged. >> it appears that way. it appears they were recently charged and has a connection to do with this bail. they had not been charged before, so they couldn't put a bail on it. it leaves the question mark over shane and josh's head. what's in store for them. >> we learned they have been charged with espionage. this is the first time in 14

months that the charge has been leveled against them. they had to be charged, according to the system here, they say in order for the bail to be paid and for her to be released. there is precedent in this. a canadian woman and a "newsweek" correspondent or photographer last fall also paying $300,000 bail. we don't know if money was paid, who paid it. we think one of the gulf nations, oman. the u.s. government says it did not. and if it was paid if it was 500,000 or less. >> absolutely. we do have information from the swiss embassy who represents u.s. interests here that the om omani people were instrumental in securing her release. all indications are they did help with the bail. >> it's an amazing drama, and our focus does remain on josh and shane and the fact they are still in prison and, in fact, the prosecutor said today that

they will have to stay in july for two more months. this is the first time we had an end date. it doesn't seem they will be released immediately. >> it's not such an ominous sign, because it's the first time they put a time frame on this, which could be a positive signal. >> thank you, ali arouzi, we'll have much more of your reporting on msnba and throughout the day and evening. now joining us is nicholas burns, former undersecretary of state who entered a lot of negotiations behind the scenes with the iranians over the years on issues as large as the nuclear questions, but also on some of the personal dramas. nick what is your impression of the way this unwound today and the fact that sarah was released? sarah has had medical problems, found a lump in her breast and is being released on humanitarian grounds. >> andrea, it is certainly wonderful news that sarah has been released. we can only hope the other two americans are released as well.

i think this whole drama over the last several days points to the fact that iran does not have a monolithic government, that there are competing sources of power. that president ahmadinejad is not a singly powerful official, and others are competing with him for authority. but these two other young men are held, and they deserve to be released. we can only hope they will be released as soon as possible. >> one thing we learned is that two of these young people became last january in the prison yard where they were able to see each other for one hour a day. he gave her a ring made of threads from his shirt. we certainly hope they will be reunited sooner. a lot of her medical problems apparently stemmed, as well as her physical problems, from the fact she was in solitaire confinement for 14 months. what do you imagine those conditions were like? >> the prison is notoriously a

horrible place. has been for decades. i think from the perspective of an american citizen, this is a very cynical, cynical treatment of an american by a foreign government, in this case the iranian government. they have shown very little compassion here. these three people, by all accounts, are innocent, and should have been released a year and a half ago. i think the humanitarian thing to do and the civilized thing do is see the other two americans released now. it points to the continued difficulty of dealing with this particular government, but that's an ongoing story over three decades. >> let me also bring you to the nuclear question. last week the international atomic energy agency issued a report sharply critical of iran saying inspectors, the experienced inspectors from the country who know what they're doing on these issues were being denied access to things they have got to see. iran responded negatively,

strongly to that. this is dialing up. what will happen if iran does not give these inspectors, international inspectors who work under the united nations, if iran does not give them access to these sites that the u.n. says might be suspect and have to be cleared? >> andrea, as you know, i think that there is increased frustration around the world with the iranian government. the iaea report made public last week clearly shows the iranians are not meeting their obligations to the united nations and the iaea. they are not giving inspectors the access they promised to give them. there are all sorts of discrepancies on the part of the iranian government are evident in the report. i think you have seen, since the fourth round of u.n. sanctions were passed earlier in the summer, you have now seen south korea and japan and the european union, canada, australia take their own measures as the united

states has done, to further sanction the iranian government. that is necessary. one would hope russia and china would now play a much more vigorous role in sending a tough message to iran that this kind of behavior is out of bounds, and that further sanctions will be forthcoming if it continues. >> nicholas burns who has been there, done that, negotiating with the iranians and negotiating at the u.n., thank you very much, nick. good to see you. >> thank you. while we're been over here in tehran, there's a primary election going on back home. a lot of fantastic politics. with all the hot races, here is norah o'donnell. norah? >> great reporting there in tehran. here in the u.s. we are watching all the big races as voters head to the polls in seven states in washington, d.c. when the polls close tonight nearly all of the midterm ballots will be set. the big question, how anti-washington, anti establishment will voters use to be this year? this hour, the man whose job it

is to keep house democrats in power, democratic congressional campaign chairman, chris van holland is coming up. as president obama gets read i do speak to the nation's school children, we will talk to white house domestic policy adviser melody barnes. all this next on "andrea mitchell reports." [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time... time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®.

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tomorrow, we would have a good day. we're optimistic we will increase our numbers and i'll be the leader of more than 41 in the next congress. >> translation, that's the republican leader mitch mcconnell brushing off concerns that more republican establishment candidates could be defeated by tea party favorites. seven republicans have lost in

such primaries what does this all mean? does this hurt the republicans chances for taking control from the democrats this november? we are joined by chris van hollen of maryland. congressman congressman, good to see you. >> good to be with you. >> it's the last voting day, then seven weeks before election day. what do you think about today and some of these races where establishment republican candidates are being challenged by the tea party candidates particularly in the delaware senate. >> it is a big voting day. it's a big voting day in my state of maryland. delaware is something the whole country is focused on. this would be the clearest signal to date that the republican party has been totally hijacked and taken over by a far right wing group. by not just the tea party, but a certain element of the tea party. this is, i think, going to be -- it would be bad news for the republicans. it would be bad news for the country. that's the reality. >> congressman, you say, of

course that the republican party has been hijacked by the tea party. but there's a great piece in the "washington post" today by dan balls who says the contrary is true. the tea party means we have so many more primary voters turning out. we have a more energized base. you must acknowledge one problems the democrats face is a base that's not well energized. >> over the summer we faced a big political energy deficit. that's closing rapidly. one thing that will help it close faster is when voters look out and they see what's emerging in terms of these republican candidates and what they plan do if in congress. this is a group of people out of the mainstream. if given the opportunity, they will take the country way off to the right and these are centrist districts, swing districts that are looking for independent-minded people, not sort of rigid ideologues. so i think this is -- it is a

concern for the republican party. and it makes clearer than ever the choice that people have this november. >> congressman, i know that's one of the goals of the white house to present a clear contrast, make sure that's a choice election, not a referendum on president obama and his policies. one area is, of course, tax cuts. but i understand that there's a group of moderates in the house that is circulating a proposal for a one-year extension of the bush tax cuts for wealthy americans. do you know if speaker pelosi would support that? >> the speaker has been very clear that she supports the position that the president has laid out, which is we will extend permanently tax relief for 98% of the american people. but we simply cannot afford a tax break for the folks at the top 2%. >> congressman, i understand that along with some of those moderates in the house, that you also are willing to do a one-year extension for the top

2% of wealthiest americans. that's what you told al hunt of bloomberg. why? >> that's not what i told him. he asked whether there were, under any circumstances, would that be something we would consider. and the fact of the matter is it's a moot point because we have heard from mitch mcconnell very clearly that the only thing that they would accept is permanent tax breaks for the very wealthy, which adds $700 billion to the deficit. so, it's really irrelevant what other proposals may be out there given the fact that the republicans have said through mitch mcconnell as early as a few hours ago that they would never accept anything other than a permanent tax cut for the wealthy. look, the president laid out a clear plan. it makes sense to pursue his plan. he has said if we want to deal with small businesses -- as you know only 2% of small businesses would be effected by keeping -- by reducing the bush rates at

the top. and the president put forward a plan that would give 100% of small businesses tax relief by allowing them to write off their investments. that's the way to go. that's what i support. let me be very clear. >> okay. i understand. you said that would obviously be something we would have to think about if they said one year for the top 2% and permanent for the middle class. it's your job to keep the democrats in power. it's a difficult job. i want to read you something in the "new york times" analysis about this. in the last six weeks republicans have out-spent democrats $20 million to $13 million in television advertising. this according to the "new york times," analysis of 56 of the most competitive house and senate races. the republican advantage includes 9 million from outside groups compared with 3 million from left-leans interests. the democrats have had an advantage, but are you getting clobbered in some of the house

districts where republicans and republican groups can spend more money than your candidates? this is a big issue, norah. no doubt about it. our message to tv viewers and voters is -- tv viewers beware. you will see all these ads by these special interest republican groups, their interests are not the economic interests of the american people. these are being funded by special interest groups who, for the most part, won't tell white house they a us who they are. the coke brothers were served very well by the bush economic agenda, they would do very well by an economic agenda that served the special interests, whether it's the insurance industry or the oil industry. those are the people behind the ads. yes, it's an issue, and it's our job to educate the american voter about who is behind those ads and ask themselves why is it they are supporting the

republican candidates? because the republican candidates support the same old economic agenda that got news this mess to begin with that serves some of those special interests very well. >> congressman chris van hollen, good to see you. thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you. mixed messages from republican leaders. is the gop willing to bend on tax cuts or not? it is the hottest issue on the hill right now. and could taxes help decide which party controls congress? that's next. [ engine revving ] [ male announcer ] the u.s. government may soon require brake override technology on all new cars and trucks. at nissan, we think this is a good idea. so we did it... ...six years ago. [ wind howling ]

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you know the saying, there's only two things certain in life, death and -- >> taxes. you got it. >> you got it. that's going to be the big debate. what is your sense -- you know, we heard boehner signaling maybe some compromise, mcconnell saying no extension for the wealthy that would hurt thousands of small businesses. do you think there's any room for comcompromise? >> at this point, no. the republicans and boehner spent a whole lot of time unwinding that gaff on the sunday shows where boehner said if he had to he would vote to renew 97% of the tax cuts and let the top tier expire. they unwound that -- that message yesterday and went back to saying, no, we want to renew all the tax cuts no matter how much money anyone makes. the republicans are unified on this. you know, the last thing democrats want in the brief four-week session they have up here leading up to the election

is a serious debate on increasing taxes. >> that's why you have a lot of democrats making suggestions about when this vote should be held. what is your sense of when they'll have a vote on this. >> republicans will try to force amendments here and there on anything that they can that put democrats on the record for increasing taxes. you know, obama said all along that they need to increase taxes for people -- for households over $250,000. the actual substantive votes are not going to happen until after the election. they'll probably have do this in the lame duck. remember, these tax cuts expire at the end of the year. they have to do something, even if it's a brief two-year extension. >> is interesting. politically speaking, the white house can make the argument that republicans are against obama extending the tax cuts. republicans claiming that the top 5% of income earners spend

30% of what's going on in the economy, also that an extension of the bush tax cuts for s for wealthiest could build growth. how does this effect jobs and the economy? >> it's one of those things that depends on how you poll it. if you poll it should taxes be increased on the top 3% of the wealthiest americans, the polls are good for democrats on this. at a meeting tonight, the democrats, including chris van hollen, will look at polling that supports their position. bumper sticker politics, what are republicans going to say? democrats drove up the deficit and increased taxes. it will be the tax and spend argument all over again. the polls may be nuanced on this, but the republicans have an easier bumper sticker approach. >> martin katie, thanks.

>> thanks. a new drug-resistant superbug is turning up in the u.s. we'll tell you where. and a live picture of president obama. we will talk to melody barnes about the president's back to school message. and we'll go back to tehran where sarah shourd has just been released. andrea mitchell is there. that's next.wing ck... i was like, yes, this works... [ male announcer ] only rogaine is proven to regrow hair in 85% of guys. puhh puhh puhh putt and that's it. [ male announcer ] stop losing. start gaining.

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[ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. welcome back to tehran where we have been reporting on the release today of american hiker sarah shourd. we just received this tape of her thanking the iranian government, and in particular president ahmadinejad for releasing her. let's watch. >> i -- i want to offer my thanks to everyone in the world, all of the governments, all of the people that are involved and especially i want to address president ahmadinejad and all of

the iranian officials, the religious leaders and thank them for this humanitarian gesture. >> and joining me now is david sanger, chief correspondent for the "new york times" and author of "the inheritance." you covered iran for many years. this statement by sarah shourd, we know she wants to get home. she is also concerned about her friends, about her fiance. shane and josh fattal. the larger picture is here we are seeing an iranian government that does have divisions and the issue that you cover, the nuclear issue, is front and center. >> it is, andrea. i think the interesting question is whether or not by doing this release, and not releasing all three of them but just ms. shroud, the iranians are trying to signal, as they seem to have in recent weeks, that they want to get some kind of conversation or discussion going with the

united states again. the problem is that they seem so divided internally, it's clear what if anything they are willing to go back to the table and negotiate on. with these punishing sanctions in place, we have not seen evidence yet on the fundamental question of whether they would do what the united nations is demanding, which is stop enrichment, that they are willing to talk. >> i've only been on the ground perhaps 24 hours, but there doesn't seem to be a real sense of how the sanctions are effecting people, at least in tehran. maybe out in the outlying areas, yes, gas priceses are up, but when they cannot get consumer goods from overseas, it spurs domestic production. they are such an energetic and strong people, they have a lot of ingenuity in trying to boost

their own domestic production, not of gas which they import, but there are other issues, issues pending of subsidies. the possibility they will cut the subsidies for gasoline. so eventually these sanctions will bite. >> that's right. the question is how much time the united states has to make them work. nobody expects sanctions are going to have an immediate effect. and, in fact, the iranians did a good job of stockpiling gasoline and trying to rally around the financial regulations well in advance of the passage of the sanctions. it's going to take a while. even then, you know, over the summer we heard the chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mike mullen, we heard leon panetta, the director of the cia, all say the same thing which is the sanctions may help give the united states some leverage, but it's not going to -- the sanctions alone will not force the iranian government, they believe to fundamentally

reassess the value of the nuclear program. there are some who think it might lead them to speed up the nuclear program. >> the other point here is that recent reporting is that the iranians may have had some technical challenges, let's say, and that there may be more time and that the americanses may have persuaded the israelis, for instance that there is more time, at least nine months to a year before there is a real -- a real issue that needs to be confronted or should be confronted from their perspective. david, thank you very much. we'll be watching all of this up close at the united nations next week when there will be a major speech, of course, from the president, hillary clinton, and all of the members of the countries that are negotiating with iran or that want to see real negotiations with iran, they will all be in place. president ahmadinejad will be in new york. norah, this is the last big primary day. what are you looking at as you

see the results coming in tonight? which states are of the most interest? >> we have a big political day here in the united states. voting in some seven states and the district of columbia. the key test today for some of those republican establishment candidates, like in delaware and new hampshire, whether they will be knocked out by tea party favorites. that's one of the big stories we're following. also the president delivering a big speech on education, then some other headlines across the country. let's get to those now. first, fire crews have finally contained a wildfire in the colorado foothills that damaged or destroyed over 100 structures. crews in loveland, colorado are still starting a fire that started sunday. it's 25% contained. hurricane igor is a category 4 storm, tracking west but expected to steer clear of the eastern seaboard. meteorologists are monitoring the storm. hurricane julia is also expected

to stay's of the atlantic coast. and pop star george michael sentenced to eight weeks in jail. he pled guilty to driving under the influence and drug possession charges stemming from a july 4th car accident. and three states are reporting superbug cases, that's a new gene with a bacteria resistant to nearly all antibiotics. all of the patients with cases of this drug resistant bug had recently received medical care in india. and this hour at a school in philadelphia, the president delivered a back to school pep talk to students and urged them to stay focused in the classroom even if they are taking on more responsibilities outside of it. >> a lot of you as a consequence, because we are going through a tough time as a country are having act a lot older than you are. you have to be strong for your family while your brother or sister is serving overseas, you have to look after younger

siblings while your mom is working that second shift, or maybe some of you who are a bit older, you are taking on a part-time job while your dad is out of work. that's a lot to handle. it's more than you should have to handle. and it may make you wonder at times what your own future would look like. i came to masterman to tell all of you what i think you're hearing from your principal, your superintendent, and from your parents and from your teachers -- nobody gets to write your destiny but you. >> melody barnes director of the president's domestic policy council joins us. this is the second time the president has delivered a speech like this. why do it? >> well, he thinks it's very, very important, norah, to go out, to talk to students and to engage them around their own education. i think there are three key messages. one that education is essential. two, that for students their

effort is absolutely critical. and, three, that with those two things combined, anything is possible. he wants to encourage them and to help motivate them based on his own experiences in the course of doing that. >> melody, are they showing this in every classroom across the country? >> well, we know that cnn and other networks have been sharing this. we also know that channel 1, that reaches out to about 8,000 schools around the country, they're showing this. this is widely spread. there is outreach to states and to education districts. so we know there are students all over the country who are watching and listening to the president this afternoon. >> i know there was some controversy, i remember last year, of course that in some classro classrooms that maybe student wouldn't have to listen to this because they thought the president was indoctrinating them. a school in tex put out this memo that says we believe many parents would prefer to record

this event at home and watch it later in the evening where they can interact as family members. the district will record the speech on this day and make it available on wednesday, september 15th. by delaying the viewing of this speech parents can make an educated decision about their child's participation. are you disappointed by that? that some schools, some parents would see this as a partisan speech, the president trying to indoctrinate students? >> i think that based on last year and the message from this year, that everyone understands the president's basic message. and having the president of the united states take time out of his busy day to reach out to students, to reach out to parents, and to teachers, talk about the importance of education, is a really wonderful and remarkable thing. i also believe that having parents spend time with their students, with their children and talk about these issues, talk about the importance of education, that's another wonderful way to reiterate and to underscore these messages and to share what the president is

trying to do. >> education, of course, a huge issue in this country. it comes up in politics. there's a race in the district of columbia today, mayor fenty may be defeated on this very issue of his efforts to hire michelle rie who has had a tough-love message when it comes to education, has let go a number of teachers who were not performing. do you think the outcome of the primary in the district of columbia has national implications for education reform? >> obviously the voters in the district of columbia will be making that decision today. but what we recognize is important that we as an administration have been working with reformers, governors. we have been working with teachers, teachers unions, with parents. that the president today reaching out to students about their involvement and their education, we have been working with everyone. we believe that we are -- have

captured the momentum behind education reform and people understand the importance of creating the best k through 12 system possible so that our students can compete globally. we think that we are speaking to a hunger that exists nationally for improvement and change and support for our public education system. >> all right. melody barnes, i have to point out, i thought the most interesting education story that i saw today, of course, other than the president's speech is the front page of the "washington post" that more women than men got ph.d.s last year. >> i saw that. >> yeah. interesting. >> it is. >> melody barnes, i know you're trying to hear me over the blower there's at the white house. appreciate it as always. >> great, norah. wonderful to be with you. the knock-down primary season is almost over. the last primary day of the year could deliver some big surprises today. chris alizza will break it down.

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it is primary day in seven states and the nation's capital. it's no surprise that the tea party is playing a pivotal role in races. chris cillizza is author of "the fix" blog. good to see you. >> i'm excited. >> let's start with delaware. there's an o'donnell making big news there no relation to me. is it possible she could stage an upset? >> you know, norah, a month ago i would have said impossible. i don't say impossible at all anymore. after joe miller beat lisa murkowski in alaska, i stay away from that word. i don't think it's likely, but that doesn't mean impossible.

she has run three times before, doesn't raise a lot of money, seems to run for office as her job. it's not clear that she was credible. she is running against a guy in mike castle, congressman, former governor of the state 40 years in elected office. this looked like a runaway for mike castle, but the tea party unhappy with mike castle's credentials as a conservative have gotten themselves involved and we have a real race. >> i understand that establishment republicans are so worried that christine o'donnell could win this they have robocalls from her former campaign manager saying she has run so many times for senate that she uses these races to pay for her own rent and make a living off of it. >> i think republicans learned a very important lesson from alaska, and that is you have to go negative. get out there, be as able to

define christine o'donnell as possible. mike castle had $2.5 million in the bank, o'donnell had about 50,000. he has gone harshly negative against her in the last two weeks. the question is will that work? that can only be answered tonight because we don't know who will vote. delaware, a small state, small population, hard to predict. polling is not that helpful to us here. >> interesting because christine o'donnell has been endorsed by sarah palin in delaware. want to switch to new hampshire, another woman, kelly ayotte, the establishment candidate, she could get -- face a strong challenge and get defeated by ovide lamontagne, a tea party favori favorite. >> kelly ayotte bridged the gap between outsider, insider, conservative moderate.

she has the support of sarah palin, has the support of rick santor santorum, tom coburn. and lamontagne won the nomination in '96, lost the general election then. i think it's going to be close. if she does pull it out, she has the potential to be a star. a sort of conservative woman in new hampshire, a republican, another potential new face for the republican party. she would be favored in november. >> yeah. i've been watching kelly ayotte, former attorney general, a lot of people say she would be a future star of the republican party and would play a key role in the 2012 presidential primary. let's talk about wisconsin. this is a democratic race. russ feingold facing a surprisingly strong challenge what do we expect? what is the latest today? >> today is kind of the storm before the storm. ron johnson, a wealthy

businessman from oshkosh will win the republican nomination. the race has been ron johnson versus russ feingold for some time. the economy in wisconsin has not worked out well, and though feingold has always run as an outsider, he has been in the senate since 1992. that's 18 years. ron johnson never ran for office before, he has a lot of commercials painting himself as an outsider and feingold as an inside this is one democrats are worried about privately, more so than california, washington. i think wisconsin may be bumping up to a second tier because democrats are concerned. >> and then let's talk about washington, d.c. of course a big democratic primary with mayor fenty, i was talking to melody barnes about that. he may lose the mayoral election

today. there were questions today on air force one to the president's spokesman asking why he didn't campaign for mayor fenty. mayor fenty made national headlines with his school chancellor, trying to reform the district of columbia's schools. >> you know, our poll, the "washington post" pole showed fenty down to vince gray, a d.c. city councilman by 17 points. again, nothing is impossible. i said i wouldn't say that word in relation to this election, but it looks very much like adrian fenty will lose. >> i was told fenty would lose among the regular voters, but if he can turn out some 80,000 and get some newer voters, he would have a shot. is there any indication he's getting out the vote today? >> possible. but, remember, d.c. is a majority african-american city. fenty's numbers have absolutely cratered vince gray. he is doing well in that group. if fenty loses african-americans by a significant margin, the

math won't add up. again this election has been noted by surprise after surprise after surprise. i said any number of times so i'm going to say i don't know. if you believe polling and look at the demographics, vince gray should win today. politics is surprising. that's why it's interesting. >> exactly. chris cillizza with the "washington post" and the fix, good to see you. >> thanks, norah. and what political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? >> plus, the latest on the american hiker freed today from iranian prison. she just spoke out moments ago about her relief. >> i want to really offer my thanks to everyone in the world. all of the governments, all of the people that have been involve e involved, and especially i want to address president ahmadinejad and all the iranian officials and leaders and thank them for this humanitarian gesture. [ woman ] nine iron, it's almost tee-time...

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welcome back, everybody. usually during this block we do the next 24. andrea, we're going to be following the situation in iran where you are. >> and we're going to be talking more about sarah shourd, how did she get out? what did the gulf nation do? was money paid? and what's going to happen with her two friends, her fiance. of course, shane bauer and josh fatt fattal. we'll be watching msnbc for all the election results tonight. but this is really a turning point. and as david was saying earlier today on the show, maybe this is an attempt by tooirn to try to reach out. there will be plenty of opportunities in new york next week when ahmadinejad, the president of iran comes and

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dean will never forget what he went through. don't take your health for granted. [ male announcer ] have a heart to heart with your doctor about your risk. and about lipitor. i'm tamron hall. right now on msnbc. >> don't feel discouraged. don't give up if you don't succeed at something the first time. try again, and learn from your mistakes. >> you can do it. with a war in afghanistan and one of the toughest economies in generations, president obama tells students their future is in their hands. and drugs can't kill it. the super bug that has doctors in at least three states on alert. and her tweets launched a harassment investigation against some nfl players. now that sexy reporter has a message to people criticizing her about what she wears to work. michael smerconish will join me

to talk about it. plus, starbucks has a new drive-in menu. what's missing has some people saying they've crossed the line. a short time ago president obama spoke to the nation's students encouraging them to apply themselves and take control of their own destinies. and the president described a turning point in his own life when his mother challenged him to do more than just get by. >> she said you can't just sit around waiting for luck to see you through. she said you can get into any school you want in the country, if you put in a little effort. >> savannah guthrie is live for us at the white house. last year there was a lot of controversy regarding the president giving his message, as other presidents have done to student this is year. the white house decided to send out the script early so schools could decide whether or not to share this with the kids out there. >> reporter: that's right. and whether this is the reason for it or not, who knows.