getting started. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell blocked a vote by harry reid to have a vote on the house floor of the republican bill, and this is delay tactics the democrats say to force them to accept a republican bill they don't like. let me explain that. harry reid at the behest of president obama said he would not move on the funding of government bill. the government runs out of money friday night until they figure out the house spending holiday. and this vote does not allow harry reid to force it down. this is what harry reid said about the house republican bill this morning on the senate floor. >> the house has sent the house yet another bill that won't pass. as it is a republican fallback play, and wasting special time, and going to tea party extremists instead of compromising with the democrats. >> and part of what reid

believes is a reach-out to the tea party extremists and to get more of to house conservatives of the house on board with the plan is the part of the provision of the gop bill to force the president to decide whether or not to construct the keystone pipeline within 60 days of the bill being passed. that is an issue that is deeply divisive in the democratic camp, because many say it is good for the economy, but the environmental group says it needs more study. and there is opposition in nebraska and sort of the not in my backyard spirit of things, but thomas, where do we go from here? it is wednesday and we are at the crux of a huge delay in terms of how the senate is going to operate and the republicans are forcing them to put a bill forward and react to the republican bill, and present no bill of their own and have negotiations to harry reid or john boehner and either way, friday the government could shutdown or run out of money, and that would look terrible to

the congress who is the lowest in history, and you will see real stalemate happening over the next few days and possibly negotiations going all of the way to december the 3rd on extending the payroll tax holiday, and millions of americans who depend on it for their livelihood. >> thank you, luke russert. the new numbers in the nbc/"wall street journal" poll look good for newt gingrich, but not for the republican front-runn front-runner. listen to this, newt gingrich is hitting a high note nationally with the gop voters and all of the way to 40% to make aim clear leader in the surge, but there are lingering problems with the campaign. he is well behind the president and double-digit lead for president obama right now. look at the figures. and newt does not pass the likability test with registered voters and those numbers are as bad as the lowest point after the congressional exit in the late 1990s and i want to break it back with the former rnc chairman michael steele.

it is nice to have you here to talk about this. on one hand, you have gingrich the surging candidate and then a presidential hopeful whose numbers are bad against the president internally, and how are the staff seeing the numbers as they continue the stamina? >> well, this is newt's campaign or the president's campaign? >> newt's campaign? >> because they have blurred together after a while. newt's campaign right now is, you know, running on two sets of fumes. one is the natural high of being in the front, and having this poll reflect a real strong or depth to his campaign. the other fume is trying to get a ground game organized, trying to get dollars in the door, and boots on the ground to help him to be competitive so that he can do a couple of things. one, build the organization, two, have the surrogates and the voices out there to pushback on the noise that is emanating about him and his candidacy. so you are seeing a two-tract approach by newt right now.

polls are important at this stage going into the iowa, because it sets the mood and the tone for how those voters are going to respond to the national front-runner, in this case, newt. for mitt romney and certainly for someone like ron paul, the opportunity to tear down that veneer of invincibility or inevitability around the idea of electability is important. and the poll does show that there is some electability issues that newt is going to have vis-a-vis, the president come next year, but that is a year out. between now and january, this is good momentum sfor newt while h tries to organize the campaign and an opportunity for someone like ron paul who is close to newt in the iowa poll to take the lead. >> michael, as we look at this though, if the newt gingrich campaign continues to surge, inevitab inevitably, doesn't that mean that the obama campaign will

surge when players like president clinton come out and go on the stump for president obama and even remembers back in the day what happened between gingrich and clinton in washington. and here is the president say, and done that and this is why you need to support president obama for a second term and not go back in history to elevate him to the position of president. >> well, newt gingrich can bring up strong economy and balanced budget and working with the white house and doing all of the things that the president has not done and can't seem to do. so you have to be careful using that particular sword, because there a double-edge to it. this president doesn't want to have a conversation about the economy, and he'd prefer a conversation about the personalities and likability and all of that, but the reality is that people right now, even with the 0.4% drop in the economy,

and when the bubble will burst and what impact that will have for the economy. the intent is still real, and newt gingrich can talk about being speaker of the house and working with president clinton to work with the leadership to build a stronger economy and unlike this one. >> and a former campaign spokesperson for hill i ri clinton, -- for hillary clinton joins us now, and you heard me talking with michael steele about what bripgi ibringing out like former president clinton and others will help to boost president obama? >> well, it is a clear difference of newt gingrich and president obama. yes, the economy is the issue on everybody's mind, but in poll after poll what is the biggest impediment to recovery, people

site dysfunctional congress and newt gingrich is one of the guys who helped to create the dysfunction that we are seeing and feeling today, so he is not seen as a credible alternative or credible way to move forward. it is interesting that he continues to lead in the republican primary polls. if romney is going to bounce back, he has to become more and more like newt gingrich to overcome to challenges in the republican electorate, and that is not going to make him anymore appealing in a general election either. >> and mo brings up this point of dysfunction in the government, and for congress, 75% of people saying this is one of the worst or below average group. so will republicans bear the brunt of the blame or do you think they care about that? because as we have heard and seen through this first term for president obama, everyone on the right has been saying they want to make president obama a one-term president.

aren't they going to have to own up to that if the president is re-elected, because they don't have any choice but to play ball. >> well, you are absolutely right. the republican messaging since january has quite frankly sucked. it has been -- i can only have the way to put it, and i don't understand how you can get so out of step and out of sorts with an electorate that elevated you in one of the largest wins in national history last fall, and to lose that momentum, and that impetus to get an agenda done and to not lead with the jobs bill in january was a fatal blow and it would have put a president on a clear defensive posture at this point in time. but having said all of that, i think that you cannot ignore that the voters right there are looking at the congress and the republicans controlling half of it, and are saying to themselves, this is part of the problem. i think that it is important for them to get that messaging straight soon, because it will have an impact downstream. >> michael steele, and mo

elleithee, thank you. i appreciate it. former penn state coach jerry sandusky's game-changing legal strategy sends him straight to trial. tim curley and gary schultz are accused of failing to report abuse and lying to the grand jury about jerry sandusky, but it was yesterday's stunning motion that the former sideline coach waiving the preliminary hearing leading to wild speculation that sandusky wants a plea deal. joining me now is joseph amendola who is the defense counsel for jerry sandusky. thank you for joining me this morning. >> you are welcome, thomas. >> you have said that you want your client out of jail to help you prepare for the trial. is there any intention on your side to talk plea deal? >> no. there's never been any discussions about a plea on either side of this case. and jerry has maintained his innocence as you know from the very outset of the very first allegation made by accuser one.

he has maintained his innocence in regard to all of the charges. he has defenses to them. and his intent has always been to go to trial. yesterday's decision to waive the preliminary hearing was a tactical one. the preliminary hearing, thomas s a probable cause hearing and it is not a trial. it is not a time and place where we present a defense. we can't even cross-examine commonwealth witnesses about the credibility issue, because it is a fundamental legal principle. all that can happen is that the commonwealth witnesses testify and had that happened yesterday, the media would have had the worst of the-examine those witnesses to the motives or testifying falsely or to credibility issues, so we looked at limited damage, and waive the hearing and get a concession, and of which we got an important one about the bail situation and get a commitment for the early discovery and continue to prepare for trial which is the goal in the case to get to trial

and put on the best defense we can for jerry, and hope that we can create in the minds of 12 independent objective impartial jurors the reasonable doubt. >> as a seasoned attorney, you knew well ahead of yesterday's hearing that challenging the credibility of the victims was never going to be a possibility in that preliminary hearing, however, you continue to challenge the victims' credibility in doing the media interviews like this one saying that most of them are trying to get together for a big payday. don't you feel that you are victimizing these victims in a process that is criminal and not civil and that you are bashing them for the fact that they are looking for a big payday. >> well, thomas, you have made a mistake that a lot of the media and other public members are making. they are not victims. these accusers are not victims until a judge and jury hears evidence in court at trial and then a jury finds that jerry sandusky finds him guilty of these charges.

right now they are frap cli accusations. he has maintained the innocence, and at the end of the trial, if the jury acquits him, he is the victim and he is victimized. so i take issue with the whole concept that we are victimizing people. jerry sandusky under our great legal system is presumed innocent until there a trial and a judge finds him guilty. until then, he is presumed innocent. all we are asking the media and the general public to do is to maintain an open mind and allow him to have a fair day in court to give his side of the case and for us have to have an opportunity to cross-examine the commonwealth witnesses who are accusers only and not victims, and to have a jury fairly decide jerry's guilt or innocence. >> a lot of people are going to be curious whether or not mr. sandusky takes the stand in his own defense. we have seen the nbc interview with bob costas which i understand that you volunteered

sandusky for the interview and the interview with "the new york times," and in that interview, you can be heard audibly in the background when he is asked to deny the allegations of sexual attractions to young boys or pedophile and he does not explain it away by saying no def definitively right off of the bat in two interviews. how do you explain that and do you expect jerry sandusky to testify in his own defense. >> if jerry sandusky wants to testify in his own defense, that is an issue we have to decide at trial after we hear the evidence from the commonwealth. as far as the difficulty in answering that question concerning are you attracted to young boys or boys, jerry sandusky has problems answering a lot of questions. i struggle in my conversations with jerry, getting him to aps quickly and succinctly and directly, and he struggles with that particular question, because he is overwhelmed by it, and he is distressed by it. jerry has always said that he

cares a great deal about young people. boys and girls alike. he cares about older people. he has always enjoyed helping them, and i think that he struggles, because he is baffled by the accusations that have been made by these young men who at the time of the incidents were young, young kids. but he is baffled by it. he is troubled by it. if you listen to jerry speak on a routine basis which we hope to get out to the general public and at trial is what you will learn about him, he ponders everything. when he is asked a question, he sits back and reflects and takes 30 seconds many times before he even starts to answer the question. so as the jn rgeneral public ane media gets used to him answering questions and involved in interviews as we proceed to trial, they will understand that is his mannerisms. as far as putting him out there to answer questions, the big thing we wanted to do, thomas, was to let the general public and the media know that he is saying that he is innocent. jerry sandusky has always

maintained his innocence. that is the big message we wanted him to say, and not me, as his attorney, which could be written off as a lawyer spin. >> but he says no, i'm not a pedophile. if i asked you right now, are you a pedophile, you would answer no, and not hem and haw back and forth and baffled about a question about something so straight forward. >> i would answer quickly, but that is my mannerisms and you would, too, as a broadcaster and experienced articulate person who speaks to the general public. jerry is not. he is a shy person. he is not articulate. he is not a public speaker. he really struggles with the accusations that have been made. and when that direct question which is such a heart wrenching question for him is asked, he struggles on how best to ask and as he did with bob costas, and he said, i'm troubled, because i enjoy being around kids and i enjoy being around older people, and i enjoy the exuberance and

they tell you how they feel and think. that is why he struggles so much with that particular question, because he struggles as to why he is accused of these horrific offenses. >> mr. amendola, thank you for the time. >> you are welcome, thomas. later on we will hear from the attorneys representing victim four in the sandusky case. so be sure to keep with us for that one. if you want to also see my full unedited interview with jerry sandusky's attorney, follow me on twitter @thomas roberts, and we will send that link in a moment. and "time" reveals the person of the year, and we will tell you who it is not. and after nine years of fighting in iraq, u.s. troops are on the way home, and president obama is on the way to

fort bragg to welcome them. and we are looking at the european debt which is bringing down the board across the line. the dow jones down 111 points. with crest 3d white professional effects whitestrips. it penetrates below the enamel surface to whiten as well as a $500 dentist treatment. the secret's in the strip. crest 3d white professional effects whitestrips. life opens up when you do. it's a great hd tv... shhh. don't speak.

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welcome back, everybody. breaking news to bring you right here in new york city, and wnbc, the station here in new york reporting that one american p has died and two injured after an elevator fell at an office building in midtown manhattan and you can see that the people are responding there, and the traffic snarl on the street, but they say that a woman killed as the elevator was rising and she stepped into it. we will bring you the details, and bring you the latest. but again, wnbc is report ing

that one person died and two others injured in an elevator accident in manhattan. and the president will land in fort bragg here for a speech later for service members back from their final tours in iraq. >>ly >> i will be right back. >> you can imagine how grateful family members are to see their loved ones. this is the look of the faces of those welcoming men and women back from multiple tours and reunited with the ones they love. joe biden sat down with rachel maddow and discussed his feelings surrounding the end of the war. >> i will be blunt with you. after i made that speech in the palace to, with maliki, and with talibani, and the president and the prime minister of iraqi and american assembled troops and i left and i called the president, and i said thank you. thank you for giving me the opportunity to do something that meant a great deal to me

personally and to the country, to end this war in iraq. >> and nbc's mike viqueira is live with us in fort bragg and bring us up to date into celebratory moment, and also one to fulfill a campaigning promise, and we want to see that pi picture, vicara, whatever you are seeing the picture of. >> well, it is air force one wheels down, and i will tweet it to you, thomas in a moment, yes. and the president and the first lady have arrived wheels down at fort bragg, hope field here in north carolina, and the president and the first lady here to pay tribute to not only the elements of fort bragg which is the famed 82nd airborne, and the army corps of special operations corps, but the 1 million men and women in uniform who have served in iraq and 4500 of whom have paid the ultimate

price over the course of nine years. politics overshadow any move that the president makes, including to a blue state like north carolina. mitt romney took out an ad and paid for an ad in the local paper here excoriating the president for the sad state of unemployment here in north carolina, and 11% for returning veterans here and across the kun t count country. but for the moment the president will put it aside, the military base saw leading elements going into iraq and they lost 102 servicemen and women here alone, thomas. >> so, iphone or blackberry, how is this picture coming? >> i cannot endorse any one product, but it is a blackberry. >> @thomasaroberts is how you will get me. and as we talk to tammy duckworth who is the assistant for intragovernment affairs for veteran affairs, and she is running for congress as a democrat in illinois' eighth

district. it is nice to have you here and i want to give the viewers the background to the story, because you are one of the first women to fly combat mission in iraq and you lost your legs, and part of the use of your right arm, and you were also shot down in '04, and so today, what does the statements of the president mean to the veterans who have given so many of their years to fighting? >> well, i think that what the president's speech to me means a promise kept. he has ended the war in iraq and taken the war back to afghanistan and eliminated the al qaeda leadership which is where we should have been in the first place, but really what he is going to touch on that is so important is that our troops have borne a heavy burden in the last nine years, and we have to make sure that we do more than just give them words of thanks. we need to express our appreciation with the deeds whether it is hiring veterans as the president has pushed through the tax credit for hiring v veterans or whether when they go back to school with the gi bill.

all of us in the educational system, whether a classmate or professor need to make sure we support the troops. we have to make sure for the 1 million troops who have served we provide them with the health care they will need for many more years to come. >> we know that you have worked extensively within the veteran affairs department, and what is the v.a. doing to make accessibility to vets a priority to see more soldiers finding the jobs and not falling on hard times the minute they come home. >> well, so, there are quite a few things that the department of veteran affairs have been doing under the obama administration, and number one, they put in iraq and after afghanistan coordinator at every v.a. hospital so when the vets come home, they can go to the single place to get information about all of the care out there, and there has been a strong move with seamless transition from the d.o.d. to v.a. when i left walter reed in 2005 to beginning of 2006, there was not a seamless transition and i had a tough time transferring my

medical records from the d.o.d. system to the v.a.m is and we have worked hard to eliminate that so that the troops will have a seamle lesless transitio get the information before they leave military sat tus tatus of g.i. bill, and assistant models. we need to extend our thanks and have business owners to thank the troops as well. it is not the responsibility of the government. but the. have a. and the president will be there but we as the public need to express with our deeds how much we love and support our troops and their family. >> lieutenant tammy duckworth, thank you for your service and time and joining us this morning. we will bring you the president's speech from fort bragg coming up a at the bottomf of the hour right here. and the president will be getting high profile help on the campaign trail from someone who knows how to make a sale to voters. and what mitt romney has in common with the kkk and rare

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. >> we come back, everybody. to day on the "today" show "time" magazine revealed the person of the year for 2011, and it is the protester. time said it is recognizing protesters because they are redefining people power around the world. during the year the protester has voiced assent from the military leader and in egypt and syria and yemen and bahrain in the so-called arab spring. the protesters voiced apger oap the rigged elections in russia. and also the occupy wall street protests started in new york and spread across the country right here. when jerry sandusky entered

a plea of not guilty, there was anger on behalf of the accusers. earlier i asked his attorney joseph amendola if it was a deliberate pups f deliberate purpose for the prosecution, and he bristled at the idea. >> there was a lot of talk about the fact that you waived the right of jerry sandusky to the right of a hearing. i was told that you knew you would waive by monday night and is that the prosecution would dismiss the witnesses, and then you would pull the trigger, the bait and switch and ask to have the hearing anyway knowing that the prosecutors would not have the witnesses there? >> no, that is not the case at all. as a matter of fact, thomas, that would be unprofessional. i would never do that. >> so where does this leavelege prepared to tell their stories? joining me are attorneys who

represent victim four. gentlemen, glad to have you with us this morping. ben, as i understand it, victim four was to testify first yesterday at that cancelled hearing. so how is your victim doing, your client, i should say, how is your client doing today and what are his feelings about not having that opportunity yesterday? >> well, i haven't had the chance to speak with him today, but yesterday, i spoke with him at length. and i can tell you that the range of emotions that he experienced was really ran the dam mutt, y gamut, because you go into the day thinking that you will testify in front of 200 stran strangers about the most perm and private things that have ever happened in your life, and then you find out that 45 minutes later, it will not happen. so i think that the emotions were up and down throughout the day. >> and this could be a roller coaster ride throughout this, and stamina is so key for victims coming forward to te testify now. and jeff, it appears that

sandusky's attorney joe amendola has the sights set on mike mcqueary, and in his own words wants to destroy his credibility, and what pressure does this put on your client and your client's credibility? >> you mentioned mike mcqueary, but what is important the note is that he is one of multiple witnesses in the case. it is a red herring to bring up any alleged inconsistency between mike mcqueary's testimony, and the statements he made later, but on any given case, cases have been prosecuted successfully against a perpetrator with one witness testifying, and mike mcqueary is one of more than ten witnesses. >> and ben, as we have seen sandusky's attorney amendola making statements suggesting that the victims are in this just for cash and a big payday and what is your client's response to that suggestion. >> well, it is preposterous to make that statement. you have a number of people who

have come forward above the age of 30 and can't bring a civil case and trying to cooperate to empower the victims and cooperate with the attorney generals office and directed to my client. if you gave him the opportunity to fill out a blank check and s say, you can write this check for however dollars you want or in the alternative, you could have had this never have happened to you and never have been sexually assaulted by mr. sandusky, i can tell you to answer to the question, because he would choose that never would is had to go through this. >> jeff, do you think that yesterday's motion by sandusky and the attorney, amendola, to waive that preliminary hearing is in any way a suggestion they want to make a plea deal? >> well, nothing would surprise me and certainly would seem to point in that way, but the waiver of the preliminary hearing and the timing of it and doing ate at the last minute appears to me that amendola

wanted to hold a trial or at least a one-sided trial to uses his words in front of the media, in front of the largest possible media rather than communicating that and making that decision the night before. it is his right to waive the trial, but the timing of it was suspect to say the least. >> attorneys for victim number four, jeffrey fritz, and ben andreozzi. >> thank you. you can check out my tweet page and i will give you the links to follow these stories. and could your teen be smoking fake pot. if you don't know what that is, the white house drug czar joins me next to discuss what is an alarming trend amongst the american teens. first a gentle balm. then the removal cream. effective together with less irritation and as gentle as a feather. new olay hair removal duo. a

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and here is why. >> they want me to announce that i won't run as an independent candidate, and i won't do that, because if the republicans pick the wrong person, i would in fact seriously consider running. >> so, wild card third party candidate, the donald might be the man. this is the second time that trump has cancelled an iowa event. he was supposed to be the keynote speaker at a fund-raising dinnerer in june, and he backed out after he decided not to run for president. tea party darling christine o'donnell wants mitt romney to be the president. the one-time senate candidate said he is not a flip-flopper, and romney has been consistent since he changed his mind, unquote. think on that one. so you may not hear mitt romney say keep america american anymore, because it was a rallying cry for the kkk group, and intimidation against blacks, gays and jew, and the progressive american blog was the first to catch on to that.

and rick perry kicks off a bus tour today. a one-time front-runner is struggling in the polls in iowa as well as struggling nationally. and just a short time ago the white house drug czar announced alarming details about the use of synthetic marijuana among the american teens. this is showing that 1 in 9 teenagers is using synthetic marijuana in the past year. it is ranked as the second most frequently used illegal drug among high school seniors and second to marijuana. until recently, it was sold as an legal alternative under the names of k2 and old spice. sir, i understand that you have an sample of what this looks like. so can you show it to me and explain what makes it so dangerous. >> yes, it is late bit hard to see, but you can see that it is kind of attractive the way it is

packaged. it was legal until a few months ago and the states have banned it, but it is is the tweaking of the cannabis that makes it a marijuana-like substance which unfortunately calls to emergency departments and calls to hotlines and poison control centers lets you know how dangerous this substance really is. >> when we talk about the fact that it is coming with danger warning attached to it where it was legal a lot of people were familiar with it, and a lot of people familiar with salvia,and how does that compare the two? >> well, the substance that was synthetic versions of k2 and spike and this one were banned. recently the house of representatives have passed the legislation to make the substance illegal and 38 states have got it. so the effect on the system can

be whether it is salvia or the synthetic marijuana is serious, because people are going to the emergency rooms and calling poison control centers. >> and talk for americans around the kitchen table where you have these walks. sir, thank you for being on this morning. >> thank you. so who out there has not texted or talked on the phone while driving. be honest with this one. the nstb wants to ban the use of all portable electronic devices even thehand's free ones behind the wheels. is this legislation that is needed or one that has gone a bit too far? we talk to the chairman of the ntsb. a majority of american adults are married, but that could be changing. a surprising new trend that could transform american life. ♪ i do ttd# 1-800-345-2550

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you are looking at live pictures from fort bragg, north carolina. and the president is expected to be introduced by the first lady michelle obama. and jay carney just told reporters on air force one that the speech will focus on the extraordinary sacrifice of the men and women in uniform, and we will bring you live coverage ahead on msnbc. four little letters. that is what killed her. >> i sent one stupid meaningless text, lol, and killed a man. >> that is the spot emphasizing the distracted drivers. and this is a growing ing epid that the ban by the ntsb inspired to make a ban.

joining me is the chair debbie herzman. nice to have you with me this morning. >> good to be with you. >> 35 states as well as the district of columbia ban texting while driving and this is a more sweeping proposal and explain how all of this is going to be enforced if it does indeed become law? >> our recommendation is to the 50 states and the district of columbia, and we are looking for them to set good laws and have good education and good enforcement, and we know it can be effective in changing the behavior like we have seen in drunk driving and seat belt use and child restraints. >> so you have called the multivehicle accident in missouri that i referenced that happened in 2010, the big red flag that ultimately spurred this ban. why? >> well, the ntsb have investigated accidents for the last decade and we have seen loco motive engineers distracted by texts and run red signals and 25 people killed in southern

california. we have seen airline pilots on the laptops not responding to the air traffic control and overflying the destinations. and on highways where 3,000 people died in distracted accidents. so we are concerned about this. it is a growing problem and it is only going to get worse. >> so when we talk about the fact that there are going to be exceptions for emergencies, granted, also, gps device, and why not hand's free devices, and do the cars with the phones built into the dashboard, are they going to get a pass on this? >> well, we are focused on the portable electronic devices that people are bringing into the cab with them. but we do focus on the cognitive distractions, so that entails both handheld and hand's free, and the cognitive distractions are dividing the attention between tasks and the brain is not good at that. and listening to someone talk on the phone takes your attention away from the roadway and we are have seen hand's free accidents as well, a and it is a risk.

>> debbie hersman, thank you for being here, and keep up all of the good work for all of the travelers in the country to keep them safe. again, thank you. love and marriage don't necessarily go together like a horse and carriage like the song would say. a pew research study says that more people think that marriage is an out of date institution, and shows the number of married people in the u.s. at an all time low. barely half of the adults 18 and over are currently hitched. 51%. compare it to 57% in 2000. so if this trend continues, married adults could be a minority, and joining us this morning is davera from the pew research center. people's ears will perk up, and one of the overriding themes of this is that marriage is not the same institution it was decades ago. talking about the '60s more than 70% of adults were married. we just saw that 51%, that number now, so what has changed

in society that has driven the perception of marriage as being something that people don't need? >> well, i think that a lot of things have happened. for one thing that people have other living arrangement options available to them that society does not criticize for. they can live as unmarried partners or on their own in their own household. in addition of course, women in recent decades have begun to earn more and have higher income. they are not dependent on marriage to keep economically going. >> i hate to interrupt but i want to get back to fort bragg. president obama is going to be speaking there, introduced by the first lady michelle, obama. the activity is about to begin there. the president giving the speech about welcoming home all of the service members serving in iraq. there is the troop withdraw coming down at the end of this month to return military personnel back to this country as we successfully end the

mission in iraq after nine years. the first lady is expected to introduce the president there at fort bragg. we want to continue to tell you that the president is expected to talk about what's happening currently in iraq. there is a lot of questions about how many troops will remain behind. roughly 5,000. jay carney telling reporters on air force one that the speech itself today is going to focus on the extraordinary sacrifice of the men and women who have been serving our military forces over the last nine years with their service devoted to iraq. this is a greater and broader speech for all military personnel that have been serving in the wars around this country and we are referencing afghanistan as well. fort bragg, you can see the people that have lined up there. they have their cell phones out and tweeting from on site too. everyone is excited to see the

president on site. let's listen in. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. obama. which [ cheers ] >> wow. [ cheers ] [ applause ] >> hello, everyone! i get to start you all off. i want to begin by thanking

general anderson for that introduction but more importantly for his leadership here at fort bragg. i can't tell you what a pleasure and an honor is it to be back here. i have so many wonderful memories of this place, a couple of years ago, i came here on my very first official trip as first lady. and i spent some -- a great time with some of the amazing military spouses and i visited again this summer to help put on the finishing touches on an amazing new home for a veteran and her family. so when i heard that i had the opportunity to come back and to be a part of welcoming you all home, to say i was excited was an understatement. and i have to tell you that when i look out at this crowd, i am

simply overwhelmed. i am overwhelmed and proud because i know the level of strength and commitment that you all display every single day. whenever this country calls, you all are the ones who answer. no matter the circumstance, no matter the danger, no matter the sacrifice. and i know you do this not just as soldiers, not just as patriots, but as fathers and mothers, as brothers and sisters, as sons and daughters. and i know that while your children and your spouses and your parents and siblings might not wear uniforms, they serve right alongside you. [ cheers ] [ applause ]

i know that your sacrifice is their sacrifice too. so when i think of all that you do and all that your families do, i am so proud and so grateful, but more importantly, i'm inspired. but like so many americans, i never feel like i can fully convey just how thankful i am. because words just don't seem to be enough. and that's why i have been working so hard along with jill biden on a campaign that we call joining forces. it's a campaign that we hope goes beyond words. it's a campaign that is about action. it's about rallying all americans to give you the honor, the appreciation, and the support that you have all

earned. and i don't have to tell you that this hasn't been a difficult campaign. we haven't had to do much convincing because americans have been lining up to show their appreciation for you and your families and very concrete and meaningful ways. businesses are hiring tens of thousands of veterans and military spouses. schools all across the country and ptas are reaching out to our military children. and individuals are serving their neighbors and their communities all over this country in your honor. so i want you to know that this nation's support doesn't end as this war ends. not by a long shot. we're going to keep on doing this. we have so much more work to do. we're going to keep finding new ways to serve all of you as well as you have served us.

and the man leading the way is standing right here. [ cheers ] [ applause ] >> he is fighting for you and your families every single day. he's helped more than half million veterans and military family members go to college through the post-9/11 g.i. bill. he's taken unprecedented steps to improve mental health care. he's cut taxes for businesses that hire a veteran or a wounded warrior. and he has kept his promise to responsibly bring you home from iraq. so please join me in welcoming someone who is your strongest advocate, someone who shows his support for our military not only in words but in deeds, my husband, our president, and your

commander-in-chief, barack obama. [ cheers ] >> hello, everybody! hello, fort bragg! all the way! now i'm sure you realize why i don't like following michelle obama. she's pretty goodwill. -- good. and it's true i'm biassed but let me just say it, michelle, you are a remarkable first lady. [ cheers ] >> you are a great advocate for military families. [ cheers ] >> and you're cute. [ laughter ] >> i'm just saying.

gentlemen, that's your goal, to marry up. punch above your weight. fort bragg, we're here to mark a historic moment in the life of our country and our military. for nearly nine years, our nation has been at war in iraq. and you, the incredible men and women of fort bragg, have been there every step of the way, serving with honor, sacrificing greatly, from the first waves of the invasion to some of the last troops to come home. so as your commander-in-chief, and on behalf of a grateful nation, i'm proud to finally say these two words and i know your