slow approach on syria's suspected use of chemical weapons. >> what we now have is evidence that chemical weapons have been used inside of syria, but we don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them. we don't have a chain of custody that establishes what exactly happened. as the president's top intelligence adviser launches a review of what happened before boston, the president defends the fbi and answers lindsay graham. >> no, mr. graham is not right. on this issue. although i'm sure generated some headlines. i think that what we saw in boston was state, local, federal officials, every agency rallying around a city that had been attacked. identifying the perpetrators

just hours after the scene had been examined. and the president says he couldn't be more proud of jason collins, for cing out and being a role model f yng pele eryerstl ruli wh e su an individual who excelled at the highest levels in one of the major sports to go ahead and say this is who i am, i'm proud of it. i'm still a great competitor, i'm still seven-foot tall and can bang with shaq and you know -- deliver a hard foul. i think a lot of young people out there who you know are gay or lesbian who are struggling with these issues to see a role model like that who is unafraid, i think it's a great thing. good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. 100 days into his second term,

president obama met the press. and quickly discovered that all of that schmoozing on saturday night didn't buy him a hall pass. >> do you still have the juice to get the rest of your agenda through this congress? >> if you put it that way, jonathan, maybe i should just pack up and go home. as mark twain said, roumors of my demise might be a little exaggerated at this point. >> joining me now is msnbc contributor and former white house press secretary, robert gibbs. well, robert, if you had been there at that moment, what would be going through your head? >> well you know, i laughed when i heard it and i probably would have laughed then i think, you as a reporter may do the unnecessarily provocative in order to see if you can raise e dander of those that you're questioning. i was at the end struck by the answer in the sense that you know, he's beginning to talk about the things he thinks can get done and he talks about

immigration reform quickly. i think quite frankly the bulk of the answer is this long answer about quite frankly how hard it's going to be to get a grand bargain done. i think in many ways the news out of this obviously is syria. but the domestic questions, whether they were about immigration, guantanamo, a grand bargain, what can you get done, really to meunder scored the complexity and the odds against getting a lot of stuff done. >> for all the blame that the white house casts on mitch mcconnell and other an tag nists on the republican side on the hill, how much of that is the president's fault for not reaching out enough in the first term? there's been a lot of dinner diplomacy in the last few months. but there was a long stretch, 18 months when he didn't mean with anyone on the hill. >> and look, i think both sides bear some responsibility. this in order to have congressional diplomacy, if you will, it's got to go both ways. there's no doubt that the white house bears some responsibility

as does capitol hill. the strategy that they're undertaking now by trying to get some stuff done with individual or groups of republican senators is really a strategy not a voluntary one, but a strategy of necessity because without it, quite frankly, andrea, nothing gets done. and i think what we look at, what may get done, i think the only thing that may get done with any decent likelihood is immigration reform, right? gitmo is, gitmo should be closed for all the reasons the president outlined. and the likelihood that's going do happen are between 0% and 1%. >> let's just play a little bit of what he had to say about guantanamo and pick it up there. >> it's not a surprise to me that we have problems on guantanamo, which is why when i was campaigning in 2007 and 2008. and when i was elected in 2008, i said we need to close

guantanamo. i continue to believe that we need to close guantanamo. i'm going to reengage with congress to try to make the case that this is not something that is in the best interests of the american people. >> you were saying that isn't going to happen, realistically? >> i think if we look at what has happened in boston, i don't certainly in any way condone did. but something is causing radicalization. we know that guantanamo is one of the top recruiting tools for al qaeda around the world. if you ask generals in the military, should guantanamo be closed. it's not a hard answer for them. i wrote notes, reengage with congress and put a star by it even as it's a good thing to do and why it should be closed. the likelihood that congress lifts the restriction on closing guantanamo bay is just even in a percent fekt world, exceedingly

unlikely to happen. >> one thing that the president does exceedingly well among other things is act as a leader on the moral virtues and it really struck me that his voice on jason collins is a unique voice. in saying that this is important and this is where we should be going. election watch. >> i think for a lot of young people out there, who are gay or less beia, who are struggling with these issues to see a role model like that who is unafraid, i think it's a great thing and i think america should be proud this is one more step in this ongoing recognition that we treat everybody fairly. and everybody is part of a family. and we judge people on the basis of their character and their performance. and not their sexual

orientation. so i'm very proud of them. >> here we've got an african-american president, a male, talking about an african-american seven-foot tall pro athlete from stanford who has had the guts now to come out. and we see these tragedies in young people all over america whom we don't even know about, who are closeted and in pain and dealing with family issues. and this could be such a moment. is such a moment. >> well i think it shows you the flip side of what we were just talking about, which is how hard it is right now in dysfunctional government to get something through congress. yet this is the purest form of the bully pulpit for the president. this is the question he came back to take. which gives you the impression that it's something he wanted to speak about. >> i'm surprised he wasn't asked about far earlier. >> it's dominated the news in the last 24 hours for good reason. the first athlete to come out as being gay in one of the four major sports. >> male.

>> male. i think it does show what the bully pulpit can offer any president really at any time in their presidency. even as their influence may wane in congress they still have the ability with things like this to make a comment and to have it reflect the values of the country. it's not something that will just be played on news segments, this will be played on sports segments, this will reach people that are not necessarily hard news-watchers, they'll see this today and. >> president obama is trying to keep immigration reform alive. praising those bipartisan negotiations going on in the senate. >> we want to make sure that we've got a pathway to citizenship that is tough. but allows people to earn over time, their legal status here in this country. and you know, the senate bill

meets those criteria in some cases no not in the ways that i would. meets the criteria. and it's a testament to the senators that were involved. they made some tough choices made some compromises in order to hammer out that bill. >> joining me now for the daily fix is "washington post" reporter nia henderson and kristen welker and nbc senior political editor, mark murray here at the table. nia malika, what was your take-away on the subject of syria. because the president really did seem to try to soft-pedal any talk of military action. he said that the pentagon has been planning for a year at his request, but they're not doing anything very soon. >> that's right. i mean i think in a lot of ways we didn't learn much more than we already knew. which was that this was an administration that has been active so far with sanctions and

providing us some humanitarian aid and communications aid. but as far as anything more than looks like a military engagement. he certainly didn't suggest that the administration is in any way prepared to do that. it looks like we're in for a long haul in terms of a timetable in confirming the use of chemical weapons, who used them. why they were used, who was killed. and that sort of thing. so this again is a sort of iraq war hangover. where that was a situation where people think there was a rush to judgment. on no wmds turned up and here you have a president outlining the obama doctrine, which is trust, verify and in some ways slow-walk when it comes to military intervention. >> kristen, our pal chuck todd pressed the president on health care and max baucus' criticisms from the democratic side of the implementation of health care. and they've now issued new questionnaires, they're trying to streamline it.

what is the administration doing now? >> you heard president obama say look, we made those questionnaires a little more simplistic and shorter to facilitate an easier implementation of the health care law. but he acknowledged there are going to be some challenges, some states opting out of the exchange. and andrea, according to one poll, kaiser family foundation poll. four in ten americans are not aware that the health care law has actually been implemented. so the white house has a real challenge going forward. in terms of communicating to the american people exactly how they need to sign up. who needs to sign up it applies to uninsured americans and the fact that this is a possibility. because a lot of americans clearly still confused about their options. the president admitted there are challenges. at the same time he made the point that behind the scenes, they're aware of this and trying to do what they can to mitigate those challenges. >> and our deputy political director, mark murray is here. mark, it's primary day in massachusetts. we had a debate for the upcoming

special election. in south carolina. a lot of politics. >> and the massachusetts special primary, on the democratic side, battle of two congressman, steven lynch versus ed markey. markey seen as the favorite. the question is how much the favorite. there's some polling that's suggested either he has a huge double-digit lead or something that might be in the double digits and the other side, a trio of candidates, mike sullivan as well as gabriel gomez. some think gomez might give the republicans a better chance. all in a race to replace john kerry who is now secretary of state. >> the fact that they had to suspend for obvious reasons, campaigning for weeks because of boston. so they just picked it up this week. it was an awkward timing and the whole issue with the special election, especially at primary, are people going to come out and who is going to come out. >> it threw a wrinkle in this race. this is massachusetts, a very

democratic-leaning state. republicans are hoping for a little scott brown magic that hoped for them in 2010. a lot of democrats see it was a perfect storm of things happening in health care law being implemented. the economy, the unemployment rate near 10%. democrats feel very good about being able to hold on to this seat. >> nia malika, there were a lot of fireworks last night. >> yes, indeed. she was very much the aggressor in that debate last night. that's not always an easy place to be. she is seems to be have about a 10-point lead in that race. so far. she came out, i think passing what was sort of low expectations going in. she hadn't had this kind of debate i think she cleared that low bar. she looked like she could be a congress person. so in that way, think she did herself some good. sanford has some catching up to do. he looked knocked off his game and when she raiseded whole issue of going off with his

mistress and he seemed to want to wiggle his way out of that question and said he didn't hear that remark. it will be interesting to see how that lands with voters in south carolina. again it's going to be about turn-out, a special election. they are going to try to find, if there is any sort of vestiges of the obama coalition down in that county, that's what they're going to be looking to draw out in that race next tuesday. >> and kristen, the president was combative about congress and the sequester. but it seems as though any progress on the budget issues are stalled, we're going to be talking to kelly o'donnell about it in a bit as well. from the white house perspective, ha does he do now? >> right. it's a good point, andrea, that was one of his most defensive responses in talking about the budget. and you heard him sort of acknowledge that he needs to take a different tack when it comes to dealing with congress. we've seen it in terms of his so-called charm offensive. he's been having lunches and

dinners with republicans. you also heard him talk about primaries. and the importance of primaries coming up and sort of wanting to provide some cover for some of the republicans who may be up for re-election. so that they can feel comfortable signing on to a larger budget deal and some of the more contentious issues that they've been talking about. he was quite defensive. one of his quotes, he said americans should take, you suggest that it's my job to get them to behave. talking about members of congress. but that's their job. so certainly defensive. and interestingly enough, the one thing he brought up first, immigration, sorts of signaling he thinks that has the best chance of actually passing. >> kristen welker, nia malika, thank you very much and mark murray, thank you for being here. the thin red line. former national security adviser, stephen hadley about what to do with syria and the debate over closing guantanamo. this is "andrea mitchell reports." diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day

helps defend against these digestive issues... with three strains of good bacteria. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. ♪ the middle of this special moment

and i need to run off to the bathroom. ♪ i'm fed up with always having to put my bladder's needs ahead of my daughter. ♪ so today, i'm finally talking to my doctor about overactive bladder symptoms. [ female announcer ] know that gotta go feeling? ask your doctor about prescription toviaz. one toviaz pill a day significantly reduces sudden urges and accidents, for 24 hours. if you have certain stomach problems or glaucoma, or can not empty your bladder, you should not take toviaz. get emergency medical help right away if your face, lips, throat or tongue swells. toviaz can cause blurred vision, dizziness, drowsiness and decreased sweating. do not drive, operate machinery or do unsafe tasks until you know how toviaz affects you. the most common side effects are dry mouth and constipation. talk to your doctor about toviaz.

syria. despite initial reports that the regime may have used chemical weapons. steven hadley served as national security adviser to president george w. bush and joins me now. >> first of all there is the obvious lesson of wmd, the shadow overhanging a lot of this. the administration feels they need to have a completely solid case when they go to russia, if

they were to go to u.n. the u.n. is really a nonstarter as you know. but that they can't risk having loose ends on this. that said, was it a mistake to draw the red line in the first place if you were not going to take the steps once there were indications? >> well it was difficult. you draw a red line on wmd, if the red line is crossed, the question is what are you going to do. and if it's limited to wmd it's two options, you either try to destroy the sites from the air, you may not know where all of them are. you got a contamination problem potentially or you send troops in on the ground and try to seize the wmd, the chemical and biological weapons. and clearly this president and most of the american people don't want to set troops on the ground. so the problem is, the disconnect between the red line that was set, and the remedy, if the red line was crossed. that's the problem they've got now. >> is there a military option?

what i'm told is if you really were to go in, that you might retaliate against other targets, against some of the weapons' units themselves, but not the weapons. to guard against the fear of contamination. how do you secure the weapons? >> one of the problems i have with that red line is i think it takes us a way from the real problem. the real problem is assad and what he's doing to his own people. i would hope the white house might take a page out of something that my friend condi rice suggested. is that the red line that has been crossed is that assad has moved from an oppressor of his people to an international outlaw who has violated the norm against using wmds. so what's changed is his status. and this might then give more initiative and scope for the united states working with others in the region, to provide more support, including military support that is to say, arms and equipment. to those elements of the opposition that are not

associated with extremists or al qaeda. and do support an exclusive, an inclusive outcome for a post-assad syria. that's what i hope the remedy they would begin to look at. >> is it too late to properly vet the elements of the opposition who are not associated with al qaeda? is there so much radicalization now and resentment of america two years into this, more than 70,000 deaths, that we can no longer be sure that we won't have blow-back as we did after afghanistan in the '80s and '90s? >> there's still something to work with the administration has spent a lot of effort to try to get syrian national coalition, a political authority that has an inclusive message to all syrians, to be part of a new syri and there are elements in the free syrian army for example, that we do know something about. we can vet other elements, is it going to be perfect? no. but the current situation is

arms are getting in, and they're getting mostly to the most extreme elements. and that puts those groups that are naturally a part of a, the kind of post-assad syria we would like at a disadvantage. we've got to start leveling the playing field. >> i want to play what the president had to say about guantanamo. which you under the bush administration were very closely associated. >> i think it is critical for us to understand that guantanamo is not necessary to keep america safe. it is expensive. it is inefficient. it hurts us in terms of our international standing. it lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts. it is a recruitment tool for extremists. it needs to be closed. >> what would you say to that? what is the justification for keeping guantanamo open? >> as you may remember,

president bush and others in the bush administration wanted to close guantanamo soon. >> i know. >> the problem we had is the same one that president obama has, which is where do you put the people that are there? there are about 140 of them. we've tried to get countries to take them back and ambassador dan frey worked at that for four years with limited success and the real problem is closing guantanamo is what do you do with the people there. and that's the problem we couldn't sol and that's the problem that the obama administration has not solved. >> steven hadley, good to see you, thank you very much. and top-to-bottom review of what the c.i.a. did and did not do before the boston bombing. pete williams up next. look what mommy is having.

mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle.

starts with ground beef, onions and peppers baked in a ketchup glaze with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. what makes stouffer's meatloaf best of all? that moment you enjoy it at home.

stouffer's. made with care, for you or your family. stouffer's. hoo-hoo...hoo-hoo. hoo-hoo hoo. sir... i'll get it together i promise... heeheehee. jimmy: ronny, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? ronny:i'd say happier than the pillsbury doughboy on his way to a baking convention. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. . what director clapper is doing is standard procedure around here, when an event like

this happens, we want to go back and we want to review every step that was taken. we want to leave no stone unturned, we want to see is there in fact additional protocols and procedures that could be put in place that would further improve and enhance our ability to detect a potential attack. >> and with that, the president is standing by the fbi and what they did before and during the investigation. joining me now from the news room, pete williams with the latest on the fbi investigation and where we stand. pete? >> well, andrea what the president said was that he doesn't see any sign that anything wrong happened. that both the fbi and homeland security appeared to have done what they were supposed to do. at the same time he says if there are ways to improve how things are done here, he wants to know about it. he did acknowledge that it's difficult, although he says things are improving, in terms of cooperation from the russian

who is initially were the ones who asked for information about tamerlan tsarnaev, the older of the two bombing suspects, he said there's a cold war legacy of suspicion here. but he said he has talked to president putin and tried to make that better and he says the russians have been very cooperative since the bombing. in terms of the investigation, andrea, the, the big question i think here for now is the results of the dna comparison. the investigators went to the home of tamerlan tsarnaev's widow yesterday and obtained her dna. they will make a comparison to see if it matches dna found on one of the pieces of the bomb from the boston marathon attacks. it's female dna, the lab says. the question is, whose is it. and even if it is hers, that doesn't automatically answer the question of how it got there. she could have picked up a piece of the pressure cooker and asked what's this and didn't know a bombing was being prepared. or it could have been transfer of dna from her husband onto

the, he touches her and touches one of the components. there are lots of things they would have to look at. we're ahead of ourselves here. we don't know what the results of that yet are. and that's something that will be looking at, andrea. >> and let me just ask you to switch hats to your supreme court justice expert. and the retired justice, sandra day o'connor raised eyebrows with something she said to the "chicago tribune's" editorial board. about bush v. gore. she said i took the case and decided it at a time when it was still a big election issue. maybe the court should have said, we're not going to take it, good-bye. >> if she felt that way, she didn't say it at the time. there's no indication in the opinion that she felt that way. we don't know, of course it takes four votes to grant a case. we don't know how many votes there were and who voted to grant the case when they did take it in 2000. as you recall, it's the second case they took. the first one was, the initial

bush v. palm beach county canvassing board that kept the count going and the ultimate bush v. gore case came along later. it's not uncommon for supreme court justices to change their minds or become more talkatives they leave the bench. which is something we all love. thank you very much, court watcher and all things justice department, pete williams. and coming up next, president obama takes on congress, we'll talk to kelly o. but your erectile dysfunction - you know,that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure.

do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial.

hey. whassup. guten tag. greetings earthlings. what's crackalackin? it's great we express ourselves differently. if we were all the same, life would be boring. so get to know people who aren't like you. you'll appreciate what makes us different. the more you know.

[ babies crying ] surprise -- your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise -- your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises? now you can get all the online trading tools you need without any surprise fees. ♪ it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. you seem to suggest that these folks have no responsibilities and my job is to somehow get them to behave. that's their job. they're elected members of congress are elected, in order to do what's right for their constituencies and for the american people.

>> joining me now is kelly o'donnell who covers congress. they sound like school children. the president sounds like he's talking about a group of kindergartners. >> it's a back-and-forth, we're well familiar and they're not in town. members of congress are in their home states and districts, an opportune time for the president to be critical. it's a little bit harder for members of congress to come back and appear on camera. they're sending 0 of their responses and putting out their own concerns. but it was the president's moment to use that and press them on a lot of issues where he's had plenty of resistance in congress and that's something that resonates with the public who are often frustrated with the congress, too. >> i can't figure out this quote "work period." ha holiday is associated with this week? >> many members are having town hall meetings in their home states and districts, they have jobs located in two places, parts of it is washington, part of it is their home state. so members i have been talking to have public schedules and they're doing things, so they

can be seen. >> i get that but we don't have a budget and we've got the sequester and all of the other attendant facts. now south carolina, because you're watching that race, let me play awe little bit -- >> more people who want to be in congress. >> mark sanford versus colbert-busch, let's watch. >> when we talk about fiscal spending and we talk about protecting the taxpayers, it doesn't mean you take that money we saved and leave the county for a personal purpose. >> she went there, governor sanford. >> i couldn't hear what she said. >> does that work in a debate? in a political debate? >> what a withering moment. >> that's sort of an unusual thing, perhaps he wasn't prepared for that. but elizabeth colbert bush is not a political regular.

a new candidate, her one and only time facing off with the former governor. sanford, who had this seat some years ago and she went right for it, as you heard the moderator say, she went there, governor, referring to his infidelity and used taxpayer money to take this trip to argentina. it has been the undercurrent of this whole race. is it a referendum on mark sanford? and she put it to him. he has been trying to do a sort of apology tour, talking about some of his mistakes, looking for some redemption and to do it with the fiscal piece really was sort of a double-hit on mark sanford. because the case he's been making is that he's a fiscal conservative and she used it against him as a pretty effective moment. >> all he had to say is i wasn't in argentina, i was on the appalachian trail. >> yes, the vote is next week. and is the sequester affecting the economy? a serious question. joining me now is jillian ted, assistant editor and columnist for the "financial times,"

you've been looking at this and look at the big economic issues. what about the sequester? the 10% cut and despite the fix on the faa, it's still in place for much of the economy. is it freezing things up? >> well one of the very interesting things that's happened in recent weeks is that having the sequester has almost begun to seem like the new normal and there's been almost a sort of grudging political acceptance. acceptance amongst voters. in terms of the tangible impact on the economy, it's always been clear that it was going to be a cumulative thing. we didn't just suddenly see a shock on the first march. what we do know is that the economy is not performing as people had hoped. we had some pretty sobering gdp data late last week. and same time we've also got the headwinds from the eurozone and the european problems as well. so taken together, it hasn't knocked the economy completely off track, but it's certainly not helping. >> at this stage, what could congress and the president do if they could work together? what would be the single big

issue that they ought to be addressing? >> well, what everyone wants to see some kind of sensible rational medium-term plan. rather than these endless stalemates, there's some hope that maybe the issue about the debt ceiling late they are year will actually concentrate minds and actually act as a jolt to force a new type of rational debate. but the dirty secret is that people don't like to acknowledge in washington, is that neither side right now feels it has much incentive or burning need to actually compromise. i mean in many ways if you look at the internal dynamics of the republicans and democrats right now, being a hold-out is actually more beneficial than is actually costing them. so it's quite hard to see right now where the impetus is going to come from for actually getting people around the table it get that serious debate. on the other issues, we're not seeing any pressure whatsoever from the bond markets, go back a couple of decades and people used to look at the bond markets as one form of discipline for

politicians. right now treasury yields are still rock bottom low and so there really isn't the kind of impetus that's going to break the stalemate. >> and with the stock market doing well, because people needed, need some place to put their money, that's giving perhaps an artificial high. >> absolutely. >> to the economy. and there is a lot of speculation that slightly weaker-than-expected gdp number we had recently is going to encourage the federal reserve to indicate it's going to keep up the stimulus on its part and the longer we have the federal reserve providing support in that way, the less we have any real meaningful pressure on the politicians to do anything. >> jillian tet from the "financial times," thank you very much. notable today is president obama's praise for nba player, jason collins. this morning at his news conference. >> i had a chance to talk to him yesterday, he seems like a terrific young man, and i told him i couldn't be prouder.

one of the extraordinary measures of progress that we've seen in this country, has been the recognition that the lgbt community deserves full equality. >> collins told abc's george stephanopoulos -- >> each time i put on jersey 98, this past season, i was already sort of having that moment with myself, with my family with my friends, who knew the significance of why i picked that number. >> jersey 98 for matthew shepherd. >> jersey 98 for matthew shepherd. >> collins had praise for martina navratilova who was on today.

>> for jason it's going do make a big difference in his life. but most of all, he will sleep better at night. he's leading the way as being the first major leaguer to come out. i can't believe it's 32 years after i came out. but better late than never. is n designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+.

it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. your chance to rise and shine. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner, you can do just that. with our visionary cloud infrastructure, global broadband network and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable - secure - agile. and with responsive, dedicated support, we help you shine every day of the week. like other precious things that start off white, it yellows over time. when it comes to your smile, if you're not whitening, you're yellowing. crest whitestrips whiten as well as $500 professional treatments. guaranteed. crest 3d white whitestrips. guaranteed. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger,

you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. music ... music ... music... i'm here in your home, having a pretty spectacular tuesday. ♪ but i don't notice the loose rug at the top of your stairs. and that's about to become an issue for me. ♪ and if you got the wrong home insurance coverage,

my medical bills could get expensive. so get allstate. [ dennis ] good hands. good home. make sure you have the right home protection. talk to an allstate agent. welcome back, joining me now is "u.s.a. today's" washington bureau chief susan page. in new york, susan i know you have the first exclusive interview with amanda knox on her new book. first i want to talk to you about the president's press conference you've been to so many of these. one thing that surprised me is he didn't have an opening statement. he didn't seem to have something he wanted to say. i guess he wanted to get out the caution signs, the yellow light. on syria's engagement. >> dangerous for presidents to do that there's a theory when you come out for a news conference and you're a president, you want to have an opening statement, you want to set e tone, have a message that you're trying to deliver that hopefully will grab the news of the day. he didn't do that. it's the 100-day mark of his

second term. so perhaps that one was of the things and criticism that he has failed to ha a news conference. i think it's been 60 days since his last one. >> susan, in sitting down with amanda knox we've seen her through the travail of her trial and now this obviously the retrial that is about to take place. tell me your impressions of her, this is such a confusing case. >> it is, and a case that's become so notorious any place in the world you go, people know the name amanda knox and may have an opinion about whether she's innocent or guilty. at the point she was doing the book, i think she had hoped her legal problems would be behind her. just about a month ago the italian's top court ruled she would have to stand trial again in florence, that the appeals court level. that had clearly been a big shock to her. she is trying to put her life back together. she's gone back to school at the university of washington, she's got a boyfriend. she's studying creative writing. so i think this has up-ended the

hopes she had had perhaps to kind of regain her footing after coming back from four years in that italian prison. >> and she doesn't have to go back to italy to stand trial on this retrial. do you know whether she plans to? >> so interesting, andrea, i interviewed her it was five days after the supreme court verdict. she told me that she wanted to go back to make a statement about how it mattered to her. but since then her lawyer has made it clear she will not go back to italy for the retrial. she's not obliged to go back did she is convicted again. we could see another long legal challenge over extradition. if she's convicted again and the court affirms her 26-year sentence in italian prison. that could be yet another chapter in this incredible story for this 25-year-old woman. >> one of the other things that i found a little bit surprising was that she said she wanted to visit meredith kercher's grave.

which didn't out of respect for the prosecutifamily. >> she said she had read mr. kemper's book which makes it clear that they believe she is guilty of killing their daughter. she said she hopes one day to visit meredith's grave and she would not do so unless she had the permission the kercher family, out of respect for them and she acknowledged that may be a long time coming, but said it's something that would help her achieve closure. she said you know i never really had a chance to grieve for meredith. >> did you come away with an overall impression. >> i think you people, people have very firm views about whether she's guilty or innocent. she insists that she had no involvement in this terrible, brutal murder in 2007. but you know, it's something that she's going to be dealing with for the rest of her life. she is instantly recognizable.

her hope with the book is that people get the chance to hear her side of what happened. she acknowledges that she made mistakes, that she acted sometimes with not the wisdom or the maturity that she should have in those early days. but she insists she's not guilty of murder. >> fascinating stuff. susan page, thank you very much. >> thank you, andrea. >> thanks for sharing. >> and in the netherlands, the first male monarch in more than a century. queen beatrix abdicated the throne, handing over power to her 46-year-old son. who becomes the first dutch king since king wilhelm died back in 1890. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough ienough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months,

and keeps it clearer through 6 months. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events, including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. you should not start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have symptoms such as persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. if you've had enough, ask your dermatologist about enbrel. yeah, i'm looking to save, but i'm not sure which policy is right for me. you should try our coverage checker. it helps you see if you have too much coverage or not enough, making it easier to get what you need. [ beeping ] these are great! [ beeping ] how are you, um, how are you doing?

i'm going to keep looking over here. probably a good idea. ken: what's a good idea? nothing. with coverage checker, it's easy to find your perfect policy. visit progressive.com today.

which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? joining me now again is nia-malika henderson back with us for the "washington post." we're all looking at massachusetts at the senate primary.

we've got link versus marky. and you have a republican primary as well with candidates who were frankly off their game because of the obvious reason they suspended campaigning with the boston bombing. >> that's right. there was a bit of a detour there and even with link who is running the democratic primary, he has been ill for the last couple of days. he had to cancel a bunk of his events yesterday. he did manage to have one event, the iron workers's union there. that gives a sense of where he is. markey is the odds on favorite. he's been up in most of the polls. he is campaigning as the liberal's liberal and hoping that he can pick up really where elizabeth warren left off and he has a pretty big grassroots organization there that draws from the obama coalition and the warren coalition. i think the problem is turnout. i think they're predicting something like one in five registeredoters will show up at the polls.

and that doesn't bode well necessarily for a candidate who really wants to get those constituencies. typically you'll have older and whiter voters who show up at a special election like this. >> and the special election in june is obviously, this is a big seat. a big opportunity for the democrats. >> that's right. and you know, the democrats, you remember scott brown, of course, was able to get in there and steal that seat away but warren was able to get that seat back. i think democrats think of this as the kennedy seat. a seat they want to hold on to. kerry vacated it to serve at secretary of state. and this again, if you look at the sort of race that markey is running, he is very much a progressive talking about obama care know point outing that link was not a fan or did not back obama care and has a record of being an, against abortion and women's rights and women's rights to choose. so this is very much what this

race will center on, on the democratic side and on the republican side, you have lots of talk about cutting the budget, about getting deficits underway. or getting deficits you said control. >> and of course, overhanging all of this is boston and national security, law enforcement, and the feeling of unease as well as the solidarity and resilience. >> that's right. that's the back drop of that. and i think boston, clearly a resilient city in coming back pretty quickly from this devastating bombing that was there and everyone very much in support of law enforcement there. and so that will, i think, also dominate some of these discussions, national security, the sort of move from what had been a more sort of thinking about terrorism in terms of a global thing and something that is more localized and what that means for that city. >> nia-malika henderson, thanks so much. that does it for us for this

edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow on the show, vice president biden's sons, bo and hunter biden both tackling poverty. my colleague tamron hall. >> coming up next hour, president obama marks the first 100 days of his second term discussing syria, budget woes including the sequester and what is getting a lot of attention of course, the president's latest comments on guantanamo bay and what he said should happen next. plus, dissension within the intelligence community to order an investigation and the government's handling of the boston bombing. we'll have the latest there. and jurors are right now starting to weigh the murder charges against kermit gosnell, the abortion doctor accused of killing newborns. [ jackie ] it's just so frustrating...

♪ the middle of this special moment and i need to run off to the bathroom. ♪ i'm fed up with always having to put my bladder's needs ahead of my daughter. ♪ so today, i'm finally talking to my doctor about overactive bladder symptoms. [ female announcer ] know that gotta go feeling? ask your doctor about prescription toviaz. one toviaz pill a day significantly reduces sudden urges and accidents, for 24 hours. if you have certain stomach problems or glaucoma, or can not empty your bladder, you should not take toviaz.

get emergency medical help right away if your face, lips, throat or tongue swells. toviaz can cause blurred vision, dizziness, drowsiness and decreased sweating. do not drive, operate machinery or do unsafe tasks until you know how toviaz affects you. the most common side effects are dry mouth and constipation. talk to your doctor about toviaz. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 schwab bank was built with tdd: 1-800-345-2550 all the value and convenience investors want. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 like no atm fees, worldwide. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 and no nuisance fees. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 plus deposit checks with mobile deposit, tdd: 1-800-345-2550 and manage your cash and investments tdd: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab's mobile app. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 no wonder schwab bank has grown to over 70 billion in assets. tdd: 1-800-345-2550 so if you're looking for a bank that's in your corner, tdd: 1-800-345-2550 not just on the corner, tdd: 1-800-345-2550 call, click or visit to start banking with schwab bank today.