i am joined by our redskins analyst brian mitchell and our insider david elston to talk about the game cooley talked about the game for the first time. i want you to listen to what he said today. >> i'm not blaming anybody. i feel 100 percent i'm a casualty for the season of the lockout. i think it was a shame that they didn't let players who had surgeries spend time with the doctors and trainers that they trust on a daily basis. >> i understand going to doctors that you know and trust. but you're a football player. you can find a doctor to help you. david, what do you think about what he had to say today? >> you know, it's somewhat legitimate. but the thing is all of the off season practices chris was there for all of them. he wasn't limping. didn't look like he was suffering. but when he started doing real football work, his knee swelled up. i don't know how much rehab would have made. >> your body is your tool. you have to take care of yourself. and many of the guys don't trust the team doctor anyway. kris cooley makes enough money he could have found somebody. >> is this the last w

brian mitchell has been here quite a bit and the newest member of our team and is our redskins insider david. the redskins host the eagle on sunday, so we'll get right to it starting with the pass offense. brian, who do you think has the advantage in that category? >> i think the eagles do. you have michael vick. i think they're a lot more explosive than the redskins. >> and david who is your pick? >> not even close. michael vick, it's just a knock out for the eagles. >> so we have both david and brian. going to the run offense. david, who do you think has the advantage here? >> the eagles has the most dangerous quarterback on the ground michael vick. they have mckoy. the redskins have ryan terrain staying healthy right now. >> i go with the redskins. when you think about going into a game just to run the football, the combination i think gives you a much more effective running game. michael vick is explosive. >> so you guys are split on this one. david sticking with philly. brian going with the redskins on that one. all right. going to the other side of the ball, who has the leg up, b

brian? >> andrea mitchell in our d.c. bureau tonight. andrea, thanks. >>> now we turn to politics. the campaign for president and a rare moment of candor today from the spouse of a candidate for the gop nomination. she spoke honestly and emotionally about the toll it takes to run on her and her husband, the governor of texas, rick perry. she also talked about president obama. our report tonight from nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> hello there. how are you? anita. >> reporter: a public display of the private side of anita perry today, exposing both her deep christian faith. >> amen. >> reporter: and deep frustration over attacks on her husband's campaign. >> we have been brutalized by our opponents in our own party. so much of that is i think they look at him because of his faith. >> reporter: at a prayer breakfast in south carolina where 60% of republican voters say they are christian, today mrs. perry wiped tears recalling her grandfather who had been a deakin and then used biblical references to declare god revealed to her that her husband of 29 years should run for president. >> he fe

brian? >> andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom tonight.s we keep saying, the end of an era. >>> for more we are joined by michael leiter, an intelligence veteran of both the bush and obama administrations. the former director of the u.s. national counterterrorism center. thank you for coming in. >> good to be here. >> you were in the situation room the night the osama bin laden raid went down. i'm sitting here looking at the list of names that we have gone through who are no longer here. was this the mission from the get-go? remember the pressure early on on president obama? go in big, go in strong, we can finish this off. i think tempered by two wars going on, the u.s. wanted to do it this way. >> well, i wouldn't say that killing gadhafi was necessarily the mission. i think the mission was to give the libyan people an opportunity to have a more democratic country. but undoubtedly killing gadhafi was a necessary start to that. without gadhafi gone there really wasn't going to be progress in libya and this was a critical step in that regar

mitchell. andrea, good evening. >> good evening, brian. we've been running the trap. the attorney general and fbi director laid out a plot that on its face sounds bizarre. but u.s. officials insist it was a real plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador and bomb his offices here in washington. >> though it reads like a hollywood script, the impact would have been very real and many lives would have been lost. >> reporter: an alleged $1.5 million plot to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador, a veteran diplomat and king abdullah's right hand man by blowing him up in a washington restaurant and bombing the saudi embassy in washington. u.s. officials tell nbc news a secondary plot was to target israel's embassy in washington. the accused, an iranian-born u.s.-citizen, manssor arbabsiar, was arraigned in manhattan this afternoon. a co-conspirator named in the indictment remains at large. but the administration says iran's government was behind it all. >> the plan alleges this conspiracy was conceived, sponsored and was directed from iran. >> arbabsiar was arrested 12 days

brian? >> it's still a long political season. andrea mitchell in our d.c.s room tonight, andrea, thanks. >>> when we come back here this evening, an emotional day in court at the michael jackson trial in l.a. his nurse almost too distraught to testify. we'll be live at the courthouse when we come back. >>> as we mentioned there was news today from the trial of michael jackson's doctor in l.a. the prosecution has rested. today was the first full day for dr. conrad murray's defense, and what we heard today was from jackson's nurse recounting their conversations just before his death. nbc's jeff rossen covering the case for us tonight in l.a. jeff, good evening. >> reporter: hi, brian. good evening. watching dr. conrad murray's defense team at work today, and their strategy is really becoming clear, trying to paint michael jackson as an addict who needed drugs to sleep. and right off the bat today there was drama in the courtroom. >> i'm feeling really, really dizzy. >> reporter: first up today cherilyn lee, michael jackson's nurse. >> this is just a very sens

our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is on the story tonight in washington. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. acknowledging that this alleged plot was ham-handed and there is no proof it was sanctioned by iran's top leaders, u.s. officials are trying to rally the world against tehran. today the president said he's taking no options off the table meaning more economic pressure against iran. the administration is so confident of its evidence the president himself was making the case today. >> this is -- not just a dangerous escalation. this is part of a pattern of dangerous and reckless behavior by the iranian government. >> reporter: in a highly unusual step, u.s. officials sought out iran's diplomats at the u.n. to complain. u.s. allies like britain's prime minister cameron have been briefed on the evidence and say it's credible. the prime target, saudi ambassador oop ois an outspoken critic of iran. another potential target was michael orin, israel's ambassador to the u.s. who could have concocted such a plot? iran's elite force of the revolutionary guard was directly involved. >> we believ

mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> that's our broadcast for this friday night, and for this week. thank you for being here with us. i'm brianams. lester holt will be here with you this weekend. we of course hope to see you right back here monday night. in the meantime have a great weekend. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> good evening, everyone, and thanks for joining us on this friday. i'm janelle wang in forage mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. it is official. no charges will be filed in the 2007 alleged rape of a 17-year-old by several members of the deanza college baseball team. after months of reviewing the case, santa clara district attorney jeffrey rosen announced that decision today. and despite his criticism of how the allegations were

mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> that's our broadcast for this friday night, and for this beak. thank you for being here with us. i'm brianster holt will be here this weekend. we of course hope to see you right back here monday night. in the meantime have a great weekend. good night.

brian? >> chris jansing in lower manhattan on a friday night. chris, thanks. >>> the word arrived today. three women have been awarded the nobel peace prize. today president obama praised their power, determination and their spirit. andrea mitchell has more for us tonight on who these women are and how they are changing the world. >> reporter: it was a signal meant to recognize and promote women in the struggle for freedom and equal rights. from yemen, the first arab woman to receive the prize. tawakkul karman, a leader in the fight for regime change and the symbol for the arab spring itself. 32, a mother of three and on the front lines as she learned of her prize. from liberia, long torn by civil war, 72-year-old ellen johnson sirleaf, the first woman democratically elected woman. six years ago she defeated dictator charles taylor. she's up for re-election next week. also from liberia, leymah gbowee who led a movement against rape and violence. >> we are fighters of war. >> reporter: today they talked about why the women mobilized. >> we have gotten to the place where death was better than life. we felt as women of liberia we needed to do something to change the trend of our lives. >> reporter: today's nobel prize validates her