from cadillac. >>> it is msnbc sunday, i'm alex witt.t the hour, here are your fast five headlines. >>> concerns about a nuclear plant newly discovered in north korea it comes to light now only after an american scientist visited the plant. the u.s. is sending an envoy to the renal ton consult with allies. >>> a day after nato reaffirmed its commit n afghanistan, a taliban spokesman says militants will drive on and drive western forces out of that country before its scheduled departure. >>> dangerous levels of methane and carbon monoxide prevent res curers from entering a coal mine in new zealand to reach 29 mine jeefrms an offshore construction worker had had been trapped inside a pipe underwater for hours is now freed. >>> and only 46% of people know that the republicans regained control of the house of representatives. those are your fast five headlines. >>> the head of the tsa is responding to critics of the new body scanners and enhanced patdowns at airports. many air travellers who have been through the process stay is too intrusiv

ja >>> i'm alex witt.c storm is expected to continue slamming the west coast today providing rain and high-elle vags snow from california to the southwest. more than a foot of snow will fall in the sierra nevada. >>> groups are meeting in russia to discuss ways to revive the world's tiger population. the world life fund says only about 3,200 remain. there were about 100,000 a century go. >>> harper collins sued the gawker after publishing images last week from palins book before it's released this week. >>> al qaeda in yemen is making new threats. it says attacks it has in the works will be small scale and cheap but they're still going to be disruptive and terrifying. the group is bragging it omt spent 4 rkds $200 on the failed cargo plane bomb last month. they posted this statement online, quote, it is such a good bargain for us to spread fear amongst the enemy and keep him on his toes in exchange for a few months of work and a few thousand bucks. dan gray's a military strategist and vice president of the

i'm alex witt.t 10:00 a.m. on the east coast and 7:00 a.m. on the west coast. >>> the president is back to washington from his trip to asia. one of the things he'll be talking is the tax cuts. david axelrod is pressed on whether the president is willing to compromise on the tax breaks for the richest 2%. >> the bottom line is he wants to sit down and talk about this, but -- there's no bend on the -- on the permanent extension of tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. >> he's open to compromise. >> he wants to sit down -- we want to get this done. the american people expect to get this done, and we are -- we are eager to sit down and talk about ho u to move forward. >> nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house for us. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, alex. >> is this the first big battle of the lame duck congress, mike. >> reporter: it's shaping up to be. david axelrod couldn't bring himself to say what's left almost since the day the polls closed on november 2in', the moment the

i'm alex witt. it is just past 11:00 on the east coast, 8:00 out west. >>> president obama is in japan on the final leg of his ten-day tour. world leaders are gathered for an economic forum near tokyo. the president outlined his goal of putting americans back to work. >> in this region, the united states sees a huge opportunity to increase our exports in some of the fastest growing markets in the world. for america, this is a jobs strategy. because for every $1 billion we sell in exports, 5,000 jobs are supported at home. >> today's meeting follows a trip where the president failed to secure a trade deal with that longtime ally. mike viqueira is live with us. the president heads back to the u.s. tomorrow. what is the big takeaway from this overseas trip? >> reporter: a couple of things are clear here. one is that the international, economic and political landscape is shifting, but the united states is still the indispensable nation, the preeminent power looked upon to settle disputes. you start with

in the meantime i'm alex witt and welcome to "msnbc sunday."et's get to what's happening right now for you. security officials say it's the new reality of airline travel. the intense pat-downs at the airports. although some complain about the violations president obama says the measures are not without good reason. >> one of the most frustrating aspects of this fight against terrorism is that it has created a whole security apparatus around us that causes huge inconvenience for all of us. >> nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house. good morning, mike. >> reporter: good morning, alex. >> the troops were focused on afghanistan and eu, but this is the topic making headlines. >> reporter: right. a whole host of issues on the plate, but this issue following the president to europe. you know, he's had a series of these international summit bus the level of concern in the united states had to answer the question from our own chuck todd at the nato conference. travelers are faced with two choices that can be demeaning, humiliating, they think, e

i'm alex witt with "msnbc sunday." >>> the white house is framing the president's trip to asia as a success. although he failed to secure a free trade agreement with south korea. david axelrod pointed to newly secured deals that will put americans back to work. >> if you had more time, i'm sure you'd show the positive headlines from the trip as well. the president went on this mission because asia is the most vibrant market, growing market in the world, and we want to compete for those jobs. and that's why he went. >>> nbc's mike viqueira live at the white house. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. >> it's going to be a big turnaround. let's hope he get as good night's sleep. >> as david axelrod will have us know, there were successes on the ten-day trip but also letdowns. the president winging his way back at this very moment. they had a refueling stop at anchorage, alaska, at the air force base. they'll land at andrews air force base and land on the south lawn. it does not get any easier for him. the last hurrah for nancy pelosi. she has the gavel in her hand. at the top of th

i'm alex witt. those advanced patdowns and body scanners at airports. now the tsa has announced it is making a change to those rules. we're joined with all the details. good saturday morning. this new change in policy only affects a really small group of people, right? >> that's right. airline passengers will still be subjected to the rigorous patdowns and the full body scans but not pilots. the tsa is exempting pilots from the advanced procedures though they'll still have to go through metal detectors and have to show company and government issued i.d.s. that has others legs and used her hand to go up my skirt, that's when i freaked out. >> passengers against the procedures are staging a boycott on wednesday. that's the day before thanksgiving. they're asking air travelers to refuse to go through the body scanners, forcing tsa agents to perform patdowns and leading to massive slowdowns at security lines. >> the tsa's response to all these passengers who just say it's too invasive, what's that? >> the head of the tsa released a statement saying he is no

good morning, i'm alex witt. president obama is wrapping up the last full day of his four-day nation trip through asia. s focused on jobs, trade and the economy. the latest stop brings him to japan where leaders are hammering out new opportunities. savannah guthrie is traveling with the president and she joins us from japan. good morning. >> reporter: alex, good morning. this is the longest the president has been away since he's been in office. he's looking at improving things at home. the president took his one-man sales expedition to japan where he told a group of ceos, america is open for business. >> in this region, america sees an opportunity to increase our exports to the world. for america, this is a jobs strategy. >> the president is wrapping up his four country mission to try to pry open asian markets to more american exports. the president has prom promised to double exports in the next five years which he says will lead to more jobs at home. while the u.s. has been battered by unemployment and lacklust

i'm alex witt. it's 8:00 a.m. on the east coast. there we go. we have new developments today on the war in afghanistan as president obama sits down for another day of meetings with nay row leaders in pore you to gal. let's go to nbc's monica kerry live at the white house for us. good saturday morning to you, mike. good morning,el alex. >> what do you know? >> there are two issues on the table here. this is the nato summit, the third international summit he's had in the last ten days. those issues are the s.t.a.r. treaty and how it's being held up in the united states senate and the u.s. position in afghanistan. it is a nato mission, as you know, and so the countries there are very interested in the outcome and when security is going to be handed over to afghanistan forces. by the end of 2014, the afghan security forces, the goal is now to have them stand up on their own and have them take care of their own security, police and military. you remember, of course, the controversy coming and going, waxing and waning over the course of the last year

i'm alex witt. this is msnbc saturday. we'll get right to it. president obama is in japan on the final leg of his ten-day tour. world leaders are gathering for the economic forum near tokyo. the president outlined his goal of putting americans back to work. >> in this region the united states sees a huge opportunity to increase our exports in some of the fastest growing markets in the world. for america this is a job strategy because with every $1 billion we sell in exports $5,000 jobs are supported at home. >> today's meetings follow the advice of a trip to south korea where the president failed to secure a long-trade deal with that long-time allie. mike baa caro is live at the white house. good saturday morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. >> to take away from the trip overseas is what? >> reporter: that's an interesting question. the takeaway is the international and political landscape is shifting but the u.s. is still looked to in power around the world to settle age-old disputes. the president started his trip in india. some of the q

i'm alex witt where it's 9:00 here on the east coast. let's get to what's happening out in respect nato officials are embracing a four-year time frame for afghan forces to take over control of their country's security. that formal endorsement came just from this morning. under the plan, coalition forces will begin withdrawing next year. mike is live for us at the white house and lester holt is live for us in afghanistan. we'll go long distance, lester, and begin with you. how would you size up the implications of today's nato agreement? >> well, i think it val dates what we have seen here on the ground, alex, and that is the fact that there are afghan forces taking on greater and greater roles. the transition has been taking place here. we want patrol with u.s. marines in marja the day before yesterday. i'm losing track of times. and there were afghan soldiers along with them as well as afghan police. we're going to be going up in a resupply air drop and we'll be supplying, we're told, with an afghan pilot. so it is already happening and

i'm alex witt. welcome to msnbc saturday. we have new and big developments this morning concerning the controversial pat-downs and body scan machines at airports. monica de la cruz has all the details. good morning to you. what kind of changes is the tsa making? >> the transportation security administration is changing the rules for one group of frequent flyers. the tsa says pilots no longer have to walk through the body scanners or submit to pat-downs while on the job. pilots traveling in uniform or airline business are allowed to bypass security by showing two photo ids. one from the company and one from the government, like maybe a driver's license. but for the rest of the traveling public, the in-house pat-downs and body scanners remain in place. 15% of americans disagree with airports using the body scanners while 81% say they are okay with the machines even though they show extremely revealing images. >> security is more important than all the -- it is not really that big of a deal. >> she used her hand to go up my skir

i'm alex witt. at 31 past the hour, here are your fast-five headlines.day in japan. it is his last stop in asia. he returns to the states tomorrow. >>> in myanmar, the government released a democracy believer from house arrest. >>> in afghanistan, six insurgents are dead today after they tried to storm a nato based part of the country. the taliban claimed responsibility for that failed attack. >>> in germany today, a fire swept through the zoo before it could be put out. 26 animals died including shedland ponies, goats and sheep. some firefighters fought the fires. >>> back at home, sarah palin's ratings is at now possibly viewed more negatively. >>> fall out today in des moines, iowa, after a man convicted of killing his wife speaks out in the courtroom with a shocking statement. as her family talked about their loss, he tried to justify what he did and said he's not sorry at all. the judge says he's never seen anything like it. reporter sonia height-susan has more from inside that courtroom. >> this is the day ann lynch's family and friends have been w

i'm alex witt. welcome to msnbc saturday, where it's 10:00 a.m. right on the nose here on the east coast. >>> president obama's ten-day swing through asia. he's meeting with leaders at a forum aimed at jump-starting economic cooperation. savannah guthrie is traveling with the president. good morning, savannah. >> reporter: alex, good morning. this is the longest the president's been away since taking office. and this trip comes right after the big losses in the midterms. but the president's been making the pitch that what he's doing here overseas is all about improving things at home. the president took his one-man sales expedition to his final stop in japan where he told a group of ceos america is open for business. >> in this region, the united states sees a huge opportunity to increase our exports in some of the fastest growing markets in the world. for america, this is a jobs strategy. >> reporter: the president is in japan today for one last summit of asian economic powerhouses. wrapping up his four-country mission to try to pry open asian ma

i'm alex witt. here are the top stories at the bottom of the hour for you. obama is flying back to washington after the asian tour that was for economic issues. >>> more than 3,000 people turned out in florida this weekend to hear former president george w. bush with his new memoir. >>> in ohio, a developing mystery that has left police puzzled. a search is under way this morning for an entire family missing since last week. police found traces of blood in the home of the central ohio family, but they say there's no sign of abduction. 32-year-old tina herman, daughter sarah, 10-year-old son co-man and friend were last seen thursday. they're hoping aur four will be found safe. joining us to talk about the investigation, criminal profiler pat brown. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> what are the questions investigators ask themselves as they try to search for this family? >> well, they're really going to be looking heavily at the forensic ef. 're going to be looking at how much blood was there. would somebody have been dead at this location or severely i

i'm alex witt. let's get to what's happening right now out there. after more than nine years of fighting nato officials are opening a new chapter in the war in afghanistan. they've agreed on a plan where afghan forces will assume control of that country in 2014. hamid karzai is praising that decision. >> we're confident that the transition will succeed to the afghan authority, leadership and ownership. because i found today strong commitment by the international community. >> mike viqueira is live at the white house for us. richard engel is in afghanistan. mike, i'll begin with you at the white house. i know the president holds a news conference, what, about 30 minutes or so from now. what can we expect to hear? >> the president is now in a bilateral meeting with hamid karzai. a little controversy and perhaps a little wiggle room on that end date for combat missions of nato forces. the combat mission there in afghanistan. you mentioned already the longest conflict in american history. it was very controversial last year on december 1st when the pres

i'm alex witt and here's what's happening.ck to washington after wrapping up his trip to asia. he's expected to arrive back at the white house late this afternoon. >>> people in the upper midwest are dealing with their first big blast of wintry weather in the twin city's area. nearly a foot of snow has fallen causing tons of accidents. one or two people killed. >>> i look forward to seeing you all at the top of the hour. stay with us on msnbc. . >>> in a conversation i thing you had with dick cheney during a period of the war in iraq, he said to you, are you going to take care of this guy or not. >> yeah. >> first of all, i was surprised by the tone the vice president would use with you. was it surprising to you? >> no. we had a very frank relationship. he would give me his unvarnished advice. >> leads to the question was dick cheney pushing you to go to war with iraq? >> it doesn't matter whether he was or not. i am the guy that makes the decisions when we move. i was trying to give diplomacy a chance to work. and he might ha

good morning, everyone, i'm alex witt, welcome to msnbc sunday. >>> we have two big headlines this morning from the white house, reaction to a story that north korea maybe ramping up its nuclear capability and new insight into the agee grayment on afghanistan hammered out at a nato summit in portugal. secretary of state hillary clinton discussed the strategy this morning on "meet the press." >> the transition to afghan security league begins next year in 2011. it is conditions based. so where it can happen, at what pace it can happen, how many troops can be substituted for that is what geral petraeus and the military leaders are going to be working to on to recommend to the president and the leaders of other countries. >> nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house. good morning to you. >> good morning, alex. >> get to north korea in a moment, but first is the administration, how to is framing its plan in afghanistan. how is it going? >> it is interesting. that was that long and some say tortuous process, even by the president's own admission, quite contentious, developing that afghanis