. >> reporter: but as mr. obamaders sending more troops to afghanistan, his own part see why bawlinging. today senate arms services chair carl levin implored him not to order more deployments but to focus instead on training the afghan army and police. >> we need a surge of afghan security forces. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi sent a similar message. >> i don't think there's a great deal of support for sending more troops to afghanistan. >> reporter: the misgivings in the president's own party reflect a growing national pessimism amid record casualties there. >> we need to have the afghan security forces demonstrate that they have primacy that they can control the situation on the ground. >> reporter: 21,000 additional u.s. troops will deploy there this year, driving total troop levels up to a new high, 68,000. levin argued sending more than that would just provoke the enemy. >> creating a bigger u.s. military footprint provides propaganda fodder for the taliban. >> reporter: republican senator john mccain

as mr. obama's top general in afghanistan, stanley mcchrystal, has delivered a new review to include a call for 30,000 to 40,000 additional u.s. forces. but members of the president's own party are wary. >> are you going to say we're going to be responsible for putting in a viable national government in a country that really has never had one? >> reporter: republicans say if an iraq-style surge worked once, it can work in afghanistan. warn of daster if mccrystal doesn't send the troops he wants. >> we'll lose. the taliban will be stronger than they were before. the moderates in afghanistan will go back in hiding or get killed. >> reporter: today the defense secretary says he has the mcchrystal report but has yet to show it to the president. >> i'm going to sit on it until i think or the president thinks it's appropriate to bring that into the discussion of the national security principles. >> reporter: meanwhile, mr. oba has reached out to john mccain, yesterday calling his former rival to talk abou

as mr. obama's approval rate having fallen, so have deeds.paigned together during a debate today moderated by david gregory, deeds seemed hesitant to link himself to a president whose policies are increasingly unpopular. >> i think he's a smart guy. he's an innovative guy. we agree on a great many things. i'm proud to have his support. >> but you're not an obama democrat? >> i'm a creigh deeds democrat. >> deeds seemed to hedge on a key issue. >> no, i'm not going to raise taxes. >> but when pressed on that after the debate? >> i'm not going to raise general fund taxes. i know we have to raise money for transportation. >> will you raise other kinds of taxes? >> i think -- i meant what i said. i have no plan to raise general fund taxes. >> for mcdonnell, the issue is a thesis he wrote in graduate school that said working mothers are dret trimentsal to the family. he says his views have evolved and his criticism is unmerited. >> i can't believe that you would say to my daughter who i supported and sent to school for 28 years that i don't plan t

. >> as mr. obama considers sending more troops to afghanistan, his own party is bulking, today senate armed services chair floored him not to order more deployments. house speaker nancy pelosi sends a similar message. >> i don't think there's a great deal of support with sending more troops the most recent abc news poll shows only 24% of americans favor an increase in troops. >>> the war in afghanistan, of course, responded to the terrorists attacks of 9/11, one of the most darkest moments in mirn history. >> survivors and families come together to once again grieve, comfort, and reflect. and in shakesville, pennsylvania, commander in chief with the moment of silence at the time that the first plane struck. >> later in a soaking rain, he laid a wreath at the memorial. >> nearly 3,000 days have passed, almost one for each of those taken from us. president obama designating it as a day of remembrance. >>> meanwhile, just a short distance from where the president was speaking, traumatic fear. security sc

as you probably noticed. that's republican leader mitch mcconnell. senator majority leader harry reid is right behind him. mr. obama will work the aisles as presidents always do. george w. bush loved working the aisles and basking in the adulation. there's no reason why president obama shouldn't operate the same way. in front of him, of course, is the sergeant of arms who announced his coming into the chamber. let us just watch some more. you may recognize some of the faces and maybe your own congressman or congresswoman. let's just listen to the applause and the adulation as the president makes his way to the podium. . >> that's congressman wexler of florida you just saw. this is, of course, a hugely important speech for mr. obama. he called it himself for a special joint session. he requested it about a week ago. his health care plan has had a difficult summer. declining polls would suggest that among independents and seniors. of course, the town hall meetings, controversial as they are did stir the pot for more unrest. people are asking many, many different questions. not only about the health care plan itself,

mr. obama marks the 9/11 anniversary as president and commander in chief. >>> at exactly 8:46 this morning the time when the first plane slammed into the world trade center eight years ago, president barack obama and the first lady will mark a moment of silence on the south lawn of the ite house. >> to honor the memories of those that gave their lives. >> reporter: mr. obama will travel across the river to the point gone where he will visit the memory honoring the 184 people who lost their lives there and moat with family members and survivers of a pentagon attack. >> he will continue to talk about this notion of serving our country and of public and national service. >> reporter: arlington is also marking the tragedy by draping flags throughout many buildings in the county. >>> last night in washington the national's baseball team honored those who died on this day by hosting survivors of the attack as well as members of the dc fire department and the police who partied in the rescue operations in one of the darkest days in american history. >>> later today, even as mr. obama lays a wreat

as well. >> on abc, mr. obama pointing out that strong views on race don't always hurt him politically. >> are there some people who don't like me because of my race? i'm sure there are. are there some people who vote for me only because of my race. there are probably some of those too. >> the message much the same on cbs and nbc too. the territory the press secretary has already covered. >> we all have to check our emotions despite the depth of our beliefs. that ke with have these kinds of debate debates, important political debates without doing so in a way that makes anybody feel uncomfortable. >> that was one side of the story. on the other side, one of the guys whose own conduct helped ramp up the debate was back home in south carolina holding his first news conference since he shouted out -- "you lie" at president obama. >> let's close the book on last week. >> was race a factor in congressman joe wilson's outburst? >> i officially very much -- president barack obama has indicated this is not correct. >> als

on the same day as mr. obama'sl assembly as president, he tried to restart negotiations on the most intractable problem of our time, the israeli/palestinian peace process. president obama held bilateral meetings at the waldorf astoria hotel in new york today with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and with palestinian prime minister mahmoud abbas. the president then brought those two leaders together for a trilateral meeting that began with handshakes all around as well as a new sense of urgency from the president. >> simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. it is time to move forward. it is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that's necessary to achieve our goals. permanent status negotiations must begin and begin soon. we cannot continue the same pattern of taking tentative steps forward and then stepping back. success depends on all sides acting with a sense of urgency. >> president obama also directed his secretary of state hillary clinton and the

. >>> the president's national pitch for healthcare reform interrupted last night as mr. obama was promising his healthcare reform plan won't include illegal immigrants, republican congressman joe wilson called him a liar. >> the reforms, the refos i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> you la jolla! -- . >> you lie! >> you may not have heard that clearly. but the congressman yelled out you lie. an hour later, wilson issued an apology saying he let his emotions get the best of him and he sincerely apologized to the president for the lack of civility. well, i, last night, heard from the leadership they wanted me to contact the white house and say that my statement was inappropriate, i did. very grateful the white house, in talking with them, they indicated that they appreciate the call and we needed to have a civil discussion about the healthcare issueis and certainly agree with that. >> in response, the president said that everybody makes mistakes. speaker nancy pelosi said it's time to talk about healthcare, not congressman wilson. >>> meantime, the

as well. so when mr. obamaites the genealogy of democracy and looks at this question of skepticism, about the government's role in our lives, race was right there, slavery was right there. the question of what to do with black people is right there. at the very beginning of the foundation of american democracy, the very roots of american democracy are intertwined with this question of race. so we have to talk about how combit pacts our lives, how it shapes our position. and it's not just mr. obama. if we can dismiss some of the issues against mr. obama, what do the people in corporate america have to do to substantiate the claim that the evidence the existence of racism is something that's part and parcel of american culture? so it's not just about mr. obama in the white house, it's about what we as americans are willing to do and say and believe in response to some of the realities. host: our guest with us until 9:15. the numbers are on the bottom of your screen. as far as the discussions that we've been talki

. >> reporter: in his first address to the united nations general assembly as president mr. obama also talked about nuclear disarmament, global recession and combating climate change. >> another world leader that addressed the u.n. for the first time since taken office 40 years ago, qaddafi. he called the iraq war the mother of all evils and called for the security council to be abolished. >> it should be called the terrorism council. >> reporter: ahmadinejad began a speech alluding to the global recession. he said the era of capitalist thinking is over. >> no longer possible to inject billions of dollars simply by printing worthless paper's sets. >> reporter: -- paper assets. >> reporter: reporting from atlanta, i'm andy flick. >>> 5:21. acrorn under investigation. >> and are going on the offensive. >> acorn files a lawsuit against others involved in an undercover video that caused the group a lot of problems. i'm sherrie johnson, that story coming up. (announcer) they're highly trained specialists. true professionals, always ready when they hear the call... guys, pancakes! becau

the administration, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad, making a point to show his boredom as mr. obama challenged iran and north korea directly. >> and they must be held accountable. >> reporter: when his turn came, ahmadinejad didn't directly mention the nuclear issue but lashed out at what he called unbridled capitalism, as the u.s. delegation walked out. earlier in a rambling, nearly two-hour address to the u.n., his first in 40 years, libyan leader moammar gadhafi blasted the organization, calling its security council a terror council, even tossing a copy of the u.n. charter toward the security council president. meanwhile, a busy president obama toasted the u.n. >> to the united nations. >> reporter: and sat down with russian president dmitry medvedev, looking for cooperation on iran. >> if iran does not respond to serious negotiations, serious additional sanctions remain a possibility. >> reporter: russia appeared to open the door to supporting sanctions but made no promises. but not all the drama in new york was on the world stage. the wife of embattled governor david paterson,

with e as president and mrs. obamaarrived to meet with world leaders. >>> china and india are likely to get new roles. the group of 20 the group of 20 nations will also likely to agree to limit big bonuses earned by bankers. abc's viviana abc's viviana hurtado has more on the summit. st the summit. lady welcomed >> reporter: president and first lady welcomed the leaders of the woerld's largest economies to the g-20 economic summit. these nations agree that another world recession must be avoided. >> my sense is that we have a lot of support for this. >> and we're encouraged by that. >> reporter: but many in the international community blame the u.s. for the economic global eltdown. they're resisting passing tough global regulations and facedrds. leaders were also greeted by hundreds of protesters who faced off with police. beforeittsburgh, mr. obama was at the united nations in f w york city. for the first time, a u.s. president chaired a meeting of e security council. he introduced a resolution for a world without nuc

obama's decision to scrap a long planned missile defense system for europe. the smt was to stheeld u.s. allies from attacks by rap, but as chip reid report, mr. obama nature of the threat has changed, so must the plan. >> this new approach will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems and on which greater defenses against the threat of missile attack. >> reporter: the president says new intel against assessments left him no choice but to reject the missile defense plan adopted by president bush, but new intelligence assess empties show iran and he progress on long range missiles has been slow while progress on short range missiles has been faster han predicted, raising the possibility of having to defend defense dozens or hundreds of small missiles aimed at u.s. troops and allies in europe and the middle east, so the president approved a new plan, a schl mobile radar and hundreds of small inter-september tore missiles stationed at various locations in europe both on land and at sea. the new plan has unanimous support from the joint chiefs of staff and secretary of defense robert gates who supported the old plan when he headed the p

that excerpts about a book about michelle obama claims she shot down the idea of hillary clinton as a potential vice president, opting instead for joe biden. mrsobama reportedly asked her husband, do you really want bill and hillary just down the hall from you in the white house? could you live with that? christopher anderson writes "mrs. obama's opposition was possibly the deciding factor in the debate. " she also abdicated to the campaign slogan yes, we can, after her husband considered it childish and corny. mrs. obama persisted saying, it will work, trust me. a speech writer for george w. bush is telling tales and now taking fire from both parties. matt lat latimer writes after one of canada's blistering speeches about the bush administration, the former president said, quote, this is a dangerous world. this cat isn't remotely qualified to handle t this guy has no clue, i promise you." and lat latimer writes that they bonded with former president bill clinton and former president bill clinton called bush alt the white house and talked about obama about the primaries against hillary, and quotes president bush as saying as the number two men

traveled to minneapolis to address a campaign-style rally for his health reform plan, and as kimberly dozier reports, mr. obama came out swinging. ( cheers and applause ) >> reporter: the president came to minnesota's target center on a saturday for his fifth health care address this week, a week the white house believes president obama turned the health care debate around. >> are you fired up! ready to go! >> reporter: after months of dwindling support, a cbs news peel shows a growing number of americans approve of his handling of health care reform since his speech to congress this week. the white house believes the president has also figureddute how to appeal to american whose already have insurance, who may feel threatened by health care reform. >> a new report from the treasury department found that nearly half of all americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next 10 years. think about that. >> reporter: and the crowd responded. in an event that seemed more like a campaign rally than a health care speech. >> we gotta do something. >> reporter: anyone was welcome to attend t

earlier in the day as president and mrs. obama for the summit, police clashed with some 2,000 anti-capitalist protestors. it comes as g-20 leaders face increasing pressure to rebalance the world economy. we'll have much more on the protest coming up in this half hour. >> researchers in thailand say a major medical study found an experimental aids vaccine cut the risk of infection by nearly a third. how significant is this? viviana hurtado has the story. >> reporter: the results of an experimental aids vaccine are ground breaking but more work has to be done. >> this has some albeit modest results, some very encouraging results that can be used to guide further efforts in vaccine and development. >> reporter: 16,000 volunteers in thailand were given the vaccine or placebo and then followed for three years. >> they took two vaccines that had been tested before that didn't work and found when they combined them as a one-two punch, they reduced hiv infection. >> reporter: the results are as stunning as they are welcome. this vaccine d

. >> here in new york president obama takes his place on the world stage later today with his first speech to the u.n. general assembly as president. yesterday mrama was involved in some one-on-one diplomacy when he met with middle east leaders. here's linsey davis. >> reporter: by all accounts this is progress but president barack obama is urging the israeli prime minister and palestinian president to do more. >> simply put it is past time to talk about starting negotiations. it is time to move forward. >> reporter: the president was reportedly pretty tough in expressing his impatience with stalled peace talks but his bottom line is the u.s. is committed it a two-state solution in which palestinians and israeli live together in >> we have to summon the will to break the deadlock that has trapped generatis of israeaeli and palestinians in an endless cycle of conflict and suffering. >> reporter: the meeting wast first sense netanyahu took office in march. it unphoneded on sidelines of the u.n. general assembly. earlier president obama went before world leaders to proclaim a strong u.s. response to climate change. >> this is a new day, it is a ne

as far as cost is concerned, mr. obama says he won't spend any additional money on health care, expense will be made up by reducing waste and infish at -- inefficiency in the health care industry. i hope he has a magic wand. i'm not being sarcastic. if it could have been done, it would have been done. it's not that easy to do what he says he is going to do. now, the president also stayed completely away from the feds dictating medical decisions. >> to my progressive friends, i would remind that you for decades the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage available for those without it. [ applause ] the public option, the public option is only a means to that end. we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. bill: all right, so the public option, there it goes right out the window. and the government-mandated day-to-day care is not going to happen. so the president was also very clear about the insurance companies. now, here we go. they are going to be

mr. beck saying he thought obama as a guy who had a deep-seeded hatred for the white people or white cultures guy is, i believe, a racist. mr. limbaugh picked up where beck left off pointing out that van jones is obama just as obama is william aires, which is a racist double dip. black president is the same as other troublesome black men. so when bill o'reilly tops his show last night with another segment on a.c.o.r.n. continues in the way of pundits and politicians who have taken cases of abuse to portray a.c.o.r.n. as a collection of criminally minded african-americans, and with the president as a.c.o.r.n.'s poster child. bringing us back to mr. limbaugh whose consistent mission has been to denigrate obama the candidate, obama the president, in overtly racist terms. calling him hafri-american and playing a song, whatever the origins the song is on its face racist. late in that same campaign, a local mccain campaign volunteer falsely claimed she had been robbed and pinned to the ground by a black man 6'4" with a knife who then scratched the letter b into her face. she did it to herself back

and as we told you mr. obama along with leaders of france and great britain announcing iran has been working on the second iranian enrichment facility. sdhou the president do this week? we have democratic strategist. she joins us and republican strategist doug high is former communications director for michael steele and doug will join us momentarily. let me start with you, liz. this announcement with sarkozy and prime minister brown dramatic stuff out of pittsburgh with the announcement of this new secret site. does that score points for this president? >> i don't think it scores points because it is really bad news they have been doing this in secret under the u.n.'s noses. but the president sitting next to france and great britain is tough. he will not put up with it. he will make tough sanctions i believe it's the right thing for him to do. >> people are look at the president and wondering if he is layinging down the law with mahmoud ahmadinejad. we saw a scathing attack. it came from benjamin netanyahu. he c

as risky. rachel martin, abc news, washington. >> new york governor david patterson is attending mr. obama'scal pressure in his bid to stay in office. patterson's low popularity has obama administration officials fearing he can't win next november's gubernatorial election. patterson said he is staying in and he intends to win. >> time for your monday weather. a wet day for the great lakes through the southeast with a chance of flooding in detroit, cincinnati, atlanta and tallahassee. heavy rain and strong storms from minnesota to texas. thunderstorms in central rocky. >> it will be mostly sunny and hot out west, 10 in phoenix, 88 in portland. a rainy 74 in detroit, 77 in chicago, 74 in boston, 76 in new york and baltimore. >> starting to get chilly in some places. >> i don't like it. >> you don't? >> i want it to be summer all the time. >> move to hawaii. more than 2,000 people gathered here in new york. >> they formed a massive human hour clock symbolizes the earth's race against time and to highlight the dangers of global warming. >> are they wearing plastic, though? >> looks like ponchos.

as far as cost is concerned, mr. obama says he won't spend any additional money on health care, expense will be made up by reducing waste and infish at -- inefficiency in the health care industry. i hope he has a magic wand. i'm not being sarcastic. if it could have been done, it would have been done. it's not that easy to do what he says he is going to do. now, the president also stayed completely away from the feds dictating medical decisions. >> to my progressive friends, i would remind that you for decades the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage available for those without it. [ applause ] the public option, the public option is only a means to that end. we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. bill: all right, so the public option, there it goes right out the window. and the government-mandated day-to-day care is not going to happen. so the president was also very clear about the insurance companies. now, here we go. they are going to be

as far as cost is concerned, mr. obama says he won't spend any additional money on health care, expense will be made up by reducing waste and infish at -- inefficiency in the health care industry. i hope he has a magic wand. i'm not being sarcastic. if it could have been done, it would have been done. it's not that easy to do what he says he is going to do. now, the president also stayed completely away from the feds dictating medical decisions. >> to my progressive friends, i would remind that you for decades the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage available for those without it. [ applause ] the public option, the public option is only a means to that end. we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. bill: all right, so the public option, there it goes right out the window. and the government-mandated day-to-day care is not going to happen. so the president was also very clear about the insurance companies. now, here we go. they are going to be

mr. obama's election was hailed as a new chapter in american race relations. it's becoming increasingly clear that this new chapter may not be fully written. dan harris, abc news, new york. >>> in other news, the pentagon's top military man said today more u.s. troops are vitally needed in afghanistan. but joint chiefs chairman mike mullen did not specify how many more troops the pentagon might request. >>> the troops in afghanistan have been directed to do all they can to avoid civilian casualties. the pentagon has released some tape now, which it says dhon statements the split-second decisions that troops have to make in battle. here's martha raddatz. >> reporter: it begins with a helicopter crew seeps several men planting what they believe to be an explosive device on a dirt road. >> they're digging around on the ground. it looks like he appears to be covering up something in the road. >> he's on the east side of the road. >> roger. >> reporter: the helicopter crew tracks the man for several minutes, preparing to fire when suddenly, a child appears. >> is t

mr. obama as candidate and president has argued repeatedly for a more robust engagement in afghanistan. >we need to take more resources and put them into afghanistan. america must no longer deny sources to afghanistan. this is not a war of choice. this is a war of necessity. >> reporter: on the other hand, the war is increasingly unpopular with a stunning 51% of americans now saying the war is not worth fighting. in 2002, that number was only 6%. in his column, george will calls for a pull-out of almost all ground forces, leaving the battle against al qaeda to, quote, drones, cruise missiles and air strikes. a senior official tells abc news that there are certainly no plans to pull out of afghanistan but that many in the white house are deeply uncomfortable with adding more troops. john, who helped author the army's counter insurgency manual says the president should not back down. >> i believe the american people if they had explained to them what's at stake in afghanistan, i believe they'll support their president if he leads them toward taking these actions that are absolutely necessar

." >>> first lady michelle obama jumped into the debate, as well, saying today the president's plan would save lives and money. mrs. obama, a former hospital executive, called the current health care system unacceptable and said it holds women and families back. >>> now to the investigation of a suspected terrorist plot that stretches from colorado to new york. after three days of questioning, authorities say the man at the center of the investigation has now admitted having ties to al qaeda. our chief investigative correspondent brian ross joins us. >> reporter: that's right. fbi agents believe they've cracked the case involving what they describe is a very real and very serious plot against new york. >> reporter: the break came this morning at the fbi offices in denver. 24-year-old najibullah zazi had been grilled for 16 hours in the past two days, and today officials say he finally admitted he had ties to al qaeda and began to negotiate a plea deal. officials were privately ecstatic, but hesitant to reveal details. >> we will make sure they will be charged and people will be held accountable. >> reporter: new y

officials say they have been watching construction of the plant for years as obtained in the photos by nbc news. mr. obama was briefed about it during the presidential transition. why reveal it now? they saw evidence iran was moving to the next dangerous stage. the plant would soon be operational, able to create one to two bombs a year. they only went public after iran learned it had been caught red handed by the u.s. and other intelligence agencies. suddenly, monday, iran sent a vague leer to the international atomic agency disclosing a pilot program under way. the u.s. says it's an attempt to mislead the world. that set off a diplomatic chain reaction. the president gave russia's president a heads up wednesday night in new york. the russian leader has, until now, blocked action with iran. for the first time, signals he might support sanctions. he was given more details evidence yesterday. >> translator: when all the instruments have been used and failed, one can use international legal sanctions. >> reporter: yesterday, intelligence officials from u.s., britain and france briefed the nuclear agency. fin

aides expect more revisions this afternoon to a speech that some describe as the most important of mr. obama's young presidency. he offered a preview on bs's "good morning, america." the intent of the speech is to make sure americans know what we are proposing. >> will abortion be covered? will legal immigrants obtain insurance? will seniors face pressure on end-of-life issues? which taxes will be raised? which taxes will be raised? tonight's speech is trees to you do for your heart -- >> does the ability to do their thing and not step on their toes probably left too much ambiguity out there. >> p mr. obama will tell congress that the government run public option for health insurance remains a priority but a top advisor says the president is willing to live without it. "this is not a national debate about whether we have a public option. the public option is a means to an end. it is not an end in and of itself." a new poll suggests that the president lost ground in august, a notion his top advisors fiercely dispute. the associated p press found 52% of americans now disap disapprove of mr. obam

as well. >> reporter: on abc, mr. obama pointing out that strong views on race don't always hurt him politically. >> there are some people who don't like me because of my race. i'm sure there are. but there are some people who vote for me only because of my race and probably some of those, too. >> reporter: the message much the same on cbs and nbc, too. it's territory has press secretary has already covered. >> we all have to check our emotions despite the depth of our beliefs. that we can have these kind of debat debates, important political debates without doing so in a way that makes anybody feel uncomfortable. >> reporter: that was one side of the story. on the other side, one of the guys whose own conduct helped ramp up the debate was back home in south carolina holding his first news conference since he shouted out you lie at president obama. >> let's close the vote. >> reporter: was race a factor when congressman joe wilson's outburst? >> president obama indicated this is not correct. >> reporter: also talking about

mr. obama is reviewing the situation, as outlined by general stanley mccrystal. the president has already deployed 21,000 soldiers to afghanistan this year. and 58,000 are now on the ground. but general mccystle is calling for even more soldiers to get the upper hand on both al qaeda and the taliban. >> the situation is deteriorated on the ground. you have the taliban that has regained foot holds in parts of the country, in the south and in the east, and they've gotten better at what they do. >> mccrystal's report was supposed to be confidential. but parts of it were leaked and that is creating a political headache for the president. many the fellow democrats want to put the breaks on u.s. involvement in afghanistan, while many republicans want more forces to fight the war. >>> dc firefighters are investigating a fire out at the gabon embassy. it broke out shortly before 3:30 this morning and fire officials say it appears to have started in the basement and spread to a portion of the first floor. they say no one was in the embassy when the fire started, and this

mr. obama will mark the anniversary of 9/the the first rstime as president and commander in chief. at ex exactly 8:46 this morning, the time when the first plane slammed into the world trade center eight years ago. they will mark a moment of silence on the south lawn of the white house. >> to honor the memories of thosthat gave their lives. >> reporter: mr. obama will travel across the river to the pentagon where he will visit the memory honoring the 184 people who lost their lives there and meet with family members and survivors of a pentagon attack. >> he will continue to talk about this notion of serving our country and of public and national service. >> reporter: arlington is also marking the tragedy by draping flags throughout many buildings in the county. last night in washington the national's baseball team honored those who died on this day by hosting survivors of the attack as well as members of the fire department and police who participated in the rescue operations in one of the darkest days in american history. >>> so later today even as the president lays a wreath to m

. >>> president obama is shifting his focus to foreign policy as he speaks to the united nations. today mr. obama focused on climate change and middle east peace. michelle franzen reports. >> reporter: in his first presidential visit to the united nations, president barack obama told world leaders that a high-level climate summit the u.s. is renewing its commitment to combat global warming. >> we understand the gravity of the climate threat. we are determined to act and we will meet our responsibility to future generations. >> reporter: the president urged other nations to act together to find bold and swift clean energy solutions despite financial challenges and differences. >> no nation however large or small, healthy or poor can escape the impact of climate change. >> reporter: the remarks come the day before he addresses hundreds of heads of state gathering in new york city for the u.n. general assembly. the world will be watching to see how america's newest president will deal with the wars in iraq and afghanistan, along with growing tensions in iran and plans for middle east peace. i

be sure that americans would be protected from industry practices such as dropping coverage when a patient gets sick. mr. obama says that it will allow doctors to practice medicine without the fear of malpractice. and moments from them the u town hall, republicans cheered from the president's proposal. >> there are also those who claim that they would insure illegal immigrants. this too is false. the reforms are proposing and would not apply to those that were here illegally. >> reporter: the republican response delivered by louisiana congressman. a retired heart surgeon. who said that the president's proposals will create more bureaucracies and add billions to the federal deficit. it's clear, that they want the health care reform. but they want the elected leaders to get it right. >> with this speech, the president thought to reassure the americans at the coverage that they have now that will ease. they are also trying to regain the support that he lost in august and lock in the support he's going to need to pass health care reform. reporting live at the capitol, abc news. >>> and speaking of health care, jus

mr. obama's acceptance of it, as they wondered why house democrats refused to dot same thing. >> i think this is a sad day for the house of representatives. i think that this is nothing more than a partisan stunt aimed at trying to divert people's attention from the real issue that the american people want to talk about and that's talk about healthcare. >> now republican national committee chairman michael steele went a little farther saying if we're going to march members down to the well to apologize, joe wilson will have to get in line behind nancy pelosi who insulted the intelligence community, charlie rangel who cheated on his taxes, jack mur, that a walking scandal, and we all know how the democratic leadership tried to protect william jefferson. jefferson was the member who had $90,000 in cash in his freezer. democrats don't want an apology, the statement continued, they want a sideshow, something to shift the focus away from their government-run experiment on healthcare, so, now, bret, the joe wilson incident is over but his outburst on illegal immigration made an impact. senator

security virtually shut down as world leaders arrived to talk about the world economy. >>> this morning, mr. obama chaired the united nations security council. he called to block iran and north korea from building an atomic bomb. >> let me be clear, this is not about singling out nations. it's about those who live up to their responsibilities. the world must stand together. >> president obama said he wants the g-20 nations to continue with regulations. >>> ted kennedy's replacement in the u.s. senate will be sworn in this afternoon. paul kirk was selected as an interim senator. he's never run for political office. he was a long time kennedy friend and staffer and used to head the democratic national committee. >>> a bigger headache over night. starting at midnight, both directions of the beltway will be completely shut down for 30 minutes at a time. partial lane closures around route 23 have already begun. it will give power crews a chance to move overheadlines. it's part of a project. all lanes and ramps are expected to be reopened by 5:00 in the morning. >>> things may not be better downtown tom