nbc's david gregory. thank you so much, david, for that report.nd david's full interview with general petraeus airs this sunday on "meet the press" here on nbc. >>> a ship full of u.s. marines has arrived in pakistan to help with one of the worst natural disasters in that country's history. the devastating floods have killed at least 1,500 people and left millions homeless and hungry. pakistan's president zardari, who went ahead with a trip to europe when the disaster began, made his first visit to victims today. >>> when "nightly news" continues in just a moment, kids headed into football season. how facing the problem of concussions is now happening head on. >>> and later, the little girl whose singing voice is so big, some people don't believe it is hers. >>> in the next week or so, thousands of young people all across this country will be suiting up for practice in that game so loved in america -- football. but this season, there is a real effort to tackle one of the serious risks of the game, and that is concussions. our dr. nancy snyderman r

"meet the press" with david gregory is next. have a great sunday.

this morning, general david petraeus sits down exclusively with david gregory on "meet the press" in his first interview since taking command in afghanistan, the general says the president is very clear on the deadline. >>> well, you can catch the rest of that exclusive interview coming up on "meet the press." >>> still ahead on "the bay area sunday," what's black and white and running all over? zebras on the loose. we'll explain in just a bit. >>> and you're looking live at a picture of oakland there. a little gray skies, but it's going to burn off and shape up to be a nice day. time now, 7:16. and i'm here with craig herrera -- meteorologist -- i just say that as your last name. >> why not, we'll hyphenate t. >> it's going to get warmer. >> exactly. later this afternoon, you've got 80s in the forecast. no 90s, but still dealing with sunshine in the afternoon, getting that fog burned off and we're good. a few more live shots we were talking about. north end of the bay, san rafael, plenty of cloud cover here, highs in the north end, only in the mid 70s. so while you typically get in

here to talk about all this and more is david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." good morning. >> good morning. >> all right. so let's start in iraq. the last u.s. combat troops pulled out last week and we didn't hear much from the white house in terms of response at that point. as we quickly approach this official august 31st transition date, do we expect to hear more from the president? and what he sees as far as the road moving forward? >> i think he'll be cautious. look, this is the fulfillment of his campaign promise to end the war in iraq, to withdrawal our combat forces out of iraq, to go into a new phase. there are still a lot of problems in the country. general petraeus, who we talked to on the program last week, said the final chapter of the iraq story has not yet been written that's because the politics are not sorted out. there is not a stable, functioning government there as of yet. there is still a lot of potential problems and we're going to have 50,000 u.s. troops there, who are still going to be in harm's way, if security is not stabilized in that

with us tonight from washington, the moderator of "meet the press" david gregory. david, what might the repercussions of this decision be as we head into the fall political season? >> well, in any off-year election, we know that enthusiasm, certainly on the right among conservatives has to do with activist judges, so-called in the view of a lot of conservatives, and the role of government. that could certainly be an issue here. but the conservatives are pretty well enthused already and are expected to turn out in pretty big numbers. from the democratic point of view, you have a president who is opposed to gay marriage, but who also opposed proposition 8, doesn't want to see any discrimination, believes in equal rights. so this is a murkier territory for the president but it's not something that policy is going to really move on. we're a ways away from where we were in 2004 when president bush tried to advance a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. things have changed. but it could certainly be an animating force in the midterm race in terms of activist judg

. >>> and here at nbc, congratulations are in order for "meet the press" moderator david gregory who celebrates his 40th birthday. happy birthday. >>> all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments and those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight, be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and finally, here is a look coming up later on the "today" show, the investigation of a nationwide egg recall. and the look at tiger woods' marriage and whether he can repair his tarnished image. >>> keep it on this channel for news, weather, sports, and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a terrific tuesday. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

for more of that and the rest of the political landscape we want to turn to david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." good to see you. >> good morning. >> a week ago we were talking about charlie rangel's efforts, ethics violations and the prospects for a fall trial. now maxine waters could face an ethics trial on charges she was helping a bank, that her husband was invested if. these are two long-standing members of the house. are their ties negsly a link to what happens to democrats in the fall? >> not necessarily. you'll see a lot of republicans who will try to use that old comment from nancy pelosi, the speaker, about drawning the swamp in washington against her and against the democrats. she would counter there are ethics proceedings moving forward, that the process is work. i think the rangel issue at the moment is more pressing. president obama had some comments, which were pretty tepid saying he's at the end of his career and these allegations are troubling. this is not what democrats want. there is concern about rangel, pong those i talked to capitol hill, that he remain

orleans, five years after hurricane katrina, this is a special edition of "meet the press" with david gregory. substituting today, brian williams. >> august 29, 2005. hurrane katrina touches down on the louisiana coast. the city's levees fail. the next morning nearly 80% of new orleans is under water. a botched government response, a poor local evacuation plan. thousands are left without food, water, shelter or safety, trapped for days as the city is looted and its people suffer. 41,000 people were heroically rescued by u.s. armed forces, many of them brave coast guard pilots, but almost 1800 people are dead, and the storm has left an estimated $75 billion in damages throughout the gulf coast. five years later, what's changed and what hasn't? what lessons were learned? is this city's recovery moving in the right direction? joining us, two of the area's notable political leaders, louisiana senator mary landrieu and her brother, the newly elected mayor of new orleans, rich landrieu. then my interview with actor brad pitt, founder of the make it right foundation, in an effort to repair the devas

as nbc's david gregory reported from kabul last night, the general in charge of afghanistan, general david petraeus, says he is committed to meeting president obama's target of july 2011 for the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. tonight more of that exclusive interview and about that deadline. >> how stifling is the concept of this deadline and this washington debate to what you're trying to do here? >> i don't find it that stifling. i'm not bowed over by, you know, the knowledge that july 2011 is out there. in fact, the president has been very clear, vice president biden has been very clear as well as more recently that this is a date when a process begins, that is conditions-based, and as the conditions permit, we transition tasks to our afghan counterparts and the security forces, and in various governmental institutions, and that enables a "responsible" drawdown of our forces. >> let me just stop you and clarify. could you reach that point and say, i know that the process is supposed to begin, but my assessment, as the commander here, is that it cannot begin now? >> certainly, yea

among david gregory's guests, the man heading up the opposition party in congress, republican leader senator mitch mcconnell. >>> still ahead, don't let the bed bugs bite. easier said than done this summer as the infestation that began here in new york city invades more and more places. there may be a reason why it's happening now. >>> later, champions making a difference and making a lot of other people feel like winners. >>> the view from our roof here at 30 rock, a hazy summer evening in new york city, as there are new reports one of the most popular tourist attractions, the world famous empire state building, is the latest target of bed bugs. a local newspaper reports they attacked the furniture in an employee changing room in the basement. the city is reportedly considering hiring its own pack of bed bug-sniffing dogs. with more on what is quickly becoming a national bed bug invasion, here is nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: that old adage about not letting the bed bugs bite is taking on a whole new meaning this summer. >> that one's crawling. it's alive. >> reporter: from movie

he told david gregory while he's very aware of the july 2011 pullout deadline, he doesn't feel it's anbsolute. >> the president has been very clear. vice president biden has been very clear as well more leniently that this is a day when the process begins that is conditions based. as the conditions permit, we transition tasks to our afghan counterparts and the security forces and various governmental institutions. and that enables a, quote, responsible drawdouchb our forces. >> that tempered optimism comes as public support for the nine-year war is slipping and monthly death tolls are rising. the white house says it hopes political support will hold until december when the general is due to give his capitol hill assessment of the war. >>> and still to come at 5:00 -- the new rules that kick in tomorrow that could keep you from ever spending 40 bucks on a cup of coffee. whether you intend to or not. ♪ [ horns honking ] ♪ [ male announcer ] come into an at&t store and experience tv like you've never seen before. ♪ for a limited time, get u-verse tv for only $29 a month for 6 months with

the general will be david gregory's guest tomorrow on "meet the press." and david joins us now with a preview of their conversation. david? >> here in afghanistan, general david petraeus, the commander of u.s. and nato forces, is speaking out for the first time about this war which he is now directly charged with turning around. he replaces general stan mcchrystal who was fired by the president for airing publicly his disagreement, his grievances, his frustration with the war effort. now in comes david petraeus facing some very difficult questions about the future of the fight here. the nature of the government in afghanistan and whether it is a reliable partner with the united states. the nature of the enemy, why it is the insurgency is stronger and not weaker nine years after the war began. and the future of 100,000 u.s. troops, how long will they be here? >> in the speech that the president made at west point, there were two messages. one was a message of substantial additional commitment, additional 30,000 troops, again, more civilians, more funding fo

david gregory the washington times whereas its predecessor general mcchrystal gives an interview to rolling stone albeit it was under some weird circumstances with them being trapped in belgium but he's fired for his comments and petraeus his comments he wouldn't be making these without some sort of a wink and nod a nudge nudge from the white house you're not going to have this general making public comments to the media without some sort of clearance from the white house. the u.s. wrapper immortal technique believes america has compromised itself around the world by not keeping its promises and useful interviews coming your way in just over an hour's time but here's a preview. america went around proselytizing. democracy to all parts of the world saying you know we should should have a democracy that people can be in charge when the people saw that the same prognosticator the prophet of democracy was sitting there supporting these brutal dictatorships they said well who else has something on the table. plastic surgeries enjoying a boom in russia with beauty seekers of all ages flocking to

. >>> time for a check of what is coming up on "meet the press" and for that we are joined by david gregoryistan and my exclusive conversation with general david petraeus, the new commander of u.s. and allied forces here in afghanistan speaking out for the firstt time since assuming his command about the overall war effort, the strategy, the strength of the enemy, and the future of the u.s. commitment here. it is all coming up on "meet the press." >> all right. david, thank you so much. that is going to do us on a sunday morning. thank you so much. did you have fun? >> i love you, rob. >> i love rob. >> i can't even play my guitar. >> coming up we will meet a 8-year-old panlter, and mini monet they are calling him. have fun this sunday.

. >> from afghanistan, this is a special edition of "meet the press" with david gregory. >> i didn'te out here to carry out a graceful exit or something like that. i came out here committed to achieving our objectives and doing everything that we can to doing that. >> you always say you're a realist. >> yep. >> so are we winning or losing here? >> we're making progress. and progress is winning, if you will. but it takes the accumulation of a lot of progress, ultimately, needless to say, to win overall. and that's going to be a long-term proposition, without question. >> you've faced this before. there's a washington clock. and there is talk of a deadline. july 2011 when forces are supposed to begin to come out. is your job here now as commander to try to slow down that washington clock? >> well, i think our job again is to show those in washington that there's progress being made, and to do that we've got to build on the progress that has been established so far. because there's certainly nothing like irreversible momentum. what we have are areas of progress. we've got to link those

david gregory has more. >> reporter: hurricane warnings were called on the northeastern caribbean as early makes its way along a course that could threaten the eastern u.s. later this week. >> we have pfor a terrible hurricane making its way to the residents northward. >> reporter: this storm toppled trees and provided power outages as it passed. government offices and schools in eastern puerto rico have closed where conditions have worsened as the day progressed. at least 37 crew ships have been rerouted to avoid the storm. the national hurricane center says earl's path could head east but a direct hit hass not been ruled out. >>> the number of athletes sent to the hospital for concussions. the number is up, and they're younger than you think. this is something no one is taking lightly anymore. >> reporter: one hard hit can knock an athlete senseless. >> it's probably the scariest thing to happen, to wake up and not know what's going on. >> a new study finds older teens have the highest rate for emergency room visits of sports-related concussions. studies also show that concussions

"meet the press" with david gregory is next. after that, "press here." terrific sunday. >> take care. [ male announcer ] when meg whitman arrived at ebay, they had 30 people and an idea. meg's job was to make it happen. it took leadership. focus. and the ability to bring people together. meg whitman delivered. named one of america's best ceo's by harvard business review, she grew ebay 15,000 strong and made small business dreams come true. now meg has a plan to create jobs. fix sacramento. and deliver results. meg whitman. for a new california.

david gregory will be back here next week from washington and remember, if it's sunday, it's "meet thee some ice cream please ? no, it's just for new people. hey ! chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ? chocolate ! chocolate it is ! yeah but i'm new too. umm... he's new... er... than you. even kids know it's wrong to treat new friends better than old friends. at ally bank we treat all our customers fairly. with no teaser rates... ... and no minimum deposits. it's just the right thing to do. no oil has flowed into the gulf for weeks, but it's just the beginning of our work. i'm iris cross. bp has taken for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. my job is to listen to the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel and restaurant workers and find ways to help. that means working with communities. we have 19 c rs 4s. ste ta that means working with communities. we've made over 120,000 claims payments, more than $375 million. we've committed $20 billion to an independent claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. we'll keep looking for oil, cleani

>> from afghanistan, this is a special edition of "meet the press" with david gregory. >> we have come to kabul at a critical moment of this war. nine years into the conflict, president obama has doubled down surging u.s. forces in order to route the insurgency and help the government of hamid karzai, a government ripe with corruption, stand up on its own. the man behind this new strategy is general david petraeus, the commander behind the successful surge in iraq. petraeus has taken over command of u.s. and coalition forces here after general stan mcchrystal was fired by president obama for publicly airing his grievances with the war effort. general petraeus is speaking out for the first time exclusively to us about all of the big issues in this conflict. the strength of the taliban, the government of hamid karzai here in afghanistan and leaking of secret war documents on the internet and whether president obama's july of 2011 withdrawal time line will hold. we'll explore those questions in this special hour. is nation building possible in the bad lands of afghanistan? at 57, general

. >> from nbc news in washington, "meet the press" with david gregory. >> good morning. july is now the deadliest month for u.s. troops in the nine-year war in afghanistan. with us, the president's principle military adviser, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, admiral mike mullen. welcome back to "meet the press." >> good morning, david. >> we just played for our viewers strong comments by you about these leaks. you indicated those who are responsible for making these secret documents public may already have blood on their hands. a strong statement. what specifically do you mean? >> the scope and volume of these leaks are unprecedented and the specifics of them and i've been through some of them but we've still got a lot of work to do to really put the details together. i think the leaks themselves don't look clearly at the war that we're in, there is an ability to put this kind of information together in the world that we're living in and potential for costing us lives is significant. i said when it first occurred i was appalled. i remain appalled. and the poten

general david petraeus spoke with nbc's david gregory overnight. his first interview since taking command of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan. he is onboard with president obama's july 2011 date to begin pulling u.s. troops ousted region. or is he not? we'll get a live report from kabul just ahead. >>> also ahead, lindsay lohan is only 24 years old. she's had more than her share of trouble with the law and addiction. right now, she's in rehab for the fourth time. this time, it's been ordered by the court, after she served a couple of weeks in jail. how did her once promising young life seem to unravel? was there anyone in her family who could have prevented it? coming up, we're going to talk exclusively to her mom, dina lohan. >>> and on a lighter note. one of music's hottest new stars ke$ha takes over the plaza for a concert. >>> let us start with a check of the top stories. ann is off this morning. natalie morales is over at the news desk with all of the headlines. natalie, good morning. >> good morning to you, matt and meredith. good morning,

david gregory, thanks, david. >>> 7:15, here's meredith. >> thank you. >>> it was supposed to be a day of fun and members of a missouri high school band on a field trip to an amusement park just outside st. louis, but it quickly turned into a nightmare. a tragic chain reaction crash involving two school buses. this morning, two teens are dead. janet shamlian is in st. louis with details. good morning, janet. >> reporter: meredith, good morning. this was planned as a day of celebration. one a group of teenagers had been looking forward to for months. it was the end of their summer band camp and these kids had been selling candy, washing cars, doing anything they could to raise money for this trip to the six flags amusement park. just a few miles short of their destination, the outing turned tragic. it started as a fun-filled field trip for students from a high school band camp. they were traveling in two buses, one full of girls, the other full of boys. heading for six flags amusement park on the outskirts of st. louis. but before they got there, a tragic ending in what's being describe

we have david gregory there. he has an interview with general david petraeus who replaced general mcchrystal whose career went down in flames after the "rolling stone" article. and in an interview that will air tomorrow on "meet the press," david talked to him about whether or not he felt stifled by the withdrawal date of july of next year. let's listen to the general. oh, we don't have that bite. what he said was -- >> it was a moving quote. >> so moving, we don't have it. he said he doesn't find it stifling and that in fact, the president's been very clear, the vice president has been very clear, that this is a date that this is when it gns sbu conditions based. looking at the polls on the war and looking at how people feel about it at this point, is there any way petraeus can turn to the president six moments from now, nine months from now, and say we need to drag this out a little more? >> of course. general petraeus is holding all the cards here. he's holding all of the cards. and the fact that the general sa

we begin at noon with "meet the press" as david gregory interviews general petraeus. at 1:00 on "abc's this week, the host welcomes republican senator bob corker, former new jersey governor jon corzine, and then a look at the economy with laura tyson on the economic advisory board and the chief of u.s. chamber of commerce, and chris wallace rep r. welcomes john cornyn, and senate sarmed services committee member jack reed and moody's chief economist. on "face the nation" at 3:00, bob schieffer talks politics with the chairman of the democratic national committee and governor rendell, a pennsylvania democrat, the former of the republican national committee, ed gillespie and national strategist ed rollins. finally at 3:30 p.m. on cnn's state of the union, kevin mccarthy and peter king and democrats chris van holland and gerald nadler. the talk shows reair at noon eastern. we start with nbc's meet the press, 1:00, this week and 2:00 fox news sunday and 3:00, face the nation from cbs and cnn's state of the union. listen to them all on c-span radio on 95.1 in the disk area