let's go right away to copenhagen and jim maceda. jim, bring us up to date on how you think this decision was made. clearly, it was an attempt to give south america its first opportunity, first opportunity to host a global games for the olympics. >> it was that, andrea. no one didn't do anything wrong. chicago didn't make any mistakes, no one thinks. this was a four-horse race and it went into a two-horse race. we thought it would be rio and chicago, but chicago just came up short. rio has a lot going for it. most of all, it has the geopolitical card to play. it played it dramatically. and every occasion the rio team would hold up this map. the map of the world with little red pins sticking into every place where there had been a previous olympic games and you would always see how blank the south american continent was. the president of brazil came in here two days ago and was very passionate and very articulate saying we need these games. it is our time. it is brazil's time and south america's time and it is rio's time. in fact, he c

back to you. >> all right, jim maceda there. m now, jim warn, of course, from chicago, one of our msnbc contributors. jim, i want to touch on what the first lady said in a speech in copenhagen today. she said, "it's a sacrifice", used the word sacrifice" to travel to europe to pitch for the olympics but i'm doing it for the kids." and she talked about how athletics is becoming more of a threating opportunity, funds dry up, harder for kids to participate in sports, even ride a bike, mentioned childhood obesity, all those things. powerful with the committee there? >> first of all, not sure about the sacrifice, wasn't exactly like she was flying southwest and changing in dallas and going to the capital, development it is a high priority for the olympics, something that los angeles claims are the big success over the last 20 years after it is running the summer olympics. and you perhaps underscore you have some of these venues in chicago, proposed venues right in the middle of some of the most above rushed neighborhoods in the united

for more, let's go to nbc's jim maceda, who's in copenhagen. jim? >> hi, alex and david. greetings from copenhagen, and it certainly seems like the fist lady and who somewhere calling the second lady, oprah winfrey, are getting top billing here by the danish media. i mean, every single step they take in public has become big headlines here. i was standing last night outside of the rope line with a group of danish spectators who were there to see vips, but really when you ask them who they really came to say, they all said to a man and woman, oprah winfrey and michelle obama. but whether these two mega stars will have any affect, any ability to sway the opinion not of the public but of the ioc votes that are needed by the chicago bid team to win, that remains to be seen. of course, president obama's arrival tomorrow, friday morning, at least for the chicago bid team, could be a game-changer. they certainly see it as such. but amongst the danes, there seems to be a mixed feeling. many of them see -- are excited really about the arrival of the u.s. president. such a transfor

. >> nbc's jim maceda is live in copenhagen.e critics who are upset that he is personally going to copenhagen given what's on his plate. there are other leaders of count count countrys that are. >> reporter: absolutely. tony blair was instrumental in bringing the games to london, vladimir putin bringing the winter 2014 games. and now it seems it's becoming routine for heads of state to do this kind of lobbying. the 2016 games are no exception. to give you an idea, spain's king juan carlos and the spanish prime minister is here, pushing for madrid. japanese prince and prime minister also just arrived. brazil's president, a very vocal, arrived yesterday. he is pushing, of course, rio's bid. there are many other city bid representatives who have told me personally that they plan their strategy for 2016 around the almost certainty that president barack obama would, indeed, be arrival here. there's so much at stake in winning these games. expe experts say if, in fact, obama didn't come that chicago could lose a very precious votes, j

. >> jim maceda, thanks. >>> let's bring in representative jan who joins us live from chicago where i know it is very loud right now congresswoman so thanks for joining us. how much of a boon was this last-minute edition of the president coming in? how big for chicago was that, do you think? >> i think it shows the commitment of the city of chicago to welcome the games here. the fact the president and the first lady went they want to bring the olympics to their neighborhood. the people of all sorts are out today. this is chicago. you know? we represent people from all over the globe ready to welcome the world in every single language because we're an immigrant friendly city. we celebrate our diversity and everybody is out here today biting their fingernails! >> congresswoman, let me ask you about rio. because what we're hearing now is that it looks to be a two-city race between chicago and rio. we've got live pictures there. i don't know if we can throw those up to show the celebrations in rio as they hope for the same thing you guys hope for. what does chicago have to offer that rio

nbc's jim maceda joins us live from copenhagen this morning where the international olympic committee is weighing its options. jim? >> reporter: hi there, mika. that's right. it's all kind of happening behind me in this nonscript ioc center. it truly is crunch time. we saw president obama, the first u.s. president ever to risk get can into the fray on this kind of olympics negotiation, arrive on air force one this morning, driving directly to this building behind me, and making his personal appeal. introduced by the first lady michelle obama, who was appropriately dressed in stunning gold, you might like to know. and it really -- from my point of view, it sounded like a yin yang presentation. michelle obama really appealing to the heart, at times extremely emotional, talking about how she was inspired by olympics -- by the olympics, by watching the games on tv as a child, sitting on her dad's knee, never believing that someday the games could come to her hometown of chicago. and her father -- i'm sorry. barack obama appealing more to the head, making a very strong case, a logical case

jim maceda, nbc news, copenhagen. >> you know what's interesting, mika, "chicago tribune" poll found half of chicagoans don't want the olympics. >> they're the same as new york. nobody wants it. >> heads the committee of dead fish. >> listen, we need the jobs. coming up next, a look at what's making headlines in papers from around the country. plus why hollywood is defending film director roman polanski, accused of a sex crime. i believe he admitted to it. keep it right here on "morning joe." excellence is right on time. it's gmc truck month. shop sierra 1500 slt with the 403 horsepower 6.2 liter v8. it's the most powerful half ton v8 in its class. step up to the best. it's gmc truck month. get 0% apr for 60 months on 2009 gmc sierra or get $6,000 total cash back on select 09 sierra 1500 extended and crew cabs in stock. see your gmc dealer today. >>> isn't that a pretty shot from chopper 4? thanks, chopper 4. welcome back to "morning joe." it is 6:30 on the east coast. time for a look at some of the day's top stories. three earthquakes in two separate parts of the world are being bla