lady's biggest fray on the international stage and it comes to an aend tomorrow. >> that was kristen welkereporting. >>> for a look at sports, a little giants action, little a's action. >> little of this, little of that. that's what we have here. coming up in sports, we're going to take you live for the update on tomorrow's 350. plus, this. giants and what they did today. could they win another? we'll find out next in sports. >>> good evening, everyone. that five-game losing streak the giants were on, remember? that's a thing of the past now. the g-men have put together good pitching and timely hitting with a sprinkle of surprise, like today. indians and giants, the boys trying to stay hot. scoreless in the seventh. surprise. tony sip is called for a balk. tejada comes in to score. top of the ninth. two outs. bryan wilson in for the safe. travis buck, a fly to center. loses it in the sun, but that's a fabulous catch. they won four in a run. >> matt cane extends his winning streak to four games thanks to an interesting seventh inning as the giants collect their win at home. >> made some good

traveling with them and reporting tonight from johannesburg, nbc's kristen welker. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. there's a lot of excitement and anticipation and excitement surrounding the first lady's trip to botswana. people are telling me they're having a hard time putting their feels into words. michelle obama and her daughters touched down this evening, she is on a mission of diplomacy and goodwill, america's first african-american first lady visiting her ancestral home land. >> this trip to africa, will allow michelle obama to shine on her own. >> reporter: she will highlight her husband's agenda for subsaharan africa. which he mapped out in guyana two years ago. >> development depends on government governance. >> reporter: but it will be mrs. obama's voice that resonate this is week. >> i think it will be a strong symbol to the african-american people that the u.s. administration is very much focussed on african growth and development. >> reporter: mrs. obama will travel from the capital of pretoria to johannsberg to cape town, and s

kristen welker is there for us tonight. >> reporter: a wild end to the first lady's week-long trip in africa. michelle obama and daughters, malia and sasha on a saturday safari. a moment of fun after a trip filled with messages of hope. >> we will be looking to all of you, our young people, to lead the way. >> reporter: the week also marked by iconic moments. the obamas met nelson mandela and together, reached out to south africa's youth. >> you will have to get rid of thing 1 and thing 2 -- >> as fast as i could i went after neigh net. >> reporter: the first daughters seemed to be in the spotlight this week more than ever. >> our overall goal is to make sure that our girls are not in the public eye. this is a rare and important trip and experience for them. >> reporter: prior to this trip, some officials here in africa critiqued the president for not paying enough attention to this region. white house officials say that's unfounded, by they hope the first lady's trip will help advance the president's fricke policies, aimed at promoting stable governments and healthy societies. and re

kristen welker has been traveling with them and today she asked the first lady about that and about meeting with another icon, nelson mandela. >> reporter: take me inside that room, what was it like to be there with him? >> i don't know that it means anything different from me, as an african-american first lady because nelson mandela means so much to so many people. but i feel blessed and it makes me think about the legacy that i need to leave for those that follow. and, again, that's not just because i'm first lady, but because i'm a citizen, i'm a mother. >> reporter: in a recent interview with anne curry, the president said, i'm sure there are days where i say one term is enough. do you ever feel that way? >> i think we have a lot more work to do. so i'm ready for more. i have always enjoyed campaigning because when you are connecting with people, you're reminded what we're doing this for, what the needs are, how good people are. >> but our fish said, no no. >> reporter: we have seen a lot of malia and sasha on this trip, is this a one-time thing that they will be in the spotlight like t

nbc's kristen welker has more tonight from the white house. >> reporter: as the fighting in libya drags on, tensions over the united states involvement there are mounting. >> the white house says there are no hostilities taking place. yet we have got drone attacks underway. >> we don't think it's helpful for congress to send mixed messages. >> reporter: at issue, does president obama need congressional approval to continue the u.s. role in the nato led military effort. the war powers act, enacted during the vietnam war, says the president has to get the green light from congress for military operations lasting longer than 90 days. >> the executive branch has never really acceded to it's constitutionality. >> reporter: in a 32-page report released on wednesday, the white house asserted the u.s. is only providing support is not legally at war. >> our current actions in libya or in this mission do not fall under the war powers resolution because they do not meet the threshold of hostility that's envisioned by the war powers resolution. >> reporter: today house speaker john boehner fired ba

in johannesburg, kristen welker, nbc news. >>> from an astronaut to full-time caretaker. astronaut mark kelly is retiring from nasa and the u.s. navy after 25 years of service. he made the announcement on his facebook page today. kelly plans to spend more time with his wife, congresswoman gabrielle giffords. she's recovering from nearly being killed by a would-be assassin. kelly commanded "endeavour's" final mission not long ago. he said the decision to leave was not easy. the couple is also working on a book, a memoir. will be about their personal and public lives, and part of it will focus on giffords' shooting and recovery. >>> the gay marriage battle we are all familiar with is being fought in new york. new yorkers united for marriage and other groups rallied today outside the state house. inside, republicans and democrats were in the midst of marathon sessions to get deals done so the gay marriage proposal could come to the floor. the issue appears to be one vote short of approval, but it could all come down tomorrow. >>> smokers might not be able to ignore graphic n

nelson mandela, traveling with them and reporting again tonight from johannesberg, kristen welker. >> reporter: good evening. nelson mandela hadn't been in the greatest health so we didn't know if this meeting would happen. earlier today he invited mrs. obama to his johannesberg home and the result? some iconic images. the meeting was brief, but historic. america's first african-american first lady and her daughters, with south africa's freedom fighting, nelson mandela. >> whatever the political differences between these two countries they share a bond, a really painful racial history, and people here would have seen today's meeting as a particularly special moment. >> reporter: 92 years old and in frail health, he spent 20 minutes with the first lady, also showing her his new book. >> i'm very happy that she saw him and that that is indicative, i think, to his state of health. >> he spent 18 years as a political prisoner alongside nelson mandela at robben island which mrs. obama will tour later this week. he gave then senator barack obama, a tour of the prison in 2006, shared his imp

kristen welker traveling with the president with us from san juan. od evening, kristen. >> reporter: good evening. president obama was welcomed with opened arms when he spoke at this airport hangar in san juan. some shed tears. the white house says this is a fulfillment of a campaign promise. a show of support for puerto rico. a traditional spanish greeting marks a new day in puerto rico. president obama becoming the first sitting u.s. president to officially visit since john f. kennedy in 1961. >> when i came here to campaign, i promised that i would return as president of united states. >> reporter: and while throngs of puerto ricans gave him a hero's welcome many say this is a nod to the 4.6 million puerto ricans who live on the u.s. mainland and who now outnumber those living on the island. >> politically, he's really doing a campaign stop for places like illinois and florida. states that have seen a huge increase in the number of puerto ricans moving there and living there. >> reporter: and potentially voting there. in 2008, 67% of hispanics supp

nbc's kristen welker is at the white house. isten, how does the white house make the tough economic numbers work? we heard from david axelrod there. >> reporter: well, richard, one thing you're not going to hear is a mission accomplished speech. we expect the president to acknowledge that the economy is in a tough spot right now, to try to comfort americans. he will also likely reiterate one of the themes that we have heard from this administration which is that recovery takes time. he'll talk about the fact that 2 million jobs have been added over the past 15 months, but there is still a long way to go towards progress and towards t getting americans feeling like they're in a stable spot. on friday, he was touting one of the things he feels worked in the economy, namely the auto bailout. he was in toledo, ohio, at a chrysler plant there, saying the auto bailout has worked. it saved hundreds of thousands of jobs. the auto industry is productive once again. but having said all of this, republicans have wasted no time seizing on t

nbc's kristen welker live for us at the white house. that on the heels of that leaked "new york times" trial balloon of yesterday shows that the president may be leaping much harder toward a larger withdrawal this summer than we thought. also, tell us about what to expect today with chancellor merkel. >> right, chuck. good morning to you. first to start with that "new york times" article, just to put it in perspective, yesterday we learned that there were potentially calls for a secret troop withdrawal from afghanistan. president obama making those comments, the strongest comments he has made yet about the situation in afghanistan, really providing an interesting insight into his mindset as he prepares to make a decision about the pace of troop withdrawals, but white house officials are saying officially that a decision will come fairly soon. just yesterday, the president had his monthly meeting with his national security team and he was briefed by secretary of defense robert gates via video conference about the situation in afghanistan

. >> kristen welker at the white house, thanks so much. >>> the obama administration wants to make theg the post at the white house. gentlemen, it's great to have you here and i want to give you fair warning we are waiting for chancellor angela merkel and president obama to take the microphone and when they do we'll cut away. i don't want to be rude if i cut out of our segment. >> sure. >> julian a tough announcement for the loss of ghooolsbee. we're looking for stability in the white house. how quickly do they need to get a replacement? >> we'll get a replacement. they have gene sperling, president clinton's national led of council. they have an excellent team and record. when obama entered the white house we were at negative 6, we're at a positive 9 swing in two years. we were losing 750,000 jobs a month when he entered and now we're gaining on average 200,000 jobs, a positive swing of a million. when he entered the white house the stock market at 6,000, now at about 11,000, almost a doubling. we have never seen that kind of increase in economic growth, increase in job creation, incr

nbc's kristen welker is traveling with the first lady. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, matt. on thursday i had the chance to sit down and speak with the first lady one on one. we talked about some of the highlights on this trip, including what it was like to meet an icon, south africa's nelson mandela. >> it was surreal. i never imagined in my lifetime that i would have the opportunity to meet, shake hands with, sit in the home of nelson mandela. >> take me inside that room. what was it like to be there with him? >> i don't know that it means anything different for me as an african-american first lady because nelson mandela means so much to so many people, but i feel blessed. and when i look at his legacy, i feel like i need to work hard to live up to it. >> do you think malia and sasha understood how profound that moment was? >> i think malia more so than sasha, because she's older and is studying history. sasha will understand. >> is this a one-time thing of them being in the spotlight? >> you always have the balance of

nbc's kristen welker is at the white house with the latest on that. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lester. this week the white house issued a report justifying u.s. involvement in libya, but house speaker john boehner says the report is not good enough and he's demanding a better explanation today. it has been nearly three months since the united states joined the nato-led air strikes in libya, but now the white house and congress are in a battle of their own. the sticking point, how each side interprets the war powers act, which says a president needs congressional approval for military actions lasting longer than 90 days. in a 32-page report released this week, the white house argued it does not need to comply with the act because the united states is now providing a support role in libya and does not legally at war. >> our current actions in libya or in this mission do not fall under the war powers resolution because they do not meet the threshold of hostilities. as envisioned by the war powers resolution. >> reporter: speaker boe

for today, kristen welker, nbc news. >> dr.she is a psychologist. welcome to both of you. they're thinking nicole is a beautiful young lady. she's the last person on earth who needs liposuction. is this a case of people who are going to just chase perfection too far? >> well, you know, there are so many misunderstandings of liposuction as surgery. it's not to do with overweight or out of shape. >> it's not weight loss. >> no. weight loss is the patient's responsibility. my responsibility is to balance the person's body. nicole is a thin person, in shape. she has a disproportionate areas that she struggles with. >> are you comfortable with this? she has genetically disproportionate areas. is this the same thing as whitening your teeth? >> i'm a big teeth whiter in. but as a psychologist when i have a patient who wants to go get liposuction or mini liposuction we have to talk about psychological factors that are in there. is it a quest for perfection? we look at that, because as you heard, it's a slippery slope. is it a quest for

. >> kristen welker, thank you. >>> back here at home the casey anthony trial resumed on friday with more testimony from her mother, cindy anthony, testified that caylee was able to open a sliding glass door that led to the backyard pool. photos were also shown of caylee climbing into that pool. the defense has argued from the beginning that the toddler accidentally drowned and was not murdered. we're going to have more in our next hour. >>> all right so finally a wayward emperor penguin has turned up in new zealand, of all places. officials are concerned for the penguins's health after it was seen trying to regurgitate something. they think it's about 10 months old. can't tell if it's a male or female. emperor penguins are from antarctica which is about 2,000 miles away. zoo officials are trying to figure out how to get it back home. now over to amy, lester and bill. an emperor without a country. >> oh. >> not so happy feet. >> one more. thomas, thank you. >> bill's back with another check of our forecast. >> good morning, and they talked about the extremes out there. this morning,

nbc's kristen welker is in johannesburg with the latest on this. good morning to you. rmp good morning. we have learned that the first daily michelle obama met with the former president of the south africa nelson mandela. the first time they have met and while details are still trickling in, this is no doubt a monumental start to this trip. a historic moment captured for the world as michelle obama and nelson mandela meet for the first time. her daughters also share the moment. monday night, they arrived accompanied by mrs. obama's mother, her niece and nephew. they got a very warm welcome, malia and sasha given african blankets to guard them from south africa's winter chill. the first daughters have been abroad before, earlier this year they accompanied the president to brazil, met the queen at buckingham palace but this might be their greatest to r esest fo world stage. >> they're celebrities. it will be nice to see the first children of america coming to south africa and actually interacting with -- you know, the continent has never had that chance. >> reporter: the