kristen welker is live for us this friday on the the white house. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. how are you in. >> very well. republicans promising to prevent $600 billion in cuts and set to kick in in 2013 with the president vowing to veto. are we looking at another battle? >> we quite possibly are. the president has been adamant that he is going to veto any sort of effort to try to get it delayed. you have a number of senators, john mccain and lindsay graham saying they are working on

kristen welker, nbc news, washington. >>> and coming up next here tonight, proof that happiness is aarm beagle. trust us, we saved the best in our show for last. >>> and finally tonight, dog lovers, this one's for you. we're thinking we may gain a few more dog lovers after you see this next story. thanks to a special holiday delivery at l.a.x., dozens of dogs who spent their whole lives trapped in cages are getting their first taste of freedom. they flew halfway around the world to get here in search of new homes and some new best friends too this thanksgiving. here's nbc's miguel almaguer. >> reporter: just in time for the holiday, a special arrival at l.a.x. >> okay, baby doll. >> reporter: 40 beagles rescued from a research lab in spain, headed to foster homes in los angeles for a second chance at life. >> these dogs have lived their entire lives being poked, prodded, opened up, cut open, sewn, and now they get to be free. >> reporter: but these beagles and the dogs rescued before them have never known what freedom is. >> everybody is loaded and we are headed somewhere where we ca

>> kristen welker back at the white house tonight. kristen, thanks. >>> at the other end of pennsylvania avenue today, after that special congressional deficit committee, the so-called super committee failed to come to a deal, it looks like congress is willing to compromise on at least a few things that americans might notice. our report on that from nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: out of the dysfunction of the failed super mmittee that did nothing about the country's long term debt, today a glimmer of bipartisan agreement on two issues that could directly affect your wallet. unemployment benefits are about to run out for about 2 million out of work. and this year's payroll tax cut is about to expire. >> we can't let that happen. not right now. it would be bad for the economy. it would be bad for employment. >> reporter: today the president pushed hard to extend that tax cut into next year. >> if congress refuses to act, middle class families are going to get hit with a tax increase at the worst possible time. >> conservative and

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kristen welker is at the white house and luke russert and our democratic candidate from south carolina kristen, the protesters booing the president, do we know who they were? >> we do. they were basically occupy wall street protesters. it was difficult to hear what they were saying. they were saying mr. obama, 4,000 peaceful protesters have been protested while they destroy the economy. we have audio of it. let's play that and i will talk to you on the other side. take a listen. >> i appreciate you making your point. let me make mine, all right? i will listen to you and you listen to me.ç >> so the president there saying okay, i heard you and now let me make my point. he tried to empathize with the occupy wall street protesters, but he was there in new hampshire and politically important state. not only the first republican primary state, but an important battle ground state. president obama won the state back in 2008 and right now polls show him about ten points behind mitt romney in a matchup. mitt romney by the way according to the latest polls is letting his republican challengers

kristen welker is traveling with the president from the beautiful setting of hawaii. a surprise? were they expecting the court to take the place? >> to your point, it is absolutely beautiful here. to your second point, they were expecting this. they were anticipating this and white house officials released a statement asking the supreme court to take it up. it has been weighed in a number of courts across the country that were dwighted on the constitutionality. it was just a matter of time before it went to the supreme court. what's interesting about the announcement is that we are also get alg clims into how the case will be carried out. it will allot 5 1/2 hours to hear arguments, far more than the hour they usually give. it speaks to how significant this case is. legal analysts say this is the most significant case since bush v. gore in 2000. that was the deciding factor that put in the white house. >> i'm sure it won't surprise you that speaker boehner hopes the supreme court will overturn this legislation. i wonder if i can ask, give e given the political leaning

kristen welker is on the north lawn. kristen, what's the administration saying? >> reporter: good evening, lester. the white house is being quite measured in its response, in part because white house officials don't have all of the facts right now. and also because the u.s. relationship with pakistan is so incredibly complicated. here's what white house officials had to say earlier today in a statement that we have saying "senior u.s. we civilian and military officials have been in touch with their pakistani counterparts from islamabad, kabul and washington to express our condolences, our desire to work together to determine what took place, and our commitment to the u.s.-pakistan partnership". now still some analysts say that this whole incident might put is back to square one, back to the days right after osama bin laden was killed. now, secretary of state hillary clinton visited pakistan last month and urged top officials there to get tough on militants. some analysts believe this latest incident could undo any gains that were made during that visit. now, anal

>> kristen welker live there in honolulu, what wh honolulu, hawaii, with the president. >>> we're just getting this in. just learned the supreme court will be taking up the issue of the health care reform wall from the obama administration, discussing whether or not it is constitutional or not. we'll have more on this very topic. again, the supreme court deciding to take and hear this case. we'll have that in about 30 minutes for you. >>> also want to bring in our special guest on the topic that kristen welker was talking about, waterboarding and the debate over the weekend. bring in "new york times" columnist nick chrisoff and ezra klein. good morning to you both. nick, i heard the president in his comments about water boarding being torture. let's listen to how they belt with that first. >> i would return to that policy. i don't see it as torture. i see it as an enhanced interrogation technique. >> if i were president i would be willing to use waterboarding. i think it was very effective. it gained information for our country. >> all right. and then after that, nick, on "meet the pre

kristen welker is traveling with secretary clinton and has more from the capital. >> reporter: secretary of state hillary clinton arrives here in myanmar on wednesday making her the first secretary of state to visit this country which is also known as burma in more than half a century. and another first, she will meet with aung san suu kyi who is the nobel peace laureate and was a political prisoner here for more than a decade until she was released last year. aung san suu kyi is the head of the pro-democracy opposition movement and according to members of her party she's expected to announce her re-entry into politics here. now about two weeks ago president obama announced that he was sending secretary clinton here to myanmar because he'd seen flickers of progress which include the fact that the government has opened up a dialogue with aung san suu kyi, has released some of its other political prisoners and has eased some restrictions on the media. but he said this country still has a long way to go in part because it still has an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 political prisoners because it

>> nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker joining me now. the president continuing to hammer republicans for blocking the jobs bill. >> reporter: that's right, he certainly is, craig, calling them out by name today. this is a tactic we've seen him take before, but it was certainly no holds barred today when he spoke in front of the key bridge in georgetown. really two prongs to this speech. the policy element. president obama making the case that if congress passes the infrastructure portion of the american jobs act, it will put construction workers back to work on projects like repairing the key bridge, which right now is set for construction in 2015. the president making the argument that if congress passes the infrastructure portion of the jobs act construction will begin much sooner, 2013, and then there's the political element going after congress and calling them out by name. a lot of folks looking at this saying this is president obama running against a do-nothing congress. the white house has pushed back against those types of claims

nbc's kristen welker is at the white house for us this morning. the president is going to be speaking in less than an hour. give us a briefing about what he's going to talk about today. >> reporter: good morning, thomas. he's going to do a couple of things. first he's going to call on congress to pass the portion of his american jobs act that will provide tax breaks for companies who hire veterans. and the second part of what he's going to be doing is basically to announce two new presidential actions. as you know he's been rolling out he's presidential actions basically saying that if congress is not going to act on his american jobs act he is going to act to try to put americans back to work. as you know, republicans basically have been accusing him of playing politics for this. but today's actions are twofold. first he's going to announce a veteran gold card, which will essentially give veterans the ability to have six months of training, career, counseling at a career center to basically help them get back to the workfor workforce. the second

nbc's kristen welker is standing by. we just heard from the president there. what else does the president have on his agenda for the week? >> he'll be talking jobs, of course, throughout the week on tuesday. he heads to philadelphia for an event there. wouldn't be surprised if he rolled out at least one more executive action before the week's end. and then remember towards the end of the week, he heads to san diego for the carrier classic and then to apec which is in honolulu, hawaii. we'll be traveling with him there where, of course, they'll be talking about the global economy, but the economy here in the united states, of course, will be front and center in the president's mind as he heads overseas. so we'll be tracking all of that. but as you mentioned, craig, these initiatives are against the backdrop of one year out now to the 2012 re-election campaign. by the white house's own admission, a lot of these executive actions are going to have a small impact. we'll have an impact, but it will be a small impact. for that reason, republicans have accused the pr

. >>> nbc's kristen welker is at the white house. >> how are you?these interviews are the latest in his media blitz. what can we expect to see from the president in the coming days? >> well, the short answer is really more of the same. the white house thinks this we can't wait initiative is really working. so they are going to continue with it. some political analysts have pointed out it's given the president a consistent message that's really resonate with people especially his democratic base. so you're going to see the president do a lot more of this. as you mentioned today, he's going to have that media blitz with a lot of local stations. a number of them from battleground states in fact. and then later today he's going to sign a proclamation declaring ft. monroe army base in virginia a national monument. so what that means is basically it will have to undergo preservation. and in that process, the white house will argue people will be put back to work. by some estimates, as many as 3,000 people. then tomorrow, he's going to hold another event a

nbc's kristen welker starts us off tonight from the white house with more. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening. this endorsement doesn't really guarantee anything. but in this crowded and volatile race, every little bit helps. citing his record of helping balance the budget while serving as house speaker in the '90s, the union leader editorial is a shot in the arm for the latest republican front-runner. newt gingrich is by no means the perfect candidate, but republican primary voters too often make the mistake of preferring an unattainable ideal to the best candidate who is actually running. drew kline, the editorial page editor, dismissed former massachusetts governor mitt romney as a play it safe candidate. >> he doesn't want to offend everybody or anybody. he wants to be liked. he wants to try to reach out and be very safe, reach out to everybody, bring everybody on board. imagine that that would be like as president. >> reporter: in the past 30 years, "the union leader" only supported two republican candidates who went on to win their

our report tonight from nbc's kristen welker. >> reporter: with his poll numbers down in new hampshire, president obama took his anti-congress campaign and tried to win back support. >> if your members of congress aren't delivering, have you to send a message. make sure they're listening. tell them, don't be a grinchs. >> reporter: but he found himself under attack from mitt romney, who hasn't even won his own party's nomination. romney released this $134,000 commercial in the granite state, slamming the president for his handling of the economy. president obama's campaign says this line from the ad is out of context. >> if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> here's the original. >> senator mccain's campaign actually said and i quote, if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> reporter: mr. obama's campaign called the romney ad deceitful and dishonest. romney's camp issued this defense. candidate obama criticized his opponent for not wanting to talk about the economy. today president obama and his campaign are afraid to talk about the economy.

pakistan casualties. >>> the government called it unprovoked, intolerable and indiscriminate. >>> kristen welkerthe white house dealing with all of this tense situation? >> reporter: good morning again, alex. the white house officials are being incredibly measured had their response to this incident in pakistan. in part,because they don't have all of the facts right now and in part, because the relationship between the united states and pakistan is so incredibly complicated. white house officials say that president obama has been updated regularly by his national security advise or tom donl and say that top officials reached out to the pakistani counterparts to express condolences and to express support for any investigation getting under way. the state and defense departments also released this statement. we do have a graphic of it. secretaries clinton and panetta have been closely monitoring reports of the -- both express condolences for the loss of life and support the intention to investigate. one analyst says this could be a catastrophic blow to u.s. reels with pakistan. it's already been a

nbc's kristen welker live at the white house. ts to the defense budget that are scheduled to kick in in january of 2013. the president vowing to veto any attempt to derail those cuts. what's next? >> reporter: well, looks like we could be headed for another standoff, craig. you have republicans saying that they're actually starting to draw up legislation to try to get around those deep cuts and defense spending. legislators like john mccain, lindsey graham saying they've already put the wheels in motion. on the other hand, you have democrats saying, look, we're not going to agree to anything that only cuts domestic spending. and the president is saying, look, i'm going to veto anything that tries to get around these cuts. so already a lot of tension building up. the white house also making the point that, look, these cuts don't go into effect until 2013. so there's still plenty of time to try to find the balanced approach to deficit reduction. what's interesting, craig, is that congress wrote this into law in the first place, now

kristen welker has details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, carl. the first family will be celebrating thae ining thanksgit the white house. republican candidates are pausing to observe the holiday. but on wednesday, time to talk turkey. >> you are hereby pardoned. >> reporter: president obama pardoned the national thanksgiving turkey on wednesday, but not as kind to congress. >> recently, i've been taking a series of executive actions that don't require congressional approval. well, here is another one. we can't wait to pardon these turkeys. >> reporter: the first family later reached out to those in need at a local food bank. the images, a stark contrast to the combative tone on the republican campaign trail. >> iowa is wide open, and anybody who tells you it isn't or they know what's going to happen is blowing smoke. >> reporter: stomping in iowa, mitt romney took a shot at the latest front-runner, newt gingrich, for suggesting that he would not expel all long-time illegal immigrants. >> those people who have come to the country illegally shouldn

kristen welker is at the white house with details on that. ten, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, matt. president obama has never made a secret about his struggle to quit smoking. he and the first lady have discussed it publicly but it seems now it's a habit he may have finally put out. president obama insisted his bad habit was a thing of the past last week on jay leno. >> talk about some lighter stuff, dealing with the pressure of being president. i know you quit smoking. >> i did, i did, definitively. >> reporter: now the president's got the medical records to prove it. according to a physical released monday, mr. obama is tobacco free, that's a marked difference from last year's medical report which listed the president as taking nicotine replacement therapy, suggesting he was still in the process of giving up smoking. a long struggle which the president has openly discussed. >> look, i've said before that as a former smoker, i constantly struggle with. have i fallen off the wagon sometimes, yes. >> reporter: it's a habit the

>> kristen welker reporting this morning, thanks a lot. happy thanksgiving to you. >>> let's go over to the news desk. natalie has a check of the top stories of the morning. good morning to you. >> good morning matt and ann and good morning, everyone. massive protests continue in cairo's tahrir square. they have the country's military seeking an exit strategy this morning. this as three american students are detained by officials there for allegedly joining those protesters. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in tahrir square with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. u.s. embassy officials in cairo are meeting with them today and were present yesterday as they were questioned by egyptian authorities for allegedly throwing molotov cocktails at security forces. on the ground, clashes are continuing today, as the egyptian military is seeking to deescalate this crisis, offering to hold early presidential elections. many political parties in this country are accepting that compromise, but here in the square, t

. >> luke russert and kristen welker, thank you very much for joining us. stay with us. much more on the growing uc davis protests and the weekend's top lines coming up. >> four women and similar circumstances. >> how did you get? >> oh, i'm sorry, is it 9-9-9? you ready for your present? yeah. all right, i'll be right back. okay. ♪ [ male announcer ] sometimes the giving can be just as amazing as the gift. what do you think? [ laughs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer for exclusive lease offers like a complimentary first month's payment on the 2012 ct 200h. is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain... two pills can last all day. ♪ ♪ ♪ ...don't matter what you saying. ♪ ♪ don't matter what you do. ♪ my heart is yours for keeping. ♪ ♪ do with it what you choose. ♪ and you ooohoohooh... ♪ you are my heart... [ male announcer ] vera wang love. ♪ oh yes you do... the new

kristen welker is live in hawaii. and the president is announcing a new directive aimed at the health care industry. kristen, explain more about that for us. i know it's very early. >> it is very early here. hi, good morning to you, thomas. this is the white house rolling out the latest we can't wait initiative. here's what the key components look like. it's a billion dollars to hire, drain, and deploy health care workers essentially. the idea is that it will speed up and really improve health care for patients, specially those on medicare and medicaid. now, this is, of course, the white house's latest we can't wait initiative. they have been rolling out several of these over the past several weeks. some of them include help for homeowners who are struggling. others include help for folks struggling to pay off their student loans. that type of thing. this is really the president drawing battle lines with congress saying that if you're not going to act to pass my jobs bill, i'm going to take action without you. it's, of

>> nbc's kristen welker at the house. >>> keep it here. we'll bring you the president's speech live from the granite state in the next hour. >>> new video of three americans, one of them from indiana, arrested in egypt for allegedly throwing molotov cocktails during the country's explosive and deadly uprising. one of those students is 21-year-old luke gates of american university. his family telling nbc news they have been in touch with the state department. this as more violence erupts in tahrir square during the so-called million-man rally. angry mobs hurling rocks at riot squads and getting a barrage of tear gas in the face. nbc's richard engel joins us live from cairo with an update. richard, how have things changed over the last 24 hours? >> reporter: well, the last 24 howevers, there's been a radical change here in tahrir square. yesterday, there was a lot of violence, lots of clashes and relatively small crowds. now the crowds are absolutely enormous. i would say it's several hundred thousand people. the protesters wanted to have a

kristen welker is there with the president listening to the very same speech with us.oint when we look at this speech as you've been following the president here, kristin, is this important relationship that the united states has had and continues to have with australia in the balance of power in the austra asia region, used very commonly there in the region showing how close australia really is to many of the asia-pacific countries where there are some security concerns. >> reporter: that's absolutely right. and richard, in this speech, you really heard him hone in and focus on the strong alliance the united states has had with australia really throughout time when it comes to military issues. of course, he is here also marking the 60th anniversary of the military alliance between the united states and australia. the two corrupts have fought together in every major war since world war i. that was a major theme in his speech as was the shift we've been talking about in foreign policy for the united states away from the wars in iraq and afghanistan and towards the asia-

our kristen welker joins me live from the white house. new hampshire, an important election state, but not an easy one for the president either. >> reporter: that's absolutely right. it is a politically important state, richard. president obama will be speaking at a high school in manchester in just a short while. as you said, he will be calling for an extension of payroll tax cuts, also an extension of unemployment insurance. both are a part of his american jobs act which is largely stalled in congress right now. but the political backdrop to this trip is hugely significant. this is a swing state that president obama won back in 2008. and now according to some of the latest polls, he's actually trailing mitt romney by about ten points. mitt romney really seizing on that momentum. as you mentioned earlier in the broadcast, richard, he released that attack ad today in new hampshire which essentially hammers president obama for his handling of the economy. the obama campaign has already fired back saying that the ad really misquotes preside