now, he's back at the white house, and there is where we find kristin welker.on allowing the bush tax cuts to expire? they show 60% of the american people according to one measure support doing this. is speaker boehner aware of this public polling do you know? >> reporter: i think republicans are aware of it, martin, but they also argue, look, they have the majority in the house so they still have responsibility to their constituents who don't want them to increase taxes on those making $250,000 or more. but, look, president obama believes that he has the leverage in this situation. that's why his initial offer really drew a hard line by all accounts. republicans balked at that offer, but the president really putting on the full-court press trying to get the public to put pressure on congressional republicans. so he's been inviting stakeholders to the white house all week and then, as you mentioned today, the president traveled to the suburbs of philadelphia to make his case as well. the white house also has this hash tag my2k that they are urging people to log

nbc's kristin welker joins us live from the north lawn. >> hey, michael. >> look, you have spent the weekend talking to former aides and friends of petraeus. what insight have they given you into this rather seamy story? >> reporter: a couple things. first of all, i have spoken to two of his former aides and friends who say they have spoken to petraeus, and he is deeply remorseful about what he has done. one person who spoke with him by phone this weekend says that he knows that he, quote, screwed up. he knows that this is going to be a long road back with his family. he's hoping to heal his family but he also knows he essentially sacrificed what he refers to as the best job he could ever have. that's how general petraeus was feeling this weekend. as for the details coming out of some of those conversations with his former friends and aides, they say this relationship lasted less than a year. it started once he got to the cia. so after he left active duty and ended four months ago. they also insist that jill kelley, who s of course, the wom

let's go to nbc's kristin welker on the scene in chicago. kristin, it's been quite a ride.e saw the president getting teared up last night in iowa. apparently he's been playing some basketball. will it be a slam dunk tonight do you think? >> reporter: well, the obama campaign certainly thinks it will be. they say they are feeling confident about their chances, martin in large part because they say their get out the vote strategy is in place, it's superior to the republican get out the vote strategy. that's what democrats are saying. they like what they have seen so far in terms of early voting, but president obama trying to squeeze the last minutes out of this election day. he stopped by one of his campaign headquarters and urged supporters to get out and vote. really stressed the importance of turnout. that is what this election will be determined by after all. he also is granting a number of interviews to local stations really targeting key battleground states telling one local station in milwaukee that he believes he does, in fact, have the votes to win. vice president b

and here with a preview of the last days of campaigning is nbc's kristin welker who is awaiting the presidentvegas. kristin, we've been hearing some conservatives complain about the president's excellent working relationship with republican new jersey governor chris christie in the aftermath of the storm. how is the white house handling those complaints? >> well, martin, good afternoon. the white house publicly is saying they're not going to comment on the complaints or the president's visit really, what it could mean politically, because they say this is not a time for politics. i can tell you privately though that both democrats and republicans were a little bit surprised by governor christie's tone yesterday. they said he could have thanked the president, but he was really effusive about it. i want to make the important point i spoke to one of my republican sources who lived in the areas that was battered by sandy and he said, look, it is possible that governor christie is just very thankful for the president being there because there are so many people who are suffering. having said that,

president and his challenger are trying to close the deal in all-important ohio today, and nbc's kristin welkeraveling with the president and she joins us now from lima, ohio, with the president speaking right behind her. kristin, a brand new cnn poll has the president at 50%, mr. romney at 47%. how much is the president staking on that state? >> reporter: well, martin, the importance of ohio can't be overstated. as you just pointed out, it is a very close race here. this is the president's firewall in large part because mitt romney is going to have a really tough path to 270 electoral votes without winning ohio. so president obama trying to hold onto this state, in part making the case today about the auto bailout. that is an issue that really resonates with voters, but the president really taking romney to task over his recent claim that jeep is shipping jobs overseas to china. it's a claim the romney campaign is standing by but one that's been smacked down by car executives as well as a number of newspapers here in the buckeye state. so it's a close race. president obama making his closing a

waiting for him will be nbc's kristin welker who is live for us at the white house.erstand earlier today in cambodia the president actually spoke to both israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and egyptian president morsi. can you tell us any more about what happened during those conversations? >> reporter: well, good afternoon, martin. i can tell you president obama, first of all, expressed his condolences to both leaders for the loss of israeli and palestinian life. in talking to president morsi, he also expressed his condolences for the loss of life in egypt due to that train accident. he also stressed the importance of de-escalating violence in gaza, specifically in terms of talking to president morsi. talked about the importance of urging hamas to end its rocket fire that is right now going into israel. he spoke with prime minister netanyahu and also sort of stressed the importance of de-escalating this situation. of course, president morsi has been charged with trying to broker a cease-fire in the region, so i imagine president obama also addressed that as w

that's where we find kristin welker from the white house right now.dition to the turkey parting there was very serious business going on today. incredible diplomatic success for the administration. what's the mood there at the white house? are they confident the cease-fire will hold? >> reporter: good afternoon, karen. first of all, i shouted out a question to president obama during that turkey pardon ceremony, trying to get him to respond for the cease-fire in the middle east. he wouldn't comment. i can tell you privately senior administration officials say they are cautious, they are looking at this cease-fire cautiously. they are, of course, encouraged by the fact that progress has been made. it's very fragile, as any cease-fire is in that region. president obama spoke with prime minister benjamin netanyahu today, reaffirmed the united states' commitment to israel's security. talked about the importance of trying to achieve a long-term or durable solution to this problem. of course, he also spoke with egypt's president morsi, reiterated similar ide

ruth marcus, and kristin welker. kristin what are they saying about the private lunch? not much, i guess? >> reporter: not a lot, andrea. they're tamping down expectations. jay carney saying there's no formal agenda to this lunch. of course president obama, during his victory speech in chicago, said he wanted to sit down, talk to mitt romney about his views how to move the country forward. you have to assume that would include a robust discussion of the fiscal cliff, given that is what lawmakers are talking about now. mitt romney just arrived here. we're not expecting anything huge to come out of this meeting. no appointment. for example, to the cabinet. but the president certainly, i think, hoping to engage in a serious conversation. this, as you point out, will be just the seventh time that these two have sat down after what was really a bruising fight during the election. this is really about sort of striking a tone of bipartisanship, helping these two former rivals to bury the hatchet but helping, i think the country to move forward, especially as we get closer to t

kristin welker is in our washington bureau with more. good morning. >> reporter: general petraeus snuck in and out of the capital on friday, but his testimony is still making waves with lawmakers. some say it only raises more questions about the way the administration landled the benghazi attack. due to the firestorm surrounding his life, reporters were blocked to spare him embarrassment. lawmakers say petraeus testified that the cia immediately believed that terrorists were involved in the september 11 benghazi assault. that is a stark contrast to the account u.n. ambassador susan rice offered in the days after the incident when she said that what happened in benghazi was a spontaneous attack. some lawmakers said the discrepancy was the result of evolving intelligence, while others noted the cia's initial assessment of terrorism was classified and therefore not included in the talking points rice was given. critics of the administration are demanding more answers while others are defending ambassador rice. >> the original talking points

nbc's kristin welker is live at the white house for us.washington after a historic visit to southeast asia. he was the first president to visit myanmar or burma do. does the white house feel it is accomplished some particular goals as far as this trip is concerned? >> reporter: the broader goal of the administration has been to expand its connection, its interest in asia to shift focus away from iraq, afghanistan. of course, the wars there drawing down. this is the serving as a counterweight to china. as you mention, president obama becoming the first president to visit myanmar. some people criticized him for that saying that they have not made enough progress toward democracy but when president obama spoke to the university there, he was very clear. he hailed the steps they have taken, said more needs to be done. he talked about the fact that political prisoners have been released but said, of course, more political prisoners need to be released. that ethnic tensions there still need to be resolved. but he praised the progress they have m

joining us now is nbc white house correspondent kristin welker. general david petraeus step down from the cia. now general allen's nomination to be the supreme commander of nato is on hold. what is the white house saying about general allen's situation, and is it possible that we could lose another senior commander to this scandal? >> well, look, it's certainly possible, but i think that the white house is taking a wait and see approach. today white house press secretary jay carney expressing the fact that the white house, the president, still has confidence in general allen. they want this investigation to play itself out. they're not going to snap to judgment. having said that, martin, i think it's safe to say that the president on down certainly stunned by these developments. not expecting this to be the focus of news reports in the days and weeks after the president gained re-election. so i think the white house is waiting to see how this investigation plays itself out, but they are certainly not pleased by what has been going on which started

role in brokering that cease-fire deal, right to the white house and nbc's kristin welker with a happy thanksgiving and good morning to you. let's get to what you're hearing from the white house following this deal. >> reporter: well, happy thanksgiving to you. good morning. white house officials say they're encouraged by the cease-fire and it's clear will a good thing but also viewing it quite cautiously because it is so fragile. you heard ayman talk about the reasons why it's fragile. the white house incredibly cautious right now as they sort of monitor the situation in the middle east. president obama spent part of yesterday reaching out to leaders in the region, including president mohamed morsi. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, thanked morsi for his efforts to help broker the cease-fire. speaking to the israeli prime minister, president obama reaffirmed the united states and said it would use the moment to help israel strengthen security needs especially dealing with the issue of arms and weapons being smuggled into gaza. president obama in talking to president morsi, ag

. >> kristin welker, thank you.h us this morning, david petraeus is featured in three of your books, you know him, how surprised were you? because i'm guessing you were surprised when you heard this news. >> i have known him for about 13 years. i know paula broadwell as well. i was surprised about dave petraeus himself, personally, but i'm not surprised when we put a human being out in the war zone for six and a half years, subjecting him to enormous pressures, had a bout with cancer, and we're willing to lose an effective general because of consenting behavior with another adult. if we did that to eisenhower, he would have been fired and the war would have lasted longer. so our standards have changed. somehow we care more about personal moral lapses than we do about having effective leaders. and that worries me. >> but is a moral lapse more of a concern when you're dealing with the intelligence community than with the military community? >> my opinion is that paula broadwell looked at his gmail and yahoo account, b

we have correspondents following both campaigns and want to begin with kristin welker in minter, ohio. kristin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, lester. it is really no surprise that president obama is kicking off the weekend here in ohio. this state is really key to his midwest firewall. if mitt romney doesn't win ohio, it is very unlikely that he will hold on to the presidency. according to our latest nbc news "wall street journal" marist poll, president obama has an honest lead here in ohio. let's take a look at the latest numbers. according to our poll, president obama has a six-point lead in the buckeye state, which is unchanged from last month. he's gotten high marks after hurricane sandy with seven in ten voters approving of his handling of the storm and he has a slight edge when it comes to handling the economy. 48% say mr. obama would do a better job compared to 46% who side with romney. on friday, mr. obama made a three-stop blitz here in ohio, staking his closing argument on the auto bailout, which is widely popular here. and which republicans oppose. he also

kristin welker is in our washington bureau with the latest. >> reporter: general petraeus snuck in andtestimony is still making waves with lawmakers, some saying it only raises more questions about the way the administration handled the benghazi attack. we are learning that both women at the center of this scandal have tie tas go all the way to the white house. general david petraeus was whisked to capitol hill friday to testify about the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. due to the fire storm surrounding his life, reporters were blocked inside the building to "spare him embarrassment." >> general petraeus's briefing was comprehensive. i think it was important. >> reporter: but his testimony is raising more questions for some congressional leaders. lawmakers say petraeus testified that the cia immediately believed that terrorists were involved in the september 11 benghazi assault, a stark contrast to the account u.n. ambassador susan rice gave in the days after the incident. >> our current assessment is that what happened in benghazi was, in fact, initially a spontaneous reacti

>> kristin welker in chicago, thank you.his race is expected to be determined by the slimmest of martins. chuck todd is nbc's political director and chief white house correspondent, and this morning he's mapping out what he calls the nightmare scenario that could drag the election into the days and weeks ahead. chuck, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. >> yesterday we ran out of time. if you had a tie of 269-269, show us how that would be possible. >> reporter: let me show you how possible it is. the president won ohio and its 18 votes. you had wisconsin and its 10, either two states they feel good about. that's 269. all you'd have to have is mitt romney get florida, virginia, colorado, iowa, it's very close. the toughest state here to make this se ncenario work would be nevada. it's a state a that a lot of republicans and democrats slightly leans in the democratic category. but it's not an implausible scenario. if nobody got 270 then the house of representatives would decide who the president was, but

. >>> and kristin welker had a late night covering the obama campaign, and she is joining us from chicago. good morning to you. >> good morning to you, savannah. president obama is waking up as a two-term president. so many thought it would not be possible, because of the staggering economy, but many were to rally the core constituents women, african-american voters and those who turned out in force to re-elect him. >> reporter: he walked out with his wife and children by his side to saver his re-election. >> a long campaign is now over. and whether i earned your vote or not, i have listened to you. i have learned from you. and you've made me a better president. >> reporter: the campaign was long and bitter, and the most expensive in history, but the president struck a tone of healing. >> i just spoke with governor romney and i congratulated him and paul ryan on a hard fought campaign. we may have battled fiercely, but it is only because we love this country deeply. >> reporter: the president pledged to meet with mr. romney to come up with ways to bring the country together. at his boston