nbc's norah o'donnell has that story. >> and the -- [ siren ].h-oh. >> reporter: for mitt romney an awkward return to iowa. a fire alarm interrupting the former massachusetts governor's first campaign stop in the hawkeye state this year. >> i wasn't trying to get out of tough questions, i promise. >> reporter: but for romney some tough questions remain, about whether he can compete in a state caucus dominated by conservatives. >> do i think i can win iowa? can i win iowa? [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: in a new poll romney, who officially launches his campaign next week, is trailing former new york mayor rudy giuliani, who hasn't even said he's going to run and many believe has no appetite for a campaign. >> republican voters are as of now dissatisfied with the field of candidates they're being offered. romney, pawlenty, and the rest. >> reporter: which is why so many took notice when texas governor rick perry gave this answer when asked if he was considering a run. >> i'm going to think about it. but i think about a lot of things. >> repor

our report from norah o'donnell. >> hello, ft. campbell. >> reporter: the president and vice president today came to say thank you. >> job well done. job well done. >> reporter: speaking to more than 2,000 soldier who have just returned from afghanistan, president obama praised their extraordinary service and sacrifice. >> we're going to ultimately defeat al qaeda. we have cut off their head. we will ultimately defeat them. >> reporter: and he repeated his intention to start pulling u.s. forces out of afghanistan. >> we're moving into a new phase. starting this summer, we'll begin reducing american forces. >> reporter: this is a big deal for the soldiers here at ft. campbell, kentucky, home of the 101st airborne. few divisions have been called on more in afghanistan than the 101st. it's also home to the night stalkers, the 160est, who flew with the navy s.e.a.l.s in the dark of the night to kill osama bin laden. today, the president met for more than an hour with special ops forces. including members of the navy s.e.a.l. team six.

msnbc's norah o'donnell and time magazine's michael duffy. president alabama stuck with gas prices, a housing market and a jobs outlook that wobet won't be a big selling point a year from now. but the republicans are helping obama. every one of the top candidates comes with a potentially huge flaw. we're putting them in two groups. first the political liabilities that could be deal breakers. with the republican base. romney has romney care. tim pawlenty, cap and trade. mitch daniels, governor of indiana, supported some tax increases. and john huntsman has, too. he was president obama's ambassador to china and been pro gay rights. then there is the list of likely candidates with big personal history flaws. trouble with independents as well as with the g.o.p. base. newt gingrich, on his third marriage. mitch daniels whose wife divorced him, left him with their in our daughters and then returned three years later and then they remarried. and of course donald trump. howard, this is a strange story. let's start with the personal ones and strange f

>> norah o'donnell at the white house for us. norah, thank you so much, appreciate it. >>> residents of the abottabad, pakistan, where bin laden lived until commandos made a daring assault on the compound are expressing shock today after learning that the terror chief lived among them. they had no idea that their quiet city where thousands of pakistani soldiers are based is the hiding place for the world's most wanted man. ta zene asooen tazeen ahmad has more. >> reporter: we have been driving around and seeing check point after checkpoint, and a mile down the road is the elite military academy. it is the west point of the usa. and in that direction just half a mile is osama bin laden's house. i wandered down that way earlier today and i walked around the area. it is down a dirt track and a newly developed area and several plots around the house that are still not built on. they are half-built houses that are surrounding osama bin laden's house which stands out not just because of the size, because it is huge in the area, and the

i'm norah o'donnell in for chuck todd and savannah guthrie. let's get to the rundown. president obama will soon board air force one for his trip to new york city. savannah guthrie is travel with the president and is live at andrews air force base. what do we expect the president to do today at ground zero? >> well, good morning, norah. this will be a rather short trip. the president will be laying a wreath at ground zero. he will not be make a speech there. he will meet with family members. there may be a point where we hear from the president while he is in new york city, but it seems that aides have, while they wanted to pay homage to ground zero during this momentous week when osama bin laden was put to death at the hand of u.s. s.e.a.l.s, they don't want to create this into a political event. as you know, we've reported that both former president george w. bush and former president clinton were invited to attend today as a part of that spirit of unity that the president is trying to create. however, both of them were unable to come because of scheduling conflicts.

our coverage begins with msnbc chief washington correspondent norah o'donnell. she's live in ft. campbell, kentucky. norah, all that private sector job growth that was the focus of the conversation earlier in the day still exists but now we have the president shifting his focus to the attention of our men and women in uniform, including some of the very service members who were involved in the mission to kill osama bin laden. so how many people is the audience going to have there with the president today? >> reporter: yeah, good day to you, thomas. we're at a hangar here in ft. campbell, kentucky. more than 2,000 expected to pack this hangar to hear not only the president but the vice president is going to join president obama. ft. campbell, kentucky, is home of the 121st airborne division and there's no division that has probably served so much in afghanistan as the 101st. this is also the home of the knight stalkers, the 160th. those are the guys that helped fly in the navy s.e.a.l.s in that nighttime raid to kill osama bin laden. so as soon as the president and vice president g

howard fineman, katty kay, norah o'donnell, and michael duffy. that's the show.nks for watching. we'll see you back here next thanks for watching. we'll see you back here next week. fixing the name. it's fiber none. looks like one. well, i know. i put an "n" there. ah! fiber one honey clusters cereal! that's really good! it tastes good, so there can't be fiber in it! it's actually got about half a day's worth of fiber. [ asst mgr ] it says so right on the box. [ fiber seeker ] really? try it. [ mr. mehta ] honey, touch of brown sugar, crunchy clusters -- any cardboard? cardboard no, delicious yes. so where's the fiber? maybe it's in the honey clusters. [ male announcer ] fiber one. cardboard no, delicious yes.

famous players despite having superstars like louis figure when steve mcmahon a man at his side norah o'donnell was defeated by the team caucasus to. be back with a recap of the top stories in a couple of minutes stay with us. some . of. your thoughts going to. this street studentships secrets of the times and reveal versions of the soviet files on oxy. emission free cretaceous free. fortune.

world he created a special section for to cover the death of obama now on twitter and he sees norah o'donnell also got her obama names confused she tweeted that obama had been shot and killed her jim but jim had tweeted that osama was shot and killed. so those are just a few of the errors of the media made during the breaking news coverage and yes it's breaking news mistakes happen but this was a really bad time to make your ss and your be very all the recent budget cuts i think i mean that a lot of the t.v. networks decided that their copy of theirs were a job position that could be cut back and that's why the mainstream media is tonight's tool time when her purse screwing up the osama bin ladin story with really really down the sikhs. artist time for showing talents night's program last time we told you the mega search engine google is stepping in when it comes to patrolling for piracy are removing questionable sites from search results but this is an issue that search engines are really taking on themselves we wanted to know if you thought that this if this is a problem excuse me the googl

norah o'donnell is in moneygall this morning.eporter: [ speaking gaelic ] irish eyeses a are smiling and people here are thrilled president obama has irish roots and will visit his ancestral home. ♪ >> reporter: in the heart of ireland is the tiny town of moneygall. >> it turns out that i have irish heritage. [ cheers and applause ] >> i do. >> we are the guys who put the o in obama and made him irish. >> reporter: his hometown so small it's a block long. population, 300. why were you surprised? >> he doesn't look like anyone in moneygall. >> reporter: this place got a fresh coat of paint and obama cafe. >> why are you excited about? >> it's barack obama. like the most famous person on earth. >> reporter: henry healey is obama's 8th cousin. >> 1850, barack obama's grandfatherer clo closed the do left for the united states. >> reporter: obama's ancestors worshipped at this church. records show they were shoemakers. >> that would have meant they were better off than most people in the area who were bringing help to the suffering. >