if you compare it to a vibrant city like rangoon, that is a thriving, civil society and long-standingulture and wonderful architecture and this is a city that they built really out in the middle of nowhere in many respects. there's more development. i was here last year. just in the last year there's been more construction, but it is not nearly the size and population and the long-standing history that you will find in rangoon and mandalay and parts of the country that have captivated the world for so long. they're working at developing their own character here, but they have a long way to go to meet the standards of some of the more thriving capitals of pasts like mandalay and rangoon which i know you yourself hold dear. >> indeed i do. i cannot tell you how much i appreciate you getting up at this insanely hour. [ speaking foreign language ] >> it's very good talking to you. >> coming up, winter has come early and can even bring snow to parts of the south. more on that next. than ever why now is the best time to be on verizon. one: verizon's the largest, most reliable 4g lte network

on had his list of stops, beijing, rangoon and brisbane, australia. on his agenda is the economy. take a listen. >> over the next five years, nearly half of all economic growth outside the united states is projected to come from right here in asia. that makes this region an incredible opportunity for creating jobs and economic growth in the united states. >> nbc's ian williams is live in beijing. why is this trip so significant in. >> hi, milissa, well coming to this part of the world, china, the pacific rim is always important. politically, economically. but i think the timing this time is very significant, coming so soon after the political battering which the president took last week. here his rivals and his allies will be asking what impact that will have on his ability to do business overseas, on his foreign policy, on his ability to represent robustly american interests, particularly against china and also to represent and to push the interests of his allies. now, he turned up this morning, arriving here in beijing to blue skies. that's pretty incredible. and it was only ach

a three-nation tour of beijing, rangoon. and australia. kristen welker is live in beijing. why is this trip so important? >> betty, good morning. this is president obama's sixth trip to asia, his second this year. the focus of this trip will be trade, the economy and also restarting his so-called pivot to asia. critics have said that other crises have made asia an afterthought. it's been a busy day filled with high level talks including his first meeting on chinese soil. the president came baring gifts. he announced a a new visa agreement aimed at making travel easier and generating big dollars for both countries. it comes on the heels of good news. north korea releasing the two remaining detainees. in remarks earlier today, the president praised the release but it's going to take more than that to ease tensions between the two nations. that will undoubtedly be a big topic of conversation over the next two days, as will china's record on human rights. that's a concern for the united states. president obama rounds out his trip in uaustralia for the g-20 summit. no plans for

it is wonderful to be back in rangoon and to once more have the opportunity to spend time with aung san suu kyi. as we know, it was in this house that she endured years of confinement, never giving up hope, never wavering in her determination to build a free and democratic burma. you helped set this country on a better path. i'm grateful for your friendship and for the hospitality that you have shown in opening your home up not only to me, but to all these people. when i first made my historic visit to burma, this country was just taking preliminary steps towards democracy. and in the past two years, important changes have been made. the economy has begun to grow. political prisoners have been set free. there are more newspapers and media outlets. children have been released from the military, and these are all important changes that have opened up greater opportunity for the people of burma. at the same time, as aung san suu kyi just said, it's clear how much hard work remains to be done, and that many difficult choices still lie ahead. the process for reform is by no means complete or

it is a spirit of young men and women in kuala lumpur and rangoon who are participating in our young southeast asian leaders initiative. unlike you, they're ready to leave. the young woman with an idea who dreams of starting her own business, if she just has the network and capital, america wants to be her partner. we believe in the entrepreneur that you can be, the innovations you can spark, and the jobs you can create. when you succeed, we will all the more prosperous. to the young man working late in the clinic tending to the patient who dreams of preventing diseases, if i just had the resources, we want to be your partner. we believe in the attic it that you can be in the families you can reach and the lives you can save. when you succeed, our world will be better. to the young woman tired of the tensions in her community who dreams of helping her neighbors see beyond differences, if she could just start a dialogue, if she knew others had walked the same path, america wants to be her partner. we believe in the activist you can be and the empathy you can build and the understandin

alumnifor our friend and derek mitchell in rangoon, senior officials dropped this. i am not talking about civil society engagement, i am talking about senior u.s. officials. they just put this on the scoreboard. been probably should have a high level of sustained engagement, not just to turn the corner with myanmar, but to make -- i amwere engaging achievedwe could have a full free election in 2015, but you look at the range of i thinkhat we have,--- we would have benefited from more high-level engagement. >> thank you. first, you mentioned that the imf board of reform is jeopardizing u.s. legitimacy or leadership in the region. can you give examples of how and what that is costing the u.s.? also, you said the u.s. needs a comprehensive strategy on ozzie asean.n can you explain what that would mean and what it would look like? >> the reform was something that the u.s. champion in 2010 at the korea summit. because itt recognized that for the imf to continue to be an effective , global economic governance, the ability to do surveillance and monitoring of economic poli

he's in rangoon, burma, this morning. and maybe reuniting with al qaeda. >> i saw that.. they got together and they said, you know what? we threw you out, isis says of al qaeda. we threw you out awhile back because you weren't up to our standards. welcome to the club. >> we turn now to heather childers who has some more headlines for us. i'm just so happy to keep looking over. >> we're once again glad to have you back. you mentioned this a moment ago, this tiger. forget werewolves in london. there is a tiger on the loose in paris. look at that. wildlife experts, police, all of them along with specially trained hunting dogs on the hunt for this big cat spotted in a very small town just a few miles from disneyland paris. officers armed with tranquilizeer guns combing the country is unclear where the animal came from. but there is a wildcat preserve nearby. >>> one army veteran's wife is told not to cash any more disability checks because her husband is dead. one problem, though. he's very much alive. he's right there. julie brenner says the v.a. sent her this letter apolog

he will take part in a town hall meeting in rangoon. on saturday and subpoenaed he will be at the brisbane meeting. continuing coverage of the president's trip here on the -span network. >> this sent about an hour and 10 minutes. >> we can go ahead and get started this morning. good morning, and welcome, everyone, to "governing magazine's" briefing on the state and local elections. i'm executive editor of "governing." there has been plenty to discuss this week with republicans taking control of the senate and gaining their largest majority in the house since world war ii. this morning we want to focus as we always do here at governing at what's going on at the state and local level. the governor's races, blot initiatives, as well as local elections and measures that will have an impact across the country next year and in years to come. to help us make sense of all that, we have a great panel this staffers governing and contributing writers. jacobson, a frequent contribute tore to .governing" and governing.com lou, how did tuesday's resu

you know, signature achievements of the pivot and then except for our friend and csis alumnus in rangoon, state officials in the white house dropped this. now the president is going, in my sense -- i'm not talking civil service engagement or colleagues at the table. i think they put this on the scoreboard. they dropped it and now they're scrambling and there probably should have been a higher level sustained engagement. not just to turn the corner with myanmar but to make sure that we were engaging at high levels to make sure we didn't hit the difficult -- i'm with my colleagues. i'm not sure we could have -- or aun san suu kyi could have achieved a full free election in 2015. you look at the range of issues and problems we have. we would have benefited from more high-level engagement over the last two years than we've ha had. >> first, you mentioned that the imf reform is jeopardizing u.s. legitimaty in the region. can you give specific examples of how that's costing the u.s., the failure to pass that reform and you said that we need a comprehensive strategy on asean, that they have the

achievements of the pivot, and then except for our friend and fierce alumni, alumnus derek mitchell in rangoon, senior officials in the state department and white house dropped this. and now the president's going, in my sense -- i'm not talking about civil society engagement or colleagues at the table, i'm talking about senior u.s. officials -- i think they just put this on the scoreboard, and they dropped it, and now they're scrambling. and there probably should have been a higher level, sustained engagement not just to turn the corner with myanmar, but to make sure that we were engaging at high levels to make sure we didn't hit the difficulties we're having now. i'm not -- i think i'm with my colleagues. i'm not sure we could have orup sang suu kyi could have achieved a free, full election in 2015, but you look at the range of problems we have, i think we would have benefited from more high level engagement over the last two years than we've had. >> thank you. her -- [inaudible] with market -- heather. [inaudible] with market news international. you mentioned that the reform is jeopardizing

it is a spirit of young men and women in kuala lumpur and rangoon who are participating in our young southeast asian leaders initiative. and like you, they are ready to lead. to the young woman with an idea who dreams of starting her own business, if she just has the network and capital, america wants to be her partner. because we believe in the entrepreneur that you can be, the innovations you can spark, and the jobs you can create. and when you succeed, we will all the more prosperous. to the young man working late in the clinic tending to the patient who dreams of preventing diseases, if i just had the resources, we want to be your partner. we believe in the advocate you can be and the families you can reach and the lives you can save. when you succeed, our world will be better. to the young woman tired of the tensions in her community who dreams of helping her neighbors see beyond differences, if she could just start a dialogue, if if she knew how others had walked the same path. well america wants to be her , partner. we believe in the activist you can be and the empathy you can

one of the signature achievements of the pivot, and then example for our friend, dirk mitchell in rangoonenior officials in the state department of the white house dropped this. now the president is going -- i'm not talking about civil society engagement. talk about senior u.s. officials. they just put this on the scoreboard and dropped and it now they're scrambling, and there probably should have been higher live sustained engagement, not just to turn the corner with myanmar but to make sure that we were engaging at high levels to make sure we didn't hit the difficulties we're having now. i think i'm with my colleagues. i'm not sure we could have or aung san suu kyi could have achieved a full and free election in 2015, but look at the range of issues and problem, we would have benefit from more high-level engagement over the last two years than we have had. >> thank you. heather. first, you mentioned that the imf reform is jeopardizing u.s. legitimacy or u.s. leadership in the region. can you give specific examples what that is costing the us? and you said that the u.s. needs a comprehen

as i mentioned in rangoon, in addition to meeting with the president, president obama will participate in cultural events and participate in another meeting of the young southeast asian leaders initiative in a town hall format as he did in malaysia in the spring. a final stop on the trip will be in australia. unflinching an friend and ally to the united states with whom we share a relationship based on shared values, outlooks and shared sacrifice. the president will have already met with prime minister abbot in china. that is a function of the fact that the prime minister schedule is quite constrained given that he is hosting the g 20 summit. weing the leaders meeting, will have the opportunity to highlight how president obama's economic leadership has resulted in a significant increase in the resilience and stability of the global financial system and how the world's biggest economies continue to take meaningful action to promote growth and quality jobs through investment in infrastructure, through labor force participation, particular that of women, financial inclusion and energy whi

signature achievements of the pivot and then except for our friend and alumni, alumnus derek mitchell in rangoonenior officials from the state department and white house dropped this. now the present and i'm not threatened a civil engagement. i'm talking about singing senior u.s. officials very think they just put this on the scoreboard and they dropped it and now they are scrambling and they're probably should have been a higher level of sustained engagement not just to turn the corner with myanmar but to make sure we were engaging at high levels to make sure we didn't hit the difficulties we are having now. i'm not sure we could have were ang san suu kyi could have achieved a full free election in 2015 but if you look at the range of issues we would have benefited from more high-level engagement over the last two years than we have. >> thank you. heather with market international. you mentioned that the imf for reform is jeopardizing u.s. leadership in the region. can you give us examples of what that is costing the u.s. and the failure to pass every form and also you said the u.s. needs a con

and tomorrow he travels to rangoon to meet with aung san suu kyi about her unique role in the reformening of this country to be one of his crowning diplomatic achievements, but now has to walk a fine line showing support for the civilian government while also chastizing it on its stalled progress. reena and t.j.? >> mary, thank you. >>> u.s. investigators are trying to determine if chinese hackers broke into the computer system of the government's weather office. the national oceanic and atmospheric association confirms four key weather websites have been hacked, declining to offer more details. a congressman from virginia says he was told the hack originated in china. >>> the so-called lame-duck congress under way in washington now. plenty for the lawmakers to do. not a whole lot of time to do it. meanwhile, those who will be sworn in in congress in january are starting to learn the ropes. abc's karen travers with the details. >> reporter: on capitol hill, it's out with the old and in with the new. there are at least 50 newly elected members of the house. 12 in the senate. many of t

the president making news on immigration this morning at a news conference in rangoon, burma, also known as myanmar, with "the washington post" writing, "president obama on friday refused to change his plans to overhaul the immigration system through executive action even if the move sets up a showdown with newly empowered congressional republicans who have vowed to fight him. they have the ability to fix the system. what they don't have the ability to do is expect me to stand by with a broken system in perpetuity." obama said after he met with the burmese opposition leader midway through his week-long asia trip, "this is something that needs to be done. it's way overdue. we've been talking act it for ten years now and it's been consistently stalled," said the president. again, that from "the washington post" today. now, another panel at this georgetown university conference examines what that executive action may entail as well as future immigration policy. norm orenstein of the american enterprise institute, simon rosenberg of the new democrat network and anna navarro, cnn commentator,