luke russert, happy thanksgiving to you, our favorite pilgrim. >> thank you so much. take care. >> half a century has passed of the question still resonates, where were you. look back at the kennedy assassination 50 years laeg when tom brokaw joins us next on "now." so you're telling me your mom has a mom cave? hi boys! i've made you campbell's chunky new england clam chowder. wow! this is incredible! i know. and now it has more clams! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. what? [ male announcer ] it fills you up right. we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness if you qualify, and new car replacement, standard with our auto policies. so call liberty mutual at... today. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? wout of landfills each year? plastic waste to cover mt. rainier by using one less trash bag each month, we can. and glad forceflex bags stretch until they're full.* so you can take them out less often. i'to guard their manhood with trnew depen

. >> live in virginia, nbc capitol hill correspondent luke russert. are you there? there you are. always great to see you, my friend, especially when you're where all the action is. i guess my first question is what's the mood on the ground over there? this is a -- favors terry mcauliffe by six points. if turnout isn't as they hope it would be, it could go ken cuccinelli's direction. what are you seeing? >> that's the name of the game, alex. it's all about turnout. i'm at lovely langley high school, mclane, virginia, a little different than wilson high school where you attended. >> continue on. >> interestingly enough you are right. this is a turnout election for terry mcauliffe. he needs high turnout in areas richmond, norfolk, kind of that hamptons road area. the government shutdown is very much in the back of people's mind especially around welsch d.c. that card is one mcauliffe has been playing a lot. in terms of turnout we're around the 20% mark. the latest numbers in this precinct over 1200 people voted at 6:00 a.m. that's on par with what a normal virginia governor's race e

. >> let's go right to luke russert in washington. luke, not quite the same fireworks we saw during sebelius's first round of testimony, but what did you make of the oversight there today? >> that's to be expected. the senate is the house of lords as compared to the house of commons. but what we did learn today, number one, is that kathleen sebelius resisted bipartisan attempts to perhaps shut down the website until they can get it fixed so it wouldn't be any more confusing for those who want to enroll. you saw in the bite there, there was no point in doing that because it is easier to fix the website while it was up. we also learned that enrollment numbers would be low but she also perhaps most importantly said that we are not where we need to be. very similar to what she said last week accepting the blame trying to move forward. there were fireworks under john cornyn of texas. kathleen sebelius whether there were criminal background checks involved for folks like navigators who helped people try to get enrolled in the website. they

joining me from washington is nbc's capitol hill correspondent luke russert. david, i've got to turn to you first and ask you -- >> i was hoping. >> i'm sorry you had to sit through marcia blackburn talking about coast-to-coast. >> at least she didn't talk about red solo cups. >> and champagne flutes. there is some question about how many democrats may vote for the terrible upton bill. i will heretofore only refer to it as the terrible upton bill. i feel like this is really a true sort of line in the sand for the obama presidency. the first time his own party has truly been, i won't say open revolt, but very much disillusioned about the white house, the president's promises. i wonder if you think this latest patch that was announced yesterday was enough to regain confidence in the party. >> it's enough in the short-term to stall votes for the upton bill, which is, in effect, voted 41 times -- 47 maybe. an infinite number. >> this is a repeal by another name. i think as that becomes clearer, people will back away. perhaps what the president did yesterday will s

luke russert is on the north lawn of the white house.ch of the reaction from the hill was anticipated by the white house? >> reporter: a lot of it. republicans have characterized president obama as being weak on issues that pertain to israeli national security specifically iran. that was a center point of the mitt romney 2012 presidential campaign. so it's not unexpected that they launched some attacks against this plan. but they vary in scope and scale. you saw john corinne saying it was a distraction. take a listen to mike rogers known for being a more moderate republican. >> we have just rewarded very bad and dangerous behavior. bipartisan opposition in congress, very strong bipartisan opposition to the deal, our arab league partners don't like the deal. israel doesn't like the deal. and we may have just encouraged more violence in the future than we have stopped. >> reporter: you heard there him saying there is bipartisan opposition to the deal and that's certainly accurate. this morning a real big ally of president obama chuck schum

joining us capitol hill correspondent luke russert. luke, tell us what this means.seeing an end to the filibuster? >> well, you're not going to see an end to the filibuster in everything, alex, but what you see specifically here now harry reid p, a word used too much by the media, went nuclear. what passed on the senate floor is the ability for the president's judicial nominations to have an up or down vote on the floor all those with the exception of supreme court nominees. basically what harry reid is trying to do is allow judges who republicans blocked to the d.c. circuit court to move forward. some democrats did vote against this. carl levin of michigan, an outspoken opponent of the nuclear option as well as joe manchin and pryor, two red state democrats. harry reid was able to get the majority. tending to distract from the presidented health care law, this is unprecedented. mitch mcconnell earlier saying they will be sorry they did this. hint hint, someday when we get power again. moving forward, alex, new rule of the united states senate in terms of how the pr

we're joined by luke russert.s been the reaction today among the republican leadership in the house? >> well, the republican leadership, specifically john boehner was informed of congressman radel's arrest on tuesday, in fact, it was something that had not really been playing through the leadership ranks and that rangeled some of them. interestingly enough, lawrence, as i'm sure enough when john boehner took the speaker's gavel, house republicans would act in a good manner and carry themselves in high regard and have good personal conduct. they remember mark foley, a different case than this but attribute that to why they lost the majority in 2006. report of the ""cincinnati enquirer"" reports trey radel's father saying the leadership does not want his son to resign. they are comfortable with him taking this leave of absence so if we take trey radel's father at his word, apparently the leadership is okay with this. the last time there was a similar incident and a congressman in western new york, chris lee sent a t

. >> somebody screwed up and let luke russert out of the capitol and he's now in new orleans, what's going on there? >> reporter: thank you so much, i'm here at the port of new orleans which resembles the set of season two of "the wire." president obama came here to tout exports, specifically naming the panama and column bee an free trade agreements, one of the busiest thoroughfares in world, touting infrastructure is gate because we can nation build at home. a lot of the same we've heard from the president touting his economic message to appropriate money to build -- rebuild america, aging bridges and roadways and things house republicans will not do because it's spending and more stimulus. it was quite interesting today, he unexpectedly, president obama pivoted towards health care. we thought the speech would be pivoting towards the economy to get off health care but the white house did not want to have the interview with chuck todd yesterday when president obama apologized for part of the health care law to be the only sound bite going into the weekend. the president issued a full

luke russert with me from the white house.he president will speak about this in a short period of time. we are seeing the leaders meeting in geneva. andrea, that is the headline. bring us the headlines. >> this was brokered and agreed to 3:00 geneva time, 9:00 eastern standard time. the deal is to freeze iran's nuclear program in place but not to force iran to destroy its advanced -- that is one of the reasons why there's a lot of democratic opposition to this on the hill as well as israeli, saudi persian golf opposition to it. iran will be able to, six months from now, could potentially breakout and create something that would approach a nuclear weapon. iran would have to stop construction on a separate plutonium reactor. they would get some sanction relief, $3.5 billion of their own assets that have been frozen. some additional gradual release over six months. the u.n. atomic agency would control and patrol the deal. again, the criticism will be that iran will have the nuclear equipment and could build up very quickly, if it

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luke russert now live in new orleans on assignment. luke, give us a sense of what the president is hoping to accomplish with these remarks really focused on modernizing infrastructure, helping boost the economy. >> yeah, good afternoon, peter. it's fun being in new orleans doing your job. it's nice to be out in the sunshine a little bit. it's a chamber of commerce day in louisiana. the president is at the port, the busiest port in the united states, one of the busiest ports in the world really trying to make the argument infrastructure spending is good for the united states economy overall. every one dollar invested in the port of new orleans brings back a return close to $90. that will be a message today. trying to build on the idea democrats spoke a lot about about nation building here at home. the president comes down here on the heels of a very, very interesting interview with our own chuck todd essentially apologizing to americans for misleading them regarding the health care law. a little pep in his step because of the new job nu

luke russert is there for us where terry mcauliffe cast his vote early this morning. luke, do you get the sense that virginians are aware that all eyes are on them today as well as seeing that that state could go blue in decades? >> reporter: yeah, absolutely, thomas. what you see here behind me is a slow but steady stream of voters coming through. from ones i've spoken to, they say they know the whole eyes of the country are on them because of the amount of tv advertisements they have been inundated with for many years about the governor's race, lieutenant governor's race, among other things. the theme of the day, shall we say here, thomas, is turnout. this is a turnout election. it is a slow but steady turnout here at this precinct in northern virginia where i'm at. 1,000 people have voted so far. the polls opened at 6:00 a.m. democratic terry mcauliffe needs turnout from the sbauo-called liberal areas of the state. ken cuccinelli is zeroing in on lynchburg, own oak. mcauliffe is leading in the polls but there is some question if there's a very low turnout race, if

nbc's luke russert is live across the potomac. he's in mclean. well, luke, what have you seen this morning? mclean, obviously, this is terry mcauliffe territory, used to be a swing area, not so much anymore in northern virginia these days. what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, good morning, chuck. we're here live at langley high school in mclean, virginia, and so far election officials tell us turnout is light. around 6:00 in the morning there were about 30 or so people lined up. they went through, sort of the early bird, but it's been slow and steady to say the least, but we haven't seen anywhere near what we would normally see in a presidential year. what's interesting today is both kand damts are try and turn out their bases. the whole thing with this governor's race is about, chuck, turnout, turnout, turnout. terry mcauliffe crisscrossing the state, going to those high density urban areas. the areas of richmond, here in northern virginia, down around norfolk, that whole area. ken cuccinelli, he's going in around the roanoke, lynchburg, shen

now to the white house with luke russert. what's the reaction like? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, alex. last night obviously president obama went before the nation and talked about the importance of this deal. but just this morning, republicans are already speaking out against it. let's take a listen. >> diplomacy opened up a new path toward a world that is more secure. a future in which we can verify that iran's nuclear program is peaceful and that it cannot build a nuclear weapon. >> my greatest concern throughout this whole situation is the north korean issue. that is you begin relieving sanctions, you end up basically with no deal. so my greatest concern is seeing follow through here. >> reporter: alex, it was not unexpected that the president would come under fire from republicans on this deal as well as some more conservative, hawkish democrats who are closely aligned with israeli security initiatives in congress. even before this agreement came about, there was intense pressure on harry reid to allow a tougher sanctions bill up for a vote. h

court approved an interim assessment of just over two and a half million euro for pushing conroy from russert and port beach who sued for her mother has several holes these results are pressed midlands regional hospital in port beach in two thousand and one. our parents criticized the length of time it took to settle the action kevin and very calmly waited twelve years for today settlements. they'd already wasted nine years to find out what really happens to their children she married tom wright went to port the ship general hospital four days before the current effort to offer in two thousand and one she believed to want recent broken. i was reassured and sent home. scout is a shoe shoe to drop in amniotic fluid times during labor that i can jump in local courts the consultants did not attend. this new pediatric team that they want to fight minutes after delivery. no she suffered a lack of oxygen she has cerebral palsy and is completely dependent on others for all her needs today the high court approved an interim sentiment of two point six million euro in the action for negligence what is a

our town has this great scene at the tim russert you know what everyone is doing their own business at the funeral in a kind of modern washington way and the same thing was happening at hyde park at eleanor roosevelt's funeral and al gore senior kind of just cornered him and said that he was talking about the tax cut. and dwight eisenhower was standing in the corner trying to say hello to his successor and he couldn't even although his way into the conversation. and then on the airfield, where the two men were returning to washington, kennedy sent for him and was on another plane and had him right back continue the conversation. that is a first kennedy rule of leadership. once you decide, the decision is made. and well, you guys, you won. presidential me to shut up about it. >> there are newspaper headlines about al gore denouncing the kennedy tax cut as a bonanza for fat cats. and there is a tape of kennedy denouncing al gore senior as a son of a gun. and so get a wide spectrum of advice and the third thing, kennedy leadership principles, i discern that you need to stick to your princ

luke russert, you are the best. thank you for helping us out. >>> now more on today's election results a little later in the hour. the other top story, the ongoing obama care train wreck which is the white house trying to rewrite history. remember when our president retedly told us this, no matter how we reform health care to the american people, if you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. if you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan, period. >> but it turns out that wasn't actually the case. millions have seen their existing insurance plans canceled. now despite promising at least 29 times we just heard, president obama is resorting to a new deception. take a listen to this. >> if you have or had one of these plans before the affordable care act came into law and you really liked that plan, what we said was you could keep it if it hasn't changed since the law's passed. >> so what happened to you could keep your plan, comma, period, mr. president. that

like the late tim russert, the most important tv interviewer in the country. he was like rush limbaugh, the most important conservative popularizer in the country. all of that thrown together with the bunch of stuff star on top of it, novelist, a harpsichordist, a sailor, and is just men like this don't come along very often. >> that's a very nice way to end our discussion. >> i think you all for coming on behalf of the manhattan institute. thank you. >> you're watching book tv, nonfiction authors and books every weekend on c-span2. >> you're watching book tv on c-span2. here is our prime time lineup for tonight.

luke russert is live and the big person stoifg patestifying is p technology and has been full time ongov. we have prepared testimony. what do we expect him to focus on and will it be anything other than the appearance of a polarized environment? >> yes. the white house will be similar to what kathleen sebelius did. come on and say we are sorry and it's not where it needs to be. we are working around the clock and it will be up and running by november 30th. we are putting time into making sure it's viable. look for issa to get into the nitty greaty and say when did you know it wasn't working. was it an issue of contractors? you mentioned the officer for the white house. another interesting guy to look at is the it gentlemen named henry chow. he's not a political appointee. he served republicans and democrats. he will be someone who knows how this website was created through cms and that's the guy who delivers the most explosive testimony on the republican side. overall what this is today is really the gop plan for the rest of the year. as one leadership aide told me, this is the health

joining me live from the white house is nbc news correspondent luke russert. i understand the president will pay special tribute to president john f. kennedy during this morning's ceremony? >> reporter: that's right, thomas. president kennedy was in fact the first president to sign into law the modern day presidential medal of freedom. sadly they were not live long enough to get to a war that the inaugural class was given that honor. but president obama two days before the formal 50th anniversary of president kennedy's assassination will in fact use this ceremony to honor john f. kennedy. you expect to hear some remarks about president kennedy during this ceremony. later this evening, the president will have a dinner at the national history museum here in washington, d.c., where they will in fact have every single living recipient of this award from years past who wants to attend and he will be introduced by president kennedy's grandson, jack schlossberg there. i also left out that in between this ceremony and that dinner there's a very special occasion at arl

joining me now is nbc's luke russert at the white house. new york times" and "the washington post" today on the creation of the healthcare.gov site. front page story in "the new york times" says the website's prime contractor knew the website would not be ready on time. i'm quoting, knowing how long it would take to complete and test the software, the company's officials and other vendors believe that it was impossible to open a fully functioning exchange on october 1st. government officials on the other hand insisted that october 1st was not negotiable. so, luke, what has the white house been saying about these allegations that they knew the website would not be ready on time? >> reporter: well, this is a very difficult issue for them, betty. it comes on the heels of what's been a terrible last few weeks in regards to healthcare.gov. now, the government agency that's been in charge of the health care website rollout is the centers for medicaid and medicare services. they released a statement where they said, basically, as we have said, thi

. >> nbc's luke russert is on capitol hill. so luke, what kind of pressure are senate republicans able, if any, to put on house republicans and ultimately get speaker boehner to do something here? >> reporter: not much, tamron. because this bill enda, it falls in that same area as the comprehensive bipartisan immigration bill did. remember marco rubio got behind that. a lot of people thought it would have a future in the house of representatives because out of electoral necessity for republicans, and it ended up dying in the house. same story for this bill. remember, after the 2012 elections, a lot of the millennial generation said, you know what, we like mitt romney's message on the economy, but we were much more concerned with our gay and lesbian friends being allowed to have equal rights. that's why we ultimately voted for the president. i heard a lot of kids say that in states like iowa and wisconsin. there's a part of the rnc said let's moderate on this, let's move forward on something like enda. the house representatives

luke russert joins us from capitol hill. luke, as pointed out in those two examples alone, this is a risk but looks like it's moving forward and the president said he will sign it. >> reporter: it's moving forward, tamron. there's a cloture vote scheduled in the united states senate, that's a procedural vote of which they now have 60 saying they move it forward and final vote sometime this week. however, after this announcement came out from mr. heller that this would go to cloture this evening. john boehner releasing a statement that throws a wet blanket on this enthusiasm on a lot of folks supporting enda have, saying the house will not move on this. they view it as something that would allow for frivolous lawsuits that would hurt small business. they've said a this a lot, that house republicans are saying, there is not anything new. we oppose this legislation, not based on the actual people that will be affected, but because what it could do it to business. specifically those involved in religious community that oppose ga

joining me, luke russert, a congressional correspondent at the white house for us today and elise's veeegin with you here. generally speaking what is the fallout from the senate undertaking this so-called nuclear option? >> if you talk to democrats, they say it was a long time coming that historically, the filibuster has been abused by republicans in this last congress of president obama nominees have faced delays much longer than president bush's nominees ever had to face, 1 mun days on average. and that this ultimately had to happen in order for government to function. republicans say it's an abuse of power by harry reid and the democrats. they're trying to do it to distract from the problems with the health care law. when there's a republican president and republican senate, they will in fact use these new rules to their benefit and perhaps might go further getting rid of this exem 00 for supreme court nominee which would still be allowed to be filibustered under this democratic proposal. interestingly enough, i think moving forward, what it really means is because congress is going

nbc's luke russert reports. >> reporter: the last of a generation.ought a sense of service to the halls of congress. republican ralph hall of texas, the navy. >> i signed up for the same reason everybody else in the united states signed up. we had a war to fight. we had an enemy. >> reporter: democrat john dingell of michigan, the army. >> it really wasn't hard to go. every american, as ralph mentioned, was proud to go. >> i flew the course there. >> reporter: one flew planes. one trained to be an officer. afterwards, both men felt lucky to come home to the g.i. bill and felt an obligation to give back. does it strike you guys that you are the last representatives in congress that served in world war ii? 40 years ago, more than 65% of the members of congress were veterans. today, it's less than 20%. >> i think veterans make good public servants and good citizens. >> reporter: and good friends in congress. no matter the political party. >> ralph and i had fights. but we were always friends and respected each other. and the cooperation and goodwill tha

first let's go to luke russert in mclean, virginia, where both are expecting more than 2 million people to vote. luke, i know earlier today you were dissecting the map in virginia, cutting up the state and what we'll be watching in the results. >> reporter: yeah, tamron, turnout is the name of the game here in virginia. it's really important for terry mcauliffe, the democrat, since it's not a presidential election year. he has to get high density urban areas to vote in an off year. you'll see a real turnout operation in places like richmond and northern virginia and norfolk area. specifically where i am in this precinct in northern virginia which used to be a republican area but gone more towards democrats for the last few election cycles, turnout is around 20 to 25%. if you go around to other parts of northern virginia, there's reports of turnout being up. we're hearing increased turnout in the most southwest region of the state, around roanoke. but so far overall from folks i've spoken to over here, get individual anecdotes, they have said i used to be a republican but the republican

. >> now, that second guy was the ally, the other two are republicans luke russert will unpack -- >>ong time ally -- >> if you watch the show, you know eric cantor is down for the pound. luke, it seems like there are three wings emerging. a big deal to have any kind of incremental deal with iran. there are people loyal to the president who say great, this is something. there is a conspiracy caucus that said it is to distract from obama care, including republicans in the senate, which is weird and factually wrong or haven't offered evidence for that rather serious charge. then there's something more substantive we're hearing from republicans and democrats alike, the bad cop caucus of members of congress who say whatever this is, we're going to be here with a tough end game in six months. >> that's absolutely right, ari. really the way to look at this is that the president and administration on this deal on a very short leash with congress. you have internationalists that like this idea and view that through the prix of what this means historically. if you look at the relationship betw

we state in the commonwealth of virginia, luke russert is in the -- where turnout is likely to play a big role. you're also at abby huntsman's high school. >> reporter: she was one and done here. i'm sure if she wanted to name the cafeteria after herself, she could get on the distinguished alumni. >> that's not her style at all. what is the mood there? >> reporter: it's interesting. a lot of folks i talked to here in northern virginia, they are more siding with mcauliffe, which is expected considering where we are. in terms of turnout, the name of the game, mcauliffe needs to have a large high density urban area turnout at the high level. what we're seeing is enrichment -- richmond and norfolk, you're seeing this real turnout operation. republicans are trying to match cuccinelli and turn out roanoke and lynchburg. in this specific precinct, on par with what we see during a governor's race, around 20%. we're hearing reports around arlington county and more increased turnout depending on which operative you talk to, republicans are saying, we're doing great and democrats saying we're do

tim russert and editor mark murray. thanks for being here this afternoon. luke, i want to start with you in virginia. polls showing a close race. mcauliffe has a little bit of a lead there. it all depends on turnout. what are you seeing so far? >> indeed, kristen, turnout is the name of the game in the commonwealth of virginia. so far in the precinct in mclane virginia, quite a wealthy enclave, which has definitely leaned democratic in the last few years, turnout is about normal, 20 to 20% race. pretty much on path to what you see in a governor's race. various reports around the area, some in arlington county show a more robust turnout. hearing about that, cuccinelli strongholds on the southwest part of the state. from various operatives in both camps trig to work the reps a little bit, better than we expected. we won't know until the polls closed. from where i am specific i can tell you it's average. why is turnout so important? terry mcauliffe wants to win the governor's race in off year election needs to turn out high-density urban areas like northern vi

with me luke russert and howard dean. salon contributor and radio host of 360 curt anderson. governor dean, i would like to start with you. >> the health care guy. >> the health care guy. was this inevitable, the health care fix? >> i wouldn't have gone for a fix. our state with an exchange hired the same people as the federal exchange. we have the same problem. what the government did, see it coming, understand after a period of time where you couldn't fix it, we're going to paper and telephone lines. that's what should happen. i don't think back off any of this. make a solution available. if they have to throw the web cover over the side, we did social security on telephone lines. they shoould not back off. the bill is a joke, which gets i rid of insurance reforms which help ordinary americans. >> you think he could have with stood senate democrats, diane feinstein, mary landrieu. >> the guy has a pen worth two-thirds of the vote in the senate and house. if you want to make it work, be tough and hard-nosed about it. he's not going to run for re-election. if it's me, my popu

. >>> good day, i'm luke russert in washington for my friend andrea mitchell. the midwest has begun a massive cleanup after the devastating storms that tore through the region yesterday. at least 59 tornadoes have been confirmed in that area as new cell phone video emerges taken near washington, illinois. eight deaths were reported, six in illinois, 86,000 homes without power as residents are left to grapple with the devastation. >> i was in shock, which i think i still am. >> nobody has anything left. it's all gone. it's just all gone. >> this is the deadliest series of tornadoes illinois has ever had in the month of november. our mission now is to recover. we will recover. we will preview. >> joining me now ron allen. what is the latest on the ground in illinois? do we have an idea of the number of homes affected? are residents able to come back at all? >> yes, luke. we now know based on a press conference here a little while ago officials here essentially doubled the number of homes they think were damaged, as many as 1,000 or more. the other day 250 or so.

with me luke russert and howard dean. salon contributor and radio host of 360 curt anderson.vernor dean, i would like to start with you. >> the health care guy. >> the health care guy. was this inevitable, the health care fix? >> i wouldn't have gone for a fix. our state with an exchange hired the same people as the federal exchange. we have the same problem. what the government did, see it

i sat in the back office with the press secretary, tim russert, clipping press, literally, running legislation. the experience was exciting and informative and did much to inspire my public service. there is another thing that motivates me to leave private life one more time to accept this particular assignment. album is ay photo childhood picture of me and my sister standing next to my dad's convertible.ck the most striking thing about the photo is our car is parked just a few feet away from the steps of the eastern front of the capitol building. i look at the photo today and realize it captures a time in our history that is probably lost in my lifetime and perhaps forever. september 11 and other terrorist attacks here changed all of that. as i said in the rose garden on october 18 -- i am a new yorker and september 11 happens to be my birthday. i was present and was an eyewitness to the events of that day. i know the shock and the potential for death and instruction that a breach of our homeland security can cause. i recall the sinking feeling of guilt and uselessness that i personally felt

all summer i said in a back office with the sender's press secretary, tim russert, clipping press literally, running errands and researching legislation. the experience was exciting and informative, it did much to inspire my public service. there's another thing that motivates me to leave private life one more time to accept this particular assignment. in my family photo album is a childhood picture of me and my sisters and next to my dad's red 1966 buick convertibconvertib le. in what was then public parking lot in front of the u.s. capital. the most striking thing about the photo is that our cars parked just a few feet away from the steps to the eastern front of the capitol building. i looked at the photo today and realized that it captures the period in our history that is probably lost in my lifetime and perhaps were ever. september 1 11th and the other terrorist attacks here changed all of that. as i sat in the rose garden on october 18, i am a new yorker and september 11 happens to be my birthday. i was present in manhattan that day. and was an eyewitness to the events of that day. i