. >> this is savannah perea. happy, healthy.re her 10-month-old life was cut short. >> we spent a lot of time with her in the back, trying to teach her what butterflies and bugs and things were. >> like most parents, savannah's mom and dad bought all e equipment to keep her happy and healthy, toys and most important for safety, they thought, a baby monitor to listen and watch her when she was in her crib. >> it's natural, i think, for parents to want to have whatever technology is available to them to help them better assure the safety of their chi. >> savannah's parents knew the monitor had to be placed where she could not reach it, but close enough to hear and see her. what they didn't know was that fateful day, savannah had learned to pull herself up in her crib. >> she was in her crib, and somehow the accident happened. she had reached a milestone in her life apparently, where she suddenly learned how to stand, and that was the end of her life. >> her parents believe savannah grabbed the monitor, pulled it into her crib and

savannah? >> david and chuck, i hope you can keep up with those graphics on ipad. i want to ask dave of individual about a couple of the california races that i'm out here covering. let's start with the senate. this new usc/"l.a. times" poll came out and puts an 8-point lead between senator barbara boxer and carly fiorina. i can tell you the fiorina poll say this is an outlier and the feel this is a lot tighter than people think but i got to say if this wave were to take out somebody like senator barbara boxer that would be a total wipeout, right? >> it would be tremendous. that does look a little fishy if you look at some of the trending we have been seek in the poll bus if it is 8 points we know fiorina has been behind a bit. her people, as you say insist this is a much tighter race and that some of the typical trends would you expect in california, late deciders, including pro-choice women, would break for senator boxer, they say in this cycle, that's just not gonna hold true that will be an

i'm savannah guthrie. >> i'm chuck todd. let's get to the rundown. we're going to start with what's going on in pakistan. we begin with breaking developments out of there. the u.s. is trying to stabilize a situation that could easily get out of control. u.s. officials have issued multiple apologies for the helicopter attack that accidentally killed pakistani soldiers last week and prompted pakistan to close a key supply route into afghanistan. but the u.s. missile strikes are continuing today. tensions are getting high. let's get to ian williams live in islamabad. any hope that we're going to start seeing these nato -- this nato convoy able to get into afghanistan? >> reporter: good morning, chuck. at the moment there's no sign of those convoys continuing because the border remains closed. i've lost count of the number of apologies over the last couple of days as a result of that helicopter strike that accidentally killed two pakistani officers. this morning, the foreign ministry here in islamabad said they were still evaluating the situation and sai

>> savannah, the u.s. military pentagon officials have known about this problem for several years but to see it all compiled into one report really does bring home how serious the problem is some examples, private contractors have to pay local warlords protection money, $1,000 a truck for convoys that may pass through their territory but half that money is then turned over to the taliban and in some cases, private security guards, afghans, are actually in cahoots with iranians in providing iran information on u.s. military activities. now, even senator carl levin, even though he says this is a serious problem, recognizes it as part of the doing business in afghanistan. tough hire afghans. they know the local population shall the territory much better than americans ever ever would and provide more protection than problems, actually. but nevertheless, secretary gates has appointed to two task forces to deal with this problem and try to get it under control. again it is the same kind of problem that the u.s.

. >> reporter: this is savannah. happy, healthy, the week before he10-month life was cut short. >> we spent a lot of time with her outdoors, in walks, picking flowers with her andrying to teach her about butterflies and bugs. >> reporter: like all parents, her parent bought all the equipment to keep a baby happy and healthy. toys, high chairs and most important for safety, they thought, a baby monitor similar to this one to listen and watch her when she was in her ib. >> it's natural for parents to want to have whatever technology is available to help them better assure the safety of their child. >> reporter: savannah's parents knew the monitor had to be placed where she could not reach it. but close enough to hear and see her. what they didn't know was that fateful day, savannah had learned to pull herself up in her crib. >> she was in her crib. and somehow the accident happened. she had reached a milestone in her life, apparently, where she suddenly lrned how to stand. and that washe end of her life. >> reporter: h

pete, good morning. >> good morning to you, savannah. the real question here is when you have a situation like this where speech is according to the snyder family, the fallen marine, intended to be hurtful. is that a cause to sue for damages? no, no one would take the signs as a literal truth. it's opinion, the court said. it's hyperbole, it's exaggeration. and that, they said, is protected by the first amendment. so the question for the court today is, is there some zone, is there some line that thcrosses over, that when you have something that's intended to be hurtful. vile or assaulting, is it protected by the first amendment. that kind of speech is protected. it's dealing with public figures, people like the reverend jerry falwell. what the father of this fallen marine says he's a private citizen and the rules ought to be different for him. that's another question for the court today, savannah. >> it's complicated. the snyders and the plaintiffs in the case, the parents of the fallen marine. they're saying holding a funeral, that's t

i'm savannah guthrie. >> and i'm chuck todd. its 20 days until the mid-term elections. >>> we will begin in pakistan where a u.s. missile strike has reportedly killed a number of germans. they investigate a possible link between westerners and suspected terror plots in europe. stephanie gosk is live in london with the latest. any new intelligence on a specific threat to some of these european cities? >> good morning, chuck and savannah. still, nothing specific. that's why this remains a terror alert and not a terror warning. u.s. officials reminding people they are not telling them to cancel their trips to european but they are telling them to be cautious. it is worth pointing out. you talk about the drone attack yesterday in pakistan. there has been no confirmed connection between the drone attacks and that region of pakistan and the recent terror alert. u.s. officials tell nbc news that the multiple streams of information that led them to declare this terror alert included the fact that europeans have been traveling to that ar

savannah, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this is an early report, not the final word on the response. but it does fault the obama administration for essentially a lack of candor and competence on the issue of how much oil was leaking. for months, tens of thousands of barrels of crude oil gushed into the gulf, disrupting wildlife and a way of life. but now a draft report from a commission appointed by president obama is sharply critical of this administration for underestimating how much oil was spilling into the gulf and overestimating how quickly the oil disappeared once the leak was stopped. by doing so, the report concludes the federal government created the impression that it was either not fully competent to handle the spill or not fully candid with the american people about the scope of the problem. among the findings, the government took initial estimates about the rate of the oil leak on bp's word alone, without supporting documentation. and used crude methodology to determine how much oil was leaking and was overly

i'm savannah guthrie. we start in new york this morning where the republican candidate for governor carl paladino is once again the center of controversy after making these remarks of homosexuality over the weekend. >> me approach is live and let live. i just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family. and i don't want them to be brainwashed into thinking that homosexualality is an equally viable option. it isn't. >> kelly o'donnell is the capitol hill correspondent. kelly, we have already heard from paladino responding to those remarks on if "today" show this morning. >> reporter: absolutely. he talked about it and mix it up some more. in one breath at this event yesterday he seemed to say don't misinterpret the remarks as hurtful to gay and denounced gay marriage, talked about the gay pride parade with a mocking sort of expression and tone and attached it to the democratic opponent andrew cuomo. today on the "today" show he w

savannah? >> john yang in kabul, thank you. >>> in california, republican candidate for governor meg whitman is accusing her opponent of dirty politics say former governor jerry brown is the true moving force behind her former housekeep housekeeper's claims that whitman knew she was illegal and employed her anyway. >> i don't know the full story here, but clearly, you know, i think nikki had a gun to her head, and i think that this was, you know, very challenging for her, and i think she's been manipulated by a very sophisticated attorney who has done this for a living over the last 20 years, and i absolutely believe this is linked to the brown campaign 100%. >>> all right. mark, meg whitman's team pushing back hard on this. will it blow over? our is this a significant problem for the campaign? >> savannah, this is a significant problem. they're alleges that jerry brown and also gloria allred, the attorney to the housekeeper, this is an orchestrated effort by them. the brown campaign, denies an

we're going to begin with our white house correspondent savannah guthrie and savannah, i guess we begin by asking what almost happened there today? >> reporter: well, a bill that a lot of people think would have exacerbated this foreclosure crisis, was as you say stopped dead in its tracks. basically this seems to be an issue where congress didn't think through how this bill would have affected the foreclosure crisis. the issue is this, the bill would have made it easier, actually allowed courts to recognize court documents, notarized in other states. and the idea was it was save time, be easier and improve interstate commerce. the problem is, this is happening as a lot of banks are getting in trouble for fast tracking foreclosure applications. in fact, in some cases they're accused of having mid level executives sign off on these applications without doing the proper review. they call it robo-signing the issue is this bill would have made it easier for banks to do that. so once the white house got word of this, it decided not to sign the bill at all. it's called a pocket veto. it passe

>> savannah guthrie at the white house for us tonight. thanks. >>> a follow-up to the story that began our broadcast last night. the massive foreclosure that's been thrown into turmoil. bank of america is suspending foreclosures in all 50 states. politicians around the country are calling on all the banks to do the same thing now. none of this bothering wall street in the slightest. the dow closing above the 11,000 mark for the first time in five months. >>> if you live anywhere near a hot political contest, then you now political ads are all over the airwaves. candidates are spending a fortune this season, and outside groups are spending even more. some of them take liberties with the truth. some of the ads airing right now contain outright lies. others have more subtle deceptions. our report tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: almost heaven, west virginia, backwoods and hollers just some of the boys at the coffey shop. >> obama is messing things up. >> spending money we don't have. stimulus, obama care. >> reporter: in fact

savann savannah guthrie is joining us. this is an aggressive push coming from the white house. was this planned all along? >> no, he think it was. i think it was clear even a year ago that this is going to be a really tough environment for democrats with unemployment so high. certainly that has proven to be the case. you also see republicans getting a real fund-raising event in the early going. historically, the party in power always loses seats in a midterm, anyway, but of course, the democrats are bracing for huge losses and potentially the loss of control of one or both houses of congress. the president remains at probably the most popular figure in the democratic party currently holding office. and so he's on the campaign trail out there fund-raising as well as appearing with individual candidates and the nap you just showed tells the story hoob, particularly that swing out west. we'll see him in california and in washington state. those are two key senate races. some people call that the democratic fire wall if they can hold on to california and washington senate seats, th

savannah, thanks. >>> and now to a look at how all of this is playing out on the ground tonight. in two of this nation's hardest hit states, florida and california, where the housing bubble was huge and the foreclosure fallout has been devastating. and the growing confusion is only making things worse. our report tonight from nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: judy smith, a single mom in pomp know beach, florida, is facing foreclosure on her home and a frightenin future. >> i have two daughters who are also in limbo. >> reporter: adding to her concern is the uncertainty on the freeze of foreclosures. smith says she was told by her mortgage company if she stopped making payments, it would help loan payments to help her. but when she did that, she got a foreclosure notice. with no explanation. >> i called back and i kept getting voice mail and nobody would call me back. >> reporter: her attorney says fraudulent procedures in the mortgage industry are rampant and all the moratorium on foreclosures means is people aren't getting evicted now. >> homeowners facing foreclosure are still fa

>> savannah guthrie at the white house for us tonight. thanks. >>> a follow-up to the story that started our broadcast last night, the massive foreclosure mess that's thrown the whole real estate market into rmoil. bank of america announced it's freezing foreclosures and sales in all 50 states after a numbe of reports that crucial documents were prepared improperly. politicians are calli on all the banks to do the same thing. none of this apparently bothering wall street. the dow closing above e 11,000 mark for the first time in five months. > if you live anywhere near a hot political contest, then you know political ads are all over the airwaves. candidates are spending a fortune this season, and outside political groups are spending even more money. so of them take liberties with the truth. some of the ads airing right now contain outright lies. others have more subtle deceptions. our port tonight from nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: almost heaven, west virginia, backwoods and hollers just some of the boys at the coffey shop. >> oba

nbc's savannah guthrie is at the white house now, so, savannah, what happens next? >> reporter: well, pete rouse gets this job at least on an interim basis and will really be kind of a caretaker chief of staff. he's somebody that knows the president very well. they go back to the president's early days in the u.s. senate. as you heard the president say, pete rouse is often known as the 101st senator, he's the consummate insider, knows the capitol inside and out, well known on the hill, so will be helpful there. he's also kind of a calming influence inside this place. a lot of people feel that he works hard but keeps a low profile. he's a problem solver. the other thing to note about this is we're going to see a lot of turnover, we already have, in fact, here in the west wing. it's very common particularly about two years in, people leave, they go on to other things, they get some fresh blood in. you know, folks that work here work incredibly long hours seven days a week, so there's this natural turnover. pete rouse has actually been the person in charge of coming up

our own savannah guthrie flew west with us to cover this race tonight and she's here with her report. the numbers are on the move in this race. >> "the l.a. times" is just out with a poll showing brown has opened up a wide double digit lead over his on opponent, but top strategists with whitman's campaign say this race is still close. the brand name in california politics, jerry brown is having to reintroduce himself to a new generation of voters. >> after i left the governorship, and it's a long time, most of you weren't born. >> reporter: first sworn in in 1975, brown served eight years as governor, ran for president three times and has held every major statewide office. but in bare bones deliberately unslick campaign appearances, he's running this year as an outsider. even as some say he is the quintessential career politician. when they say that, they don't mean it as a compliment. >> let me tell you something, it's better to know what you're doing than not know. >> reporter: a not so veiled attack on republican meg whitman. the former chief executive who turned ebay into a multib

savannah perrera was one of those victims. savannah's parents knew the monitor had to be placed out of her reach, but they weren't prepared for the day she learned to pull herself up in her crib. now her parents are warning others. >> she was in her crib, and somehow the accident happened. she reached a milestone in her life, apparently, where she suddenly learned how to stand. and that was the end of her life. >> that's why the federal government is urging parents to keep all video and audio monitors out of children's reach or potential reach. >>> the men rescues from that mine in chile are enjoying their first weekend home in a long time, at least most of them. two decided to travel back to the site to see where their families had camped while they were trapped 2,000 feet below the surface. a small group of miners held a news conference. they're saving details of their ordeal until perhaps a book. others have more basic things to worry about. some are having problems sleeping, or waking up confused thinking they're still in

nbc's savannah guthrie joins us from the white house. good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, lester. the president has started what amounts to wall-to-wall campaigning, eight states over the next eight days. and if you look at the map, it's clear democrats are on defense. >> are you fired up? >> reporter: the president today in what is usually reliable democratic territory trying to reinvigorate the party faithful in massachusetts. >> don't let them tell you that change isn't possible. don't let them take this country backward because we did not have the conviction to fight. >> reporter: but even in a friendly audience, the president was interrupted today by aids protesters and fired back with a swipe at republicans. >> and if they win in congress, they will cut aids funding right here in the united states of america and all across the world. >> reporter: in a tough climate for democrats, the president is taking nothing for granted. ♪ >> reporter: traveling even to places where the party is doing well like delaware on friday. >>

hey, savannah. let's talk about the president, his schedule. joe biden both out today. biden the real campaigner for many of the places that president can't go. but maryland is a very good place for him to go. >> no question. this is a place where the president can show his face. he's going to be campaigning with governor o'malley. and then later today he heads to another place he's usually welcome, that's his hometown of chicago, illinois. he's going to be doing some activity for the state treasurer who is running for the that there. this is something we're going to see just more and more of. the president on the campaign trail. he's got another one of those big rallies scheduled for this weekend in philadelphia. and you know, the feeling here is that some of the messages they've been trying to get out there are starting to have an effect. they see that these races are tightening. certainly in some of the tracking polls we see where they do kind of the generic ballot, who would you rather vote for a republican or a democrat for congress, there is a tightening there. bu

. >> bernadine, gloria, savannah and robin. >> yes.aren't expecting to read "waiting to exhale" 2, because it's not. these women have matured. a lot of things important to you when you were 35 don't even move you. >> so it's interesting, because the you -- you talk about you were in a place. you were upset. your husband wasn't what you thought he was. >> no. >> when people read stella got her groove back, they knew that was you. they felt that was you. they thought that was your experience. but then when you talked about your experience to the world, you shared that deception. why is it you made a decision to i'm going to do these women's lives as opposed to what happened to me. people were anxious to hear about the details. how did you deal with that anger? how did you move on? >> well, there are a lot of components for that. i have since forgiven my ex-husband. we are actually friends now. and in this story i wanted to try to dramatize what happens when you don't rely on something else for all your happiness. >> to kind of summarize

savannah is on assignment. we begin with the growing heres that al-qaeda may be plotting to attack european capitals. it's prompted the state department to issue a new travel alert to americans heading overseas. jim maceda has more from london. >> in addition to the u.s. travel alert, now we're learning that japan has joined in. it has issued a travel alert as well. so all japanese thinking about or on their way to any country in europe. also, we know about the latest british travel alert. raising its level of threat for brittons traveling or living in france or germany, raising that from general to a high alert. now, this puts great britain in line with the other countries that would be potential target is in any al-qaeda attack. that would include france, germany and the united states. we have underline that it's a high level, but not a critically high level. there is no sense at all there is an imminent threat on the horizon. unlike the previous alerts, these are nonspecific. there is no specific warning to

nbc's savannah guthrie is live at the white house with more. savannah, it's good to see you. the president obviously, his presidency in some respects is at stake here. this is a vote many people believe a referendum on his presidency. why the big push, though? >> reporter: well, look, a lot of people are looking to president obama, who is still, frankly, the most popular figure in the democratic party, to close the sale and try to tighten up some of these races. and it's all about getting out the vote. they call him obama surge voters. those are the folks that voted in 2008 for the first time, mostly young people, african-americans, and the president is focusing like a laser on those groups, trying to generate that enthusiasm, trying to tell them the stakes are high, it's worth going out in a midterm election and look where he's going today, massachusetts. usually reliably democratic territory. but it just shows in this environment, democrats can't take anything for granted. >> and as we noted he's bringing out the first lady. what was -- how did that decision come down? >> w

this is savannah, happy, healthy, the week before her 10-month life was cut short. >> we spent a lot of time with her outdoors and walks, pick flowers with her and trying to teac her about butterflies and bugs. >> reporter: like all parents, her mom and dad bought all the equipment to keep a baby happy and healthy. toys, high chairs and most important for safety, they thought, a baby monitor similar to this one to listen and watch her when she was in her crib. >> it's natural, it for parents to want to have whatever technology is available. to help them better assure the safety of their child. >> reporter: her parents knew monitor had to be placed where she could not reach it. but close enough to hear and see her. what they didn't know was tt fateful day, savannah had learn to pull herself up in her crib. >> she was in her crib. and somehow the accident happened. shhad reached a milestone in her life, apparently, when he she suddenly learned how the stand. and that was the end of her life. >> reporter: her parents believe savaah grabbed the monitor, pull it into her crib and was stra

what's the breaking point for savannah?oes she get to this point on this journey of getting to happy? >> she just discovered something about his behavior that angered her. not anything that was as deep as finding out that your husband is gay. she just decides to take a risk on herself. and take a risk on even going solo. but she's not, nor have i, given up on love or men. >> gloria? >> gloria has experienced a different kind of a loss, i don't want to say. she has to go through her own form of grief and just start to begin to heal her life. >> and bernadine? >> she has forgiven her first ex-husband for the way he treated her. they're friends in this story. she's had an experience that made her bitter, so she has to learn a lot of things in terms of forgiving herself and other people. >> and robin? >> robin tried to be a good single parent and her attitude is that you should look for a man the same way you do a pair of black pumps. keep trying them on until you find the one that fits. >> so these women are now breathing? >>

. >> and savannah, quickly, the president continues on the campaign trail.ow much strategy goes into the geography of his visits? >> huge strategy. some of the districts are tough where having the president there isn't necessarily a help. there are a lot of members who do want him there, not only because he's still the most popular member of the democratic party and also because of fund-raising. and for the first time this last quarter, we've seen republicans edge out democrats in the fund-raising and that's all important, particularly in the air wars that go on television ads in these last few weeks of the campaign. >> savannah guthrie at the white house, savannah, that you can. >> sure. >>> the pentagon is bracing for the possibility of a new document, dump, a possibility of wikileaks as early as tomorrow night. nbc news has learned that a pentagon task force is in the process of reviewing some 400,000 classified documents related to that conflict. most of the 33 miners who were trapped underground in chile are out of the hospital and at home with their fa

savannah is a little busy, but maybe savannah guthrie. >> hello, mr. later. i'll be sucking up to you soon to get information. all right. >> what is rahm's departure. >> oh, right, i'm on the air. >> what does it mean for president obama and the midterm elections. also peggy noonan coming up. first bill karins. >> i know we wanted to sit and wait and see how long it will take. let's chat about the heavy rain in new york city. flash flood warning is in effect. the heaviest rain is moving out onto long island. flash flood warnings in hartford, connecticut. the new york state thruway from new york city north to albany, a lot of problems on that with the heavy rain from last night. boston, you'll have to wait another two or three hours. you will notice that d.c. and philadelphia, you're just fine. all the heavy rain has moved out of your region. flash flood warnings, the areas in maroon, southern connecticut and a few spots near binghamton. two inches in new york city in the last two hours. now we'll watch the rainfall totals adding up in new england. it's

savannah was just 10 months old. >> it is the biggest loss we could ever have in our life. it is as a kid as losing a spouse. -- as significant as losing a spouse. i was supposed to protect her. >> today at an advisory was released, warning parents of the dangers of placing video and audio monitors to close to the crib. but these courts are a hidden hazard in the nursery. -- >> these accords are a hidden hazard in the nursery. >> suit -- savannah's father said they should contain bold hazards on the packaging or better yet, the wireless. >> cbs is also investigating whether there should be some type of warning on the actual product court. advising tooo, are advisor use a wireless monitor whenever possible. >> breaking news where a school bus has caught fire. this is the four mckinley tunnel. two people are being treated -- this is the fort mckinley tunnel. two people are being treated for smoke inhalation. traffic is now stocked up and beginning to back up. >> it looks like we are getting some video. in the meantime, there is some chance of rain, correct? >> northeast of to

that's the whole ball game for democrats. >> savannah, jim cramer.mports? if you talk to any of the big industrial companies in this country, what they will tell you is, listen, we love to create jobs, but the chinese are taking the jobs. people don't like the chinese in this country. i never hear the president talk about it. >> reporter: he talks about it somewhat. certainly we heard about the issues of currency. we hear that more out of the treasury secretary timothy geithner. you hear the president talking about china and having a competitive edge on us when he talks about education. you hear that a lot. to the extent this is a message that's getting through above the din of everything else, no, i don't think they're hitting it very, very hard, the way they're hitting the money message right now or the choice between republicans and democrats. he talks about it, but it's not something making a lot of headlines. >> why doesn't he go to a steel factory? our capacity is huge. the amount of steel being made in this country is frighteningly small. it's

. >>> i want to take you live to savannah, georgia, right now. to see the body of one of those young soldiers that died in the line of duty. he fought and died defending all of our freedom in afghanistan. i'm talking about army ranger sergeant first class lance vogeler, a husband, son and father of two kids, actually expecting a third child. he was killed in action last week. his brother, his parents both there on the tarmac waiting to greet their son and their brother as he finally comes home. his brother said to us and told our martin savidge yesterday that his number one priority is to make sure that his unborn son will know how amazing his father was. this is the way the family describes sergeant vogeler who you are about to see who is finally arriving home, that he was a man who loved his children, his wife, a man who respected a loved his parents, a man who led soldiers into battle. a number of his fellow rangers are also there at this site there on the tarmac lined up. you'll see actually as the camera moves across. there we go. those are

and into the savannah lands. the moans and groans, hundreds, thousands stolen, we rarely speak the taken, i will this time because you have asked. come back, back, back, far edge of memory. we recall them and they are black smith, by all accounts a master craftsman, worthy of praise, honored as a powerful magician. one who could speak the old names of the mother elements, earth, fire, water, wind. they would do as bidding, think. people sing praise songs. he was a gifted black smith. he is not remembered for that. he is best remembered for being a loving father. when his beloved wife died only after a year and embraced his newborn son, i will raise you myself. the elder women with argued against it saying you'll grow up wild without a gentle hand of a mother, a gentle hand to guide him. must divide by custom, take another wife or give the baby to a mother who is childless. how will you feed the baby? you have no milk to give. dinka would not change his mind. the tortoise doesn't have milk to give but knows how to

savannah is off today. also this morning, the chamber of commerce responds to president obama's charges about foreign money fueling campaign advertising. the daily rundown interview ahead on that. let's get right to the rundown on our whip and we'll begin with the tea party favorite put to the test, christine o'donnell got her, perhaps, last chance to prove her political metal, going head to head with chris coons in their first senate debate. >> he is a career politician who has proven he knows how to play the i'll scratch your back, you scratch mine game. >> miss o'donnell has experience at running for office but not really running anything. >> kelly o'donnell's capitol hill correspondent, joining us from newark, delaware. kelly, this may put the nail in the coffin in this race. this didn't seem like a game changer for christine o'donnell, did it? >> reporter: this was an opportunity for her to talk about a lot of issues and she did that, after we paid attention to some of the nutty things about this race,

and into the savannah lands. the moans and groans, hundreds, thousands stolen, we rarely speak the taken, i will this time because you have asked. come back, back, back, far edge of memory. we recall them and they are black smith, by all accounts a master craftsman, worthy of praise, honored as a powerful magician. one who could speak the old names of the mother elements, earth, fire, water, wind. they would do as bidding, think. people sing praise songs. he was a gifted black smith. he is not remembered for that. he is best remembered for being a loving father.

or further back through each human cell to african eve her grunts are tuning savannahs. felt the gift shared from the bones later that night in the crowded room when all the instruments had gone silent and a man rose up shyly alone and sang sean moss one of the singer's songs. beautiful country, i take you to by the black water screens of the beast the thrush and the black bird sings sweetly and the wild deer over the mountains branches with fruits and blossom the and hives with honey. and the corn creek lifts it's cries in the grass. [applause] >> your poem has a sense of place and you mentioned earlier the sensation of going to canada and what it felt like to be in that place in canada and in other opportunities to be in that land in ireland. i wonder if you can reflect and margaret as well, what were the physical experiences you were having and what was the importance ever going to the place by way of informing your story? >> i don't know if anybody seen there is a series on now on called african-american lives? >> yeah. >> and it remindses me so much of my experience