high-pressure world of competitive cheerleading, this tough as nails coach is making like "glee's" sue sylvester to turn them into champions but at what price? >>> and for anyone who's ever looked at their pooch and seen a glimpse of nobility introducing animal ancestors. how one artist made a booming business in pet portraits. >>> good evening. i'm bill weir. tonight, you'll get a glimpse behind the closed doors of power and into the dysfunctional relationships that can make or break this nation. bob woodward is best known for uncovering watergate but his new book takes us into the obama white house where last year's clash with republican leadership brought america to the brink of financial armageddon. tonight you'll hear tapes from the president and speaker of the house and what happened in the heat of those crucial moments could provide large-lor ammunition. diane sawyer has the exclusive first look. >> reporter: it is the kind of moment that tests a president, the nation on the edge of a financial cliff. >> really say in the book nobody was in charge? >> in washington. >> and is that a failu

mike sylvester delivers mail in minnesota.g us today that famous saying, neither rain, snow, sleet or hail goes both ways. often, his customers waiting for him. >> people waiting with the lemonade on a hot day, hot chocolate in the winter. >> reporter: in return, so many mail carriers going above and beyond. charlie rose delivers the mail in athens, ohio. >> we're out there every day. we know when something out of the ordinary is happening. >> reporter: and when they see something, they act. this week, six mail carriers honored in washington, d.c. for their heroism beyond their job. honored after rushing to perform cpr on a child after a drunk driver in this pickup truck swerved and hit the boy as he was walking to the bus stop. his mother, overcome. >> blessed to be here. >> reporter: blessed in part because cecilia ran to help. >> we're not just letter carriers. we're a little bit more than that, you know? >> reporter: tom from cape atlantic, new jersey, proving that, too. running into the water to save a boy he saw drowning

as lisa sylvester reports...ssor believes the situation wouldn't have gotten this much attention.. if she were a male. male. --reporter pkg-as follows -- assistant professor adrienne pine is starting her fourth year at american university. the single mom normally leaves her daughter lee at a washington day care while at work. but on the first day of fall classes her 11 month old daughterrwoke up with a slight fever. i didn't have emergency day care and i couldn't bring her to the regular day care. so i was faced with difficult choice of which as a professional is the mosttimportant thing for me to do, or being there forrmy daughter. and the only way i could do both of those was bring my daughter to class. during her class of 40 students... her daughter began fussing. she was hungry. so pine - who says she has nursed her daughter at other public places including the parks and airplanes.... even several locations on campus... class. i very discreetly fed her. i don't believe any part of my breast was showing. i don

unemployed and uninsured.as llsa sylvester reports... a big tax could penalty under the new health care law when they can leest afford it. 3 --reporter pkg-as follows --60 year old sue nglin, she has sheewas laid off last year now - she is out of a job and out of health insurance. sinceei have been of this age that i am now aad faced with the prospects of buying my own insurance through the private sector that its become so difficult because it is extremely expensive and i'm just saying if thhs law goes into effect the way i undeestand it now its going to be a hardship for me.annlin is referring to the new federal health care law. she and virtually all other us residenns will have to have health insurance by 2014 - if not they'll face a financial penalty collected by the irs. new numbees from the ponpartisan congressional budget office finds that sixx million americans will likely have to pay that penalty. people who are afffcted by it are the so-called working poor. they are working. they're making some iicome. they're making enough tha

lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. >> oh, it's starting a conversation. if it's the conversation she wanted to have. we want your take on this story. do you think a professor should be able to breastfeed her child during class? >> tweet your responses to @randikaye or @victorcnn. >>> coming to a menu new year, calorie counts. we have a spread to compare fast food favorites and the big question is, will adding calorie counts to menus persuade people to eat healthier. grab your appetite. stick around. we are all reflections of the people who came before us. the good they did inspires us, prepares us and guides us. at new york life, everything we do is to help you keep good going. [ dog ] we found it together.upbeat ] on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing... had made you play. and that... had made you smile. [ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you. ♪ lord, you got no reason ♪ you got n

cnn's lisa sylvester is taking an in-depth look into this situation.are you finding out, lisa? >> reporter: the way medicaid works today is if you qualify, your coverage is guaranteed. mitt romney supports changing the medicaid program, giving a limited amount of money to each state to distribute how they see fit. conservatives say entitlement spending is out of control and at some point, medicaid reform will have to be taken up. but democrats argue it could hurt a lot of families like this one from iowa. evan, jacob and brayden, playing like any other boys in ames, iowa. they are the sons of amanda and adam. if you look closely, you'll see a difference between brayden and his twin, jacob. brayden is on a ventilator. >> the type of condition he has is a pretty rare form of dwarfism that affects cartilage and bone development. >> reporter: when the twins were born, jay job was fine. but brayden spent 291 days in the neonatal intensive care. their insurance company paid the bills as long as brayden was in the hospital but wouldn't cover home health care.

tonight, jay welcomes -- sylvester stallone, olympic swimmer missy franklin and the music of dwiyo

lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. >> all right.usiness owners selling their companies without any care or concern about their employees. this week, cooper made his mark by giving back to the staff that helped make his car dealership successful. cooper gave all 89 employees $1,000 for every year they worked at his dealership. one employee had been there for 46 years. another for 30 years. at a thousand dollar as year, you get the idea. cooper called in to a local radio show to talk about his big gift. >> it was fun. >> i think he is a man that really admires loyalty and i think he had so many employees that were here for 20, 30, 40-some, almost 50 years and i think he wanted to do something to -- something nice for them. >> the final payout isn't known but howard cooper has certainly made his mark. that is a great boss. new voter i.d. law threatens to take away a woman's vote because she is autistic. capella university understands rough economic times have led to an increase in clinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and

lisa sylvester has more. >> reporter: we talk about the best and the brightest, and they really were.mericans who gave their lives for our country and our values. >> reporter: 41-year-old tyrone woods grew up in oregon. his friends called him roan. he was a father to two teenage boys, tyrone jr. and hunter and two months ago he became a father to another baby boy called kai. cheryl croft bennet now has to do what no mother should have to do, receive the remains of her child. >> i'm sure he went down fighting. i just hope his last moments weren't painful. >> reporter: woods was also a registered nurse and a certified paramedic. in the words of secretary clinton, he had the hands of a healer as well as the arm of a warrior. like woods, glen doherty was a former s.e.a.l. who loved adventures. he recently worked on an nbc reality show about hunting terrorists called "the wanted." his friends called him bub. miles from home, woods and doherty died along with ambassador chris stevens and sean smith. this is chris stevens' stepbrother. >> it's tragic and so deeply saddening, but it also maki

cnn's lisa sylvester sat down with the little girl's parents and got this emotional story. >> it's okaye. this 5-year-old sees the whole puzzle. >> she would be trying to put the picture together. she would do it from memory. that's how it works for her. >> reporter: she's happy, playful, and with remarkable memory has autism. >> she had all the classic symptoms and everything. she was doing the repeated behavior, the communication delay. everything. when they did tell me, it was a really difficult time, you know, because all the research tells you there's just no cure and that's just the way she is and you kind of grieve a little because you wanted her life and your life to be different. >> reporter: she was still not talking at 3. her parents were told her odds of ever speaking, at best, 50/50. so she did the only thing she could do. >> she'd wake up in the morning and wants to watch a cartoon. she had no way of telling me which cartoon she wants to watch and from which part she wanted to watch it. the only way she would communicate with me is pointing towards the television and cryin

lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. >>> actor denzel washington needed some help learning his craft. tells me one of his biggest lessons didn't come from an acting school. bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula. hey, bro. or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow. at wells fargo, we believe you can never underestimate the power of a conversation. it's this exchange of ideas that helps you move ahead with confidence. so when the conversation turns to your financial goals... turn to us. if you need anything else, let me know. [ female announcer ] wells fargo. together we'll go far. after you jumped buship in bangkok,n. [ female announcer ] wells fargo. i thought i'd lost you. >>> surfing is my life now. but who's going to .... >>> tell the world that priceline has even faster, easier ways to save you money. . . on hotels, flights & cars? you still have it. >>> i'll always have it. so this is it? >>> we'll

lisa sylvester, cnn, washington. >>> the mormon faith, many people know little about it, and if mittis elected president, he would be the first mormon leader in the white house, and it is the focus this week on our faces of faith. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs g of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. >> announcer: meet jill. she thought she'd feel better after seeing her doctor. and she might have, if not for kari, the identity thief who stole jill's social security number to open credit cards, destroying jill's credit and her dream of retirement. now meet amanda. with a swipe of her debit card, she bought some gas... and an all-e

. >>> "dread 3d" based on the same english comic as the 1995 sylvester stallone vehicle should debut with around 12 million. >>> and, finally, "end of watch" with jake gyllenhaal as an l.a. cop should open with also about 12 million. >>> this comes to us from kvoa news 4 in tucson, arizona, where nasa altered a flight plan to honor the last commander of the space shuttle "endeavour." with the spacecraft being home to its final home, nasa made a detour over mark kelly's home city, to honor a request made by his wife, gabby giffords. he wanted her to see the shuttle one last time. there they are in awe of it. officials approved the request as a way of thanking the couple for their commitment to the space agency. great story there. >>> i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. >>> well, chefs in china better watch their back. they have some steep competition there. a college cafeteria has employed a robot chef to more efficiently whip up a popular chinese dish. the machine can make noodles three times as fast as a human can and cos

tonight, jay welcomes -- sylvester stallone, olympic swimmer missy franklin

. >>> "dread 3d" based on the same english comic as 1995's sylvester stallone vehicle should debut withund 12 million. >>> and, finally, "end of watch" with jake gyllenhaal as an l.a. cop should also open with about 12 million. why do i feel like jake gyllenhaal has about in about 50 of those movies? >> i hate to say it, but i don't know how many of them i've even seen. >> ooh. dylan goes for the dig early. jake gyllenhaal is online waiting for you. this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. >>> president obama and mitt romney trade attacks on the trail. there's new polling breaking down the race in three key battlegrounds but in a campaign swamped with sound bites, the question is whether either candidate is willing to tackle the big issues. >>> bay state debate. scott brown and elizabeth warren tangle in their first face-to-face showdown. the question is will this race determine which party controls the senate come november? >>> and the new york football giants roll into charlotte to take on the carolina

tonight, jay welcomes -- sylvester stallone, olympic swimmer missy franklin and the music of dwight yoakamo!

lisa sylvester's monitoring that, some other top stories in "the situation room" right now.probably didn't even know canada has diplomatic relations with iran. at least until now. >> yeah. that is right, wolf. you know, canada is cutting diplomatic ties with iran now. it's already shut down the canadian diplomatic mission in iran and now called its staff home. today, canada's foreign affairs minister ordered iran's diplomats out of the country in the next five days. in a scathing statement he blasted iran over increasing concerns about its nuclear program, antisematic rhetoric and support of terror groups. four nfl players have been given the go ahead to play this weekend despite being suspended for their roles in the new orleans saints so-called bounty program. a league statement says nfl commissioner roger goodell will quickly determine what discipline to impose for violating the league's pay for performance rule. it says until then four players are reinstate and had may play. and a prank has gotten a 26-year-old philadelphia man in trouble with the feds. kenneth w. smith

lisa sylvester is monitoring that and other stories right now. lisa, what do you have?mer penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky will be sentenced as soon as october 9th. documents now posted on the court website say the sentence will be handed down immediately following a hearing on that date to determine whether he's a sexually violent predator. he was convicted in june of abuses young boys over 15 years. >>> and these pictures are from northern thigh land. the area was hit by major flooding last week. now there's a second deluge caused by a failed flood walls and efforts to pump water in to an already swollen river. about 1,000 households have been flooded. >>> and the ceremony in washington today to mark constitution day. the 225th anniversary of the signing of the u.s. constitution in philadelphia. according to law passed in 2004, schools across the country are required to teach students about the constitution today. so you can see it's historic document. we were talking about it at the archi archives. significant day for the history buffs there. >> hav

that they were initially co worst by police to testify against davis now one of those eyewitnesses sylvester coles that hasn't changed his story has been implicated as the actual killer by nine people have come forward since there is absolutely no forensic or d.n.a. evidence linking troy davis of the killing and no gun was ever found connecting him to the murder so i guess it's fair to say that this isn't a closed case by any means now ben jealous president and c.e.o. of the c.p. made the most important point of all about the case to me yesterday check it out. still going forward with basically the state's vengeance and the really sad part is that what it means is that no one can really be sure that the actual killer was ever caught. the real killer is still free and someone innocent has been murdered by the state and no matter what opinion you hold about the death penalty it's worth noting that over one hundred and thirty seven people on death row have already been exonerated through d.n.a. evidence that proved their wrongful convictions and taking that statistic into consideration it's lik

lisa sylvester is monitoring that and some of the other top stories in "the situation room."the latest on this one? >> a chicago alderman wants clarification from chick-fil-a. he says the company's president is publicly denying that chick-fil-a has stopped donating to anti-gay marriage groups. last week, an alderman said chick-fil-a halted after months of investigations. the comments are called disturbing and contradictory and says it has muddied the progress that was made. >>> if you feel like your bank fees just keep going up, you are right. the financial research firm bankrate.com says banks are hiking atm fees to record levels. at the same time, banks also are cutting back on free checking accounts in response to increased regulations restricting debit card fees and overdraft fees. >>> take a look at this. it is a waterspout in lake michigan. stunning images. tough take a look at these year. in case you were wondering, a waterspout is a tornado over water. it occurs most frequently in michigan in the late summer and early fall months when the great lakes are at their warm

lisa sylvester is monitoring that.s is an important moment. >> i know a lot of folks have been watching this, wolf. it is the nobel laureate's first visit to the united states in decades. she just received the congressional medal, it was awarded to her while she was still under house arrest. myanmar is transitioning from years under another control. more signs of recovery. existing home sales jump by nearly 8% in august. according to the national association of realtors, that is the highest level in more than two years. and the census bureau reports housing starts in august rose 2.3% over july. a new report says children should only eat light tuna and no more than twice a month. the mercury policy project says that is the only way to keep children's mercury intake at a safe level. white albacor tuna should be avoided all together because it was found to have triple the amount of mercury. take a look at this one. you've got to look hat this. this is one of nature's rarest events. it is a fire tornado. and they're caused

washington with this consulate offices in new york to start this magazine, the fatherland, george sylvester varick, german-american poetess hired and this was basically a pro-german propaganda sheet. very cleverly done, claimed 100,000 american readers within a few months. now obviously, a large contingent of the readers here are german-american to feel proud. they see no reason to denigrate their home countries military ambitions. after all, france, england and germany cannot be claiming to follow their patriotic destiny. and in fact, new york about what i was trying to say before, what i meant to say is that the turn-of-the-century, new york city was the third-largest german-speaking community and the world after berlin and vienna. their 750,000 non-german-americans in new york city. so there is a pride. this is also an attempt by the german government without being open about it because it is covert initially that they found us to counter what is seen as anglophilia, the pro-english and pro-french feeling that they see as emanating out of new york city, under this media, under wall stree

lisa sylvester's monitoring some of the other stories in "the situation room" right now.e. first to athens where authorities say demonstrators through molotov cocktails on a square outside the country's parliament building. police responded with teargas. there are no immediate reports of injuries. this comes a day after police reportedly used clubs and rubber bullets to keep thousands of protesters away from the country's parliament building in madrid. 28 people including two police officers were reported injured in those clashes. and two senators are demanding answers about security concerns at the u.s. diplomatic office in benghazi, libya, leading up to the attack that killed ambassador chris stevens and three other meamericans. members of the senate foreign relations committee have sent a letter to secretary hillary clinton cite about concerns of threats there. a preliminary settlement requires the university of california to pay $30,000 to each of one of 21 protesters hit by pepper spray from the university police during occupy demonstrations at uc davis last november

lisa sylvester has more on him and his colleagues who gave their lives for our country.tyrone woods, he is the final victim to be identified. the 41-year-old is a father of three who spent two decades as a navy seal. like the other victims, there was a driving force within him to serve his country. ♪ >> reporter: we talk about the best and the brightest, and they really were. >> today we bring home four americans who gave their lives for our country and our values. >> reporter: 41-year-old tyrone woods grew up in oregon. his friends called him rone. he was a father to two teenage boys, tyrone jr. and hunter. three months ago he became a new dad again to a baby boy. woods was a former seal who died helping protect the ambassador and others. sheryl kroft bennett now prepares to do what no mother should have to do, receive the remains of their child. >> i'm sure he went down fighting. i'm sure he did. i hope his last moments weren't painful. >> reporter: she's a registered nurse and certified paramedic. in the woods of secretary clinton, he had the hands of a healer as well

li lisa sylvester is monitoring that and other top stories. what's going on?e department says no u.s. employees were killed in today's bomb attack on a u.s. counselor van in pakistan. a spokeswoman says two u.s. personnel and two pakistani staff members were injured and are now receiving medical treatment. but pakistani officials say two pakistanis were killed and 25 were wounded when a car loaded with explosives slammed into the van. >>> and the secret service says it has found a stolen uhaul carrying equipment for a labor day rally with president biden. and agents say the rest appear to be accounted for in the truck. and the holiday weekend took a dangerous turn at a monster truck show on saturday. take a look at these pictures. a speeding truck goes out of control, clears a barricade and careens into the crowd. three people were injured. but just take a look at that. amazingly, though, none of the injuries were life threatening. no charges were filed. and the event continued on for the next day. three people injured. none of those injuries life threatening.

cnn's lisa sylvester's back. she's got more information. what's going on?olf, it was originally estimated in 2010 that four million people could be penalized for not having health insurance. but now the tax penalty could actually hit six million people. and one reason is that some states may choose not to expand medicaid. another reason is the economy, unemployment remains high. and some individuals particularly those with pre-existing conditions might have a hard time getting health insurance. 60-year-old sue has seen the ups and downs of life. she was laid off last year. now she's out of a job and out of health insurance. >> since i have been this age that i am now and faced with the prospects of buying my own insurance through the private sector that it's become so difficult because it is extremely expensive. and i'm just saying if this law goes into effect the wayi unrstats going to be aardship for me. >> she's referring to the new federal health care law. she and virtually all other u.s. residents will have to have health insurance by 2014. if not, the

lisa sylvester has that part of the story. >> reporter: not based at the u.s. consulate in benghazi, sean smith worked out of the hag aue and was on short-term duty. ambassador chris stevens was based in tripoli. most recently identified victim was glen doherty who lived in california, but grew up outside of boston. from different areas at the the consulate on assignment. they leave behind grieving hearts. kate quigley is doherty's sister. >> glen lived his life to the fullest. he was my brother but if you ask his friends, he was their brother as well. we ask for privacy during this time as we grieve for our friend, my brother, our brother, our son and our american hero. >> reporter: as a navy s.e.a.l., he was a trained sniper and medical corpsman and stayed active working for s.e.a.l. fit, seen here in this video having fun, in a friendly competition. >> mr. doherty? massachusetts, right? long way from home. how old are you? >> 41 1/2. >> 41 1/2? >> that's right. >> he was just 42 when he died. ambassador stevens leaves three younger siblings. tom stevens is h

our lisa sylvester's here, taking a closer look. a little weird out there. >> yeah. it is.ast. that renovation is completed. they fixed cracks and leaks in the foundation. now there is a new problem. let's just say this is a problem that you just can't miss. there's plenty to take pictures of in downtown washington, d.c. the lincoln memorial, world war ii memorial, and then this -- folks snapping photos of the reflecting pool. >> it's sludgy at this end. >> reporter: and what's in it. >> it's disgusting. it's not right. >> reporter: algae. >> smells like wet dog. when my dog came home from the stream, he smelled like this. it's grot aep's gross. >> reporter: the reflecting pool reopening after a $34 million renovation that lasted nearly two years. less than a month later, the famous pool of water is full of algae. algae are simple organisms that thrive in areas where there is heat and sunlight. you have plenty of that here. the water may not look great, but it doesn't pose a health or safety hazard. it's really just the yuck factor. >> if it's sunny, if it's really warm, te

we have congressman sylvester reyes. we've got mayor john cook. we've got all of the great folks in el paso and new mexico. give them a big round of applause. i'll come back to bliss for a simple reason. two years ago, i was here to mark a short moment in the life of our nation and our military. the end of major combat operations in iraq. it was a chance for me to say on behalf of the american people, to you, and all who serve there, welcome home. and congratulations on a job well done. and every major play of that war, you were there, the iron soldiers. because of your speed and strength, american troops toppled a dictator in less than a month. because of your commitment, you stayed on extended tours and went back tour-after-tour, year-after-year. because of your determination to succeed, you turn back an insurgency. you stood firm against second strife, you helped to back the offense and you trained iraqis to take the lead. that was the progress you made possible. with your service and your courage. two years ago, i was able to mark the end of t