Andrea Mitchell
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Kelly Paice
NBC's Andrea Mitchell interviewed Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
Here is some of what Steele had to say about Sarah Palin. A clip is below with text after the jump.
HERE'S THE FULL VIDEO.
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From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- More than 1,500 people camped out overnight outside the Woodland Mall here for the chance to return later and get a book signed by Sarah Palin -- the first stop on her book tour.
People had driven for hours to get in line for an orange wristband and instructions to return and line up later. Palin is expected to be signing books from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Mall operators say she'd have to sign one book every 15 seconds to get through everyone with a wristband so far.
Those lined up here in battleground Michigan are hard-core Palin fans. Many are women who say they relate to Palin because "she's an ordinary person."
Another told me that she's "inspired by a woman who started from nothing."
"She means what she says, says what she means."
People were wrapped up in blankets, a few had strollers, and some elderly people had walkers. Some dads had secured a place in line and were later joined by the rest of the family. Many people said they'd made it a holiday, taking a motel room nearby. Two students, both young women, came from Michigan State. One said she viewed Palin as a celebrity better qualified to host a talk show than to be president. But most of the others in line were unqualified political supporters, who said they wanted to see Palin in the White House.
Many were sporting 2008 buttons and stickers from the McCain-Palin campaign.
From Michigan, Palin goes to Indiana tomorrow for another signing.
From NBC’s Andrea Mitchell
Fresh from a meeting at the Pentagon this morning, Armed Services Committee member and West Point graduate Sen. Jack Reed acknowledged that Ambassador (and Retired General) Eikenberry's warnings are in conflict with Gen. McChrstyal's recommendations.
In other words, the President's handpicked top military man in the war zone is now being contradicted by the president's top diplomat in the country. The two men, in fact, have disagreed in the past when McChrystal reported to Eikenberry. Clearly, say most experts, this is not a sustainable situation.
In an interview at the Newseum at a conference hosted by Bloomberg News, Reed said the fact that two experienced military men reached different conclusions makes the President's job difficult, because if Afghanistan (Karzai) can’t provide local governance, then our additional troop deployments won’t be decisive.
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From NBC's Michelle Perry
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) acknowledged that House Dems still need to work out the abortion issue in the healthcare reform bill ahead of Saturday's vote. Clyburn told NBC's Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports," that the House bill is in a good place on substance, but some remain "skittish" about the language that goes into the bill on abortion.
The potential stumbling block is whether or not the House bill would include explicit language restricting the use of federal money to pay for abortions. Moderate Blue Dog Democrats have threatened to oppose the bill if it doesn't.
"Both sides want to make sure that we don't put wording in here that will cause a tilt one way or the other," Clyburn told Mitchell, "and so that's the problem."
While Clyburn said that everyone is agreeable, that they express language in the bill that would not allow for federal funding for abortions, he added they are looking for a way to "wall off" the money. Right now moderate Dems remain concerned that there are still areas where the money is fungible.
That said, Clyburn thinks the issue will be resolved and they will have the votes necessary to pass the bill.
From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
The State Department is confirming Palestinian reports that Secretary Clinton is leaving Islamabad tomorrow evening for Abu Dhabi, where she will hold talks Saturday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
The rest of her schedule is unclear, but she is expected in Jerusalem Saturday night for meetings Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, according to Israeli officials.
She then heads to Morocco for meetings Monday and Tuesday.
From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
Hillary Clinton, buffeted by tough questions for two days about the U.S. influence on Pakistan's military, said today she finds it hard to believe that no one in Pakistan's government knows where al Qaeda is -- and couldn't get them if they wanted to. She added that al Qaeda has had a safe haven in Pakistan for seven years.
The Secretary of State's very undiplomatic response came in a meeting with newspaper editors.
This exchange is not on camera:
Asked why other countries can't be involved in fighting terrorism -- not just Pakistan -- Clinton said: "Al-Qaeda has had safe haven in Pakistan since 2002. I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to. Maybe that's the case; maybe they're not gettable. I don't know.''
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From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was welcomed to Pakistan by a car bomb explosion in Peshawar -- as well as word of the latest terror attacks in Afghanistan.
Just as Clinton was embarking on a trip to emphasize that the U.S. was not only focused on security and terror -- but also wanted a broader relationship with Pakistan -- the terror attacks brought home the brutal reality of Pakistan's dilemma: Under pressure from the U.S., the government has launched its long delayed attack against insurgents in tribal areas. But the extremists have responded with a spate of attacks, undermining the legitimacy of the government and angering Pakistanis frustrated by the lack of security.
Video:
A massive car bomb rocks a crowded market in Pakistan hours after Secretary of State Hilary Clinton arrives in the country.At a news conference today with Pakistan's foreign minister, Clinton said that she wanted to turn the page on the U.S. relationship with Pakistan and build on mutual respect and shared responsibilities. "While we may disagree from time to time as friends and partners do" Clinton said, she vowed to do more thru people to people diplomacy.
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From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
A spokesman for Nancy Pelosi is denying today's Politico report that any decision has been made about the public option in the House bill.
"We continue to work with all the members of the caucus to build consensus," the spokesman says.
Sources close to the speaker say leadership did not tell progressives last night that the robust public option is off the table. The votes are still being counted.
They add that the House bill will have a public option. The only question, as Pelosi told NBC News yesterday, is how robust it will be. She said in the NBC interview that her criteria is, which public option will create the most savings.
Politico had reported that after a whip count at last night's caucus, Pelosi realized she didn't have the votes for the most sweeping public option.
From Andrea Mitchell and Libby Leist
Aides to Sen. John Kerry tell NBC News that he returned to Kabul tonight to continue negotiations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. And Kerry will be in place tomorrow for an anticpated announcement by Karzai about the election results. Hillary Clinton said this afternoon she was "encouraged" that Karzai will abide by the constitution and accept the Electoral Complaints Commission results that left him with 48% of the vote.
Kerry spent the day in Islamabad before returning to Kabul, where he had spent the weekend. Aides say Kerry spent a lot of one-on-one time with Karzai on Saturday and Sunday, including dinner both nights.
Kerry has been coordinating closely with the State Department. A senior State Department official said, "We have been telling Karzai ... to accept the results. That will be imporant."
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From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
An official at the Vienna talks says it is not clear yet whether Iran will agree to proceed with the International Atomic Energy Agency's proposal to ship their low-grade enriched uranium to Russia for reprocessing.
Iranian officials met with the U.S and other western diplomats today in Vienna -- shortly after Iranian television declared that Iran would not agree to deal with France because of past disputes with France.
France, in recent weeks, has been taking a harder line on the Iran talks than the other U.S. allies.
Today's meetings lasted about two hours and 45 minutes.
They are due to resume at 10:00 am tomorrow -- to go into greater depth and see if they can reach an implementation agreement on what was proposed in Geneva.
