Andrea Mitchell
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.
from NBC's Andrea Mitchell
Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin today expressed skepticism about sanctioning Iran over its nuclear program. Putin made his comments in Beijing, in what will be widely viewed as a diplomatic rebuke to the U.S. and Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton. Clinton just wrapped up a two day trip to Russia and is now flying back to DC.
"There is no need to frighten the Iranians," Putin told reporters in Beijing after a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organizatin, the AP writes. "And if now, before making any steps [towards holding talks] we start announcing some sanctions, then we won't be creating favorable conditions for them to end positively. This is why it is premature to talk about this now," he said.
Clinton had her own difficulties over Iran on the trip, as Russia's hardline Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov restated his opposition to sanctions yesterday. Later yesterday, she met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who did not publically disagree with his Foreign Minister.
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From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
GENEVA -- A senior U.S. official tells NBC News that the significance of the proposal to farm out Iran's enrichment is that if it is done it would remove most of their stockpiles of enriched uranium.
Although they could always produce more that takes time and the official says it could extend by at least a year the time frame before they could produce a bomb.
Officials in Geneva are trying to avoid overplaying the proposal because, one said, "We don't want to spook the Iranians. But if they end up doing this, it would be a very big deal."
If they now refuse, it raises serious questions about whether they their nuclear program is really peaceful as they claim.
More on the talks from NBC's Michelle Perry, also in Geneva:
A U.S. official said the talks in Geneva today represent the beginning in a process to move on practical steps that will address the international communitiy's request that Iran be transparent on the Qom site and in allowing IAEA inspections.
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From NBC's Andrea Mitchell
GENEVA, Switzerland -- The talks between the P5+1 and Iran have ended and, per a senior U.S. official, all parties have agreed to a second round of talks by the end of the month.
The U.S. and Iran had their first meetings, direct talks -- in 30 years -- during a lunch break in the group session.
Deputy U.S. Spokesman Robert Wood confirmed that "On the margins of the meeting this morning Undersecretary of State William Burns met with the Iranian representative Saeed Jalili."
Prior to the direct talks during the lunch break, the opening plenary session was a restatement of previous positions by both sides, according to sources inside the meeting.
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