congressional leader christine o'donnell says, we've all had friends that were questionable. they're focusing on ending poverty but the biggest challenge for the world leaders gathering here is what to do about iran. she joins us in her very first interview before addressing the general assembly and meeting all the other delegates. susan rice, thank you so much. iran again challenging the u.n. watchdog saying it is operating illegally, has no right to crack down. he's also saying the u.n. sanctions are having no effect, the effect of an interview -- in one interview he says it was a spoiled kleenex. what is your best information on how to deal with iran and whether these sanctions are having any effect? because certainly in his public statements skand iran's behavio

it doesn't seem to have stepped back. >> you wouldn't expect the leader of iran to come ask say the sanctions are killing me. but with all the evidence we've seen, these have proven to be the toughest set of sanctions. u.n. community has ever imposed on iran and they're having difficulty as well as having iran move ships to acquire access to banking. they came in three categories. first, that that we passed at the united nations securities council. then the european union came behind, as did japan and south korea, others, canada, and imposed an even more sweeping set of sanctions as did our own congress. so in three layers, the iranian regime finds itself more isolated and under more economic pressure than ever before. we are seeing very tangible signs that they are scrambling for everything from insurance for their shipping to fuel for their aircraft. >> as you know, i was in tehran

last week when sarah shourd was released, and now on sunday she came back to the united states. this is what she had to say about shane and josh, the two other american hikers. watch. >> the only thing that enabled me to cross the gulf from prison to freedom alone was the knowledge that shane and josh wanted, with all their hearts, for my suffering to end. my disappointment in not sharing this with shane and josh was crushing, and i stand before you today only one-third free. >> is there any hope at all about these two other americans? because president ahmadinejad says that he doesn't control the judiciary, and we see a lot of evidence that there are divisions within the regime. how do we get them home? >> andrea, we're doing everything possible to bring shane and josh back home. we certainly welcome that sarah has been released and is now rejoined with her family and that her health seems to be in good shape. we are working through every avenue that we know to persuade

the iranians that having released sarah on humanitarian grounds that they now do the same for shane and josh. they have committed no crime, they have done nothing wrong, and yet they are being held against their will for over a year. so we will continue to press for their immediate and unconditional release, and that message is being conveyed in every possible channel and will not rest until josh and shane are both back home. >> the president has said we want to reach out to iran and they have not recipro indicated. president ahmadinejad said, i reached out to president obama and he never reached back. all the presidents will be here. is there going to be any interaction or communication? >> i don't expect there will be any interaction or communication at the head of state level or even at other leflvels. but andrea, we've been very plain with the iranians and they know well we are seeking a dual

policy, on one hand to persuade them to negotiate seriously and an open door to negotiations in the context of what we call the p 5 plus 1, the permanent members of the security council plus germany. our aid is for -- our aim is fo iran to come and negotiate through peace aides. we await iran's response through the negotiator who is representing all of us in the 5 plus 1. we stand ready to have those serious negotiations as we began last october, and unfortunately the iranians refused to continue them. but in the absence of those negotiations, the pressure will continue. >> let me just show you his most recent response one on one with me. this was ahmadinejad just last week when i asked him, why not show what you've got if it's a peaceful program? let's watch. you say iran is cooperating, they say iran is not. why not let them in if it's a

peaceful program? >> translator: we say that it is against our religion and we have evidence, and the evidence is there in the iaea and it is not based on the mptm. >> showing no willingness to compromise, and this criticism from one of your predecessors, the u.n. ambassador under george w. bush who said 20 months into the tenure of our most multi-lateral president, what has he accomplished in the united nations? the short answer, not much. do you want to respond? >> i like that ahmadinejad and the ambassador -- you're putting them together. john bolton, who wanted to take ten stories off the u.n. tower, starts praising our policies at the u.n., i'm going to be concerned. the fact is we've taken a completely different approach. we've repaired frayed relations that the united states had with

previous administration in countries around the world. we've ended isolation on a huge number of issues. and in consequence, we've gotten strong cooperation on things that matter most to our national security interest. the toughest endeavor in iran which is beginning to bite in a pressing way, and much more concerted agreement on the part of the international community to strengthen the non-political regime. none of that happened with the approach that john bolton still add voluntary catvocat advocates. we're happy president ahmadinejad will koccome here t week and be able to build on that on other issues of major concern like the middle east, afghanistan and iraq. >> the president just said all options are on the table regarding iran. how likely is it, do you think, that there will have to be some sort of military conflict, armed

steps taken against iran if iran continues to refuse to back down, or as colin powell indicated this weekend on "meet the press," are we going to have to come to some agreement that they are nuclear and we just have the best possible infections program that we can have to make sure they are not threatening their neighbors? >> no, andrea, our aim remains to combine concerted and mounting pressure on behalf of the entire international community, pressure that's beginning to bite them economically in a significant way, to persuade iran to resolve this through peaceful means. that's why the diplomatic track remains open. that's our preferred option and that's what we continue to pursue. obviously, it would be unwise to force any options and we're not going to do that. but we remain firmly on this dual track of pressure and sanctions and engagement, and we will pursue it with the aim of preventing iran from achieving a nuclear capacity. >> ambassador susan rice with a

very busy schedule. i can't even keep up with your schedule this week. and still ahead, a fight brewing over white house plans to sell arms to saudi arabia. congressman anthony weiner is here next. and what did he just tell them about this photo op? christine o'donnell tried to dispel those rumors about dabbling in witchcraft. this is andrea mitchell on msnbc. last year. (oof). i had a bum knee that needed surgery. but it got complicated, because i had an old injury. so i wanted a doctor who had done this before. and unitedhealthcare's database helped me find a surgeon. you know you can't have great legs, if you don't have good knees. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help

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former president jimmy carter is once again stirring controversy, this time with a new book "white house diary" coming out today, a compilation of private diary entries he wrote when he was president that never before was made public. he sat down with brian williams

of nightly news who joins us now. he never disappoints. >> andrea, coming in this morning the news had been about this book regarding ted kennedy, the late massachusetts democrat, and carter's contention that kennedy would rather have nothing than have his own kennedy's health care plan go down. he didn't want jimmy carter's health care plan. i had this previously scheduled interview with the former president today. he's doing the media rounds. i obviously asked him about the book, but there was a question that always board me aboutthere photograph taken in the oval office. his answer, a lot of people will find illuminating and then some. here's the exchange. >> the last photo of you with your fellow former president, you were well off to the side on the right, and i thought to myself, there is a possible m metaph metaphor. what is it about you, you think, the way you've decided to

conduct your life and post presidency. do you feel listened to? do you feel that you receive your due, or do you feel, in fact, apart from the crowd? >> no, i feel that my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents, primarily because of the activism and the objection of working with the center for international affairs and domestic affairs on energy conservation, on the environment and things of that kind. we're right in the midst of a constant data debate. and the center has decided, under my leadership, to fill a vacuum in the world. when they won't address troubled areas, we go and meet with leaders who can bring an end to a conflict, on human rights abuse and so forth, so i feel we

have an advantage over many other former presidents in being involved in daily affairs that shape the policies of our nation and the world. >> brian? he's in the club of former pt presidents. i don't need to tell you this, you know it better than anyone. we've had situations where former president bush traveled and helped things. we had george w. bush traveling to haiti. he's now calling out all the former presidents. >> it's quite possible that before this day is out, now that media cycles run one to three hours, this quote, superior to that of other presidents, may have to be refined, perhaps even taken back. and you know that in this small club, this very tiny industry of former presidents, they all do their own thing. the carter model was set in stone. bill clinton's global initiative

and so on and so on, they all respond to various needs. this quote may not go over all that well. >> i'm just thinking, bill clinton this very week, the global initiative is here in new york and we know how many billions of dollars have been raised and what they've been doing. but the fact that george herbert walker bush, knowing how much friction there was between his son and bill clinton, still partnered with bill clinton to go to the tsunami zone and to do other things. >> because it was a good cause. because it needed their candle power. now, to be fair, this book and this interview we talk about, i made a list of topics. reagan, the kennedys, writing a diary in the first place, how it was nixon's idea, his daughter amy, the speed reading course he took from evelyn wood while in the white house, the rodents in the white house and his threat to fire somebody if they couldn't control them -- >> you're talking about four-legged, not two-legged.

>> he even talks about his battle with hemmorhoids. this book is a doorstop and yet it's just 20% of the diary entries he maintained during the years. i asked hicm, most people think you were caught up in minutia, and here's minutia. we'll have more on the nightly news and we'll put more on the web tonight, but there you have it. >> we thought catching up with ted kennedy a year after his death was controversial, but i think he's just now jumped the carts here. >> he's his own man. as they tend to be. >> and you've now joined us on twitter. welcome to the whatever -- >> i'm inactive, but i -- >> inactive meaning you haven't done your first tweet? >> look at that. yeah. look at that. there's your activity. >> maybe you could write something about this very night. >> sure. yeah.

>> okay. i'll pay for this. >> taking it under advisement. boy, are you in trouble. >> boy, am i in trouble. thank you so much, brian williams. we'll see more of the interview with jimmy carter tonight on nbc nightly news with brian williams, or you can read did on twitter. coming up next, can christine o'donnell cast a spell over voters? you're watching it only on msnbc. i didn't miss a premium payment for 10 years. the minute i got sick, i lost my insurance. not anymore. america's healthcare reforms change lives for the better. to find out how it can help you, visit us at americasfairhealthcare.org ♪ now the healing power of touch just got more powerful. introducing precise from the makers of tylenol.

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iaiabetes. and i'm worried if i lose my job, i won't be able to afford insurance. not anymore. america's healthcare reforms change lives for the better. to see how it can help you, visit us at americasfairhealthcare.org dissengs in the ranks. several democrats are now voicing opposition to the biggest arms sale to the u.s. from saudi arabia, partly what the u.s. has agreed to because it will help them in their lead

against iran. the obama white house is doing it because they feel it will help? in fact, help coordinate american efforts against iran because then they will be the same weapons systems in saudi arabia that we operate as well, the f-15s and the advanced fighter jets. what is your opposition? >> first of all, the israelis have not stated their position and i really don't care all that much -- they haven't really said one way or another, but i would say this is bad u.s. policy. every single arms sale we hear about awax in the '80s, it's all about arming the saudis so they'll have an edge against iran. has saudi arabia ever showed any signs of helping us? if they wanted to help us, they would stop funding and exporting terrorism, they would start treating their own people a little bit better and not teaching hate in their schools. this is just a very bad policy, and you know, every time we get into this cycle of exploiteding more arms in the middle east, we

wind up waking up one morning and saying, all the arms we sent to iraq right now, the iraqi government has fallen and they're in the wrong hands. there is a strong fundamentalist streak to it, and i don't know what we're rewarding them for. >> the white house position, the state house position is that we have been, a -- and this is not just this administration but the past administration, that we really need to get the gulf countries in line against iran. in fact, this is what is pred indica -- pred indicating iran and one way of persuading iraqis not to go nuclear. >> the saudis have been theoretically our hedge all along, but yet u.s. troops have to protect saudi arabia at every turn. you, me and nine of you're newswriters can probably stand up to the saudis more than the iraqis could. i don't have a problem helping

out a u.s. industry, but we are essentially rewarding the rogue nation of saudi arabia. they have done nothing to help us in all the crises we face. in the oil crisis strike, president bush went over there and asked for help. what did they say? no. when it came time to help the middle east, what did they say? we're going to be the leading in the world, and now they're doing it with about $16 million in arms. it's a bad idea. >> you may be leading the election because every analyst now shows the house is really in trouble. we see chet edwards and other members of congress. this is a new commercial from chet edwards running away from nancy pelosi. >> president obama stood up to chet williams. chet said no to their trillion

dollar health bill and no to cap and trade. >> how do you support them when everybody is going different directions and the speaker of the house himself is becoming a big issue among democrats? >> i have no doubt anthony weiner can get reelected, but that's why chet edwards would get reelected. it seems to shift more times in a 24-hour cycle than you might imagine, but there are a lot of things i think democrats might agree upon. i'm confident we'll be in the a majori majority. we're the party talking about doing things, they're the party talking about turning things back. i don't think people want to go back to the bush years. >> thank you very much. good to see you. christine o'donnell was not lacking in controversial comments when the tea party propelled her to one of the biggest political upsets in the year, but now she has done herself one better. can she survive this? >> i dabbled in witchcraft, i never joined a covenant. >> you were a witch? >> i never joined a covenant. >> i love this.

on halloween you can say, i was a witch. >> i dabbled in witchcraft, i hung around people who were doing these things. i'm not making this stuff up, i know what they told me they do. in one of my dates -- my first date was -- one of my first dates was a witch on a satanic altar and i didn't know it. this was a little blood and stuff like that. >> your first date? >> yeah, we watched a movie -- >> a movie with a sacrifice? >> you can't help but laugh, jonathan martin. we've all had bad days in high school but i can't remember a midnight session with blood and all that stuff. how about you, john that? >> it's a gift for cable tv. i'm not sure who said it over the weekend but there was a great line about i dabbled in witchcraft but didn't john a covenant, sort of the new, i didn't inhale of this era. >> could she laugh it off,

jonathan? is this something she can get away from? >> she smartly, andrea, is trying to do just that. yesterday in the campaign trail in delaware she started to make fun of it. that's the way to go when it comes to this kind of issue. her larger problem, when it comes to this and every other bit of op, it's the tina fey sarah palin, you become a punchline and that can be difficult when it comes to being on the ballot and winning electorally. she's got her work cut out for her, but she's raising a lot of cash. she's going to be able to be on tv in delaware, on philadelphia tv, so tough to say if she'll win, but because of this national exposure, she's going to have the funds, andrea, to at least be competitive on the airwaves. >> and she's also got the social media deal down the way sarah palin did. she tweeted about this. i did kmcomment if i were a wit,

karl rove would be a supporter. i would have turned him into a newt because gingrich says we win. >> it's the old thing of hang a lantern on your problem. that's what she's trying to do here. her larger challenge is the bill maher clips in the video obviously make a top narrative, but delaware is a state that doesn doesn't elect folks on either end of the extremes, andrea, and that's going to be her challenge. as a cultural conservative, how do you win in wilmington? >> the challenge is with the democrats, at least in their ads they haven't focused on the witchcraft deal, but the ad they came up against her focuses on her fiscal positions. let's watch. >> we don't know a lot about christine o'donnell, but here's what we do know. she'll fit right in in washington. o'donnell spends money she doesn't have, fired employees

she didn't pay, stiffed businesses, didn't pay her taxes. >> is that the way to get back at her, to go at her tea party credentials? >> yeah. i think that's sort of the sober way beyond her witchcraft and talking about condoms and human brains and mice. there is a lot there, but i think this is the safer approach where voters are going to say, are we really going to elect someone who has an alien against their house, who is living off their campaign contributions? that is a safer way to go for democrats. i think you do run the risk if you're democrats of helping her if you really attack her on the personal stuff like her past comments, because that can just engendjerngender sympathy among supporters. if you stick to paying taxes and bills, that's safest. coming up, president obama faces frustrated americans as he

defends his economic policies. plus, pakistan's foreign minister. the latest on the flood relief efforts and what he hopes to get from world leaders this week at the united nations. send me your thoughts. you can find me on twitter at mitchell reports. one a day men's 50+ advantage. it's the only complete multivitamin with ginkgo to support memory and concentration. plus vitamin d to help maintain healthy blood pressure. [ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's.

topping the headlines on andrea mitchell reports, in utah more than 1600 homes have been evacuated as wildfires close in on the tiny town of merriman. at least four homes have burned down. the fire started at a national guard fighting range when the brush caught fire during artillery sessions. in bermuda, people are still feeling effects of hurricane igor. even though it brushed by as a category 1, high winds and surf still affected bermuda. they're holding hearings on genetically engineered salmon to determine if it can be marketed and sold. if given the green light, it

would be the first organically marketed seafood for human consumption. he pushes back the notion he was beating up on wall street. the president denied he is anti-business, reminding the audience at the museum in washington, d.c., saying that wall street feels like it got beaten up, too. >> let's look at the track record here. when i came into office, businesses, some of the same commentators who are on cnbc, were crying, do something. because of the consequence of reckless decisions that had been made, the economy was on the verge of collapse. those same businesses now are profitable, the financial markets are stabilized, we haven't increased taxes on businesses. >> cnbc's chief washington correspondent john harwood hosted this town event called "investing in america."

john, congratulations. you've done it again, another big exclusive. so did he make the sale? >> we're going to see over the next six weeks before the election. the challenge for the administration has always been to take their accomplishments, which are many in legislative terms, and even in economic terms, you can tell the economy clearly is in better shape than it was when he took office, but people are not feeling it right now, and he's got to go out over the next few weeks and do two things. one, convince the american people that he has made things better, and secondly, draw that contrast with republicans. you know, i asked him at the end, andrea, about would you be willing to debate john baynor, and he said, i would be happy to have that debate because he's trying to make sure that people aren't just looking at a referendum on him, but they're judging him in comparison to the previous administration which was very unpopular when it left office. >> john, you gathered people together from business, average americans. this is one woman and her complaint directly to the president. >> i'm one of your middle class

americans, and quite frankly, i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the man who would change what i voted for and deeply disappointed where we are right now. >> how did the president react to that? >> the president tried to make the case that i mentioned before, we were losing 700,000 jobs when he took office, now we've had eight consecutive months of private sector job growth, but that question from a woman named velma who was a non-profit in washington went right to the heart of his problem. people are not feeling the positive effects of his policies, even though he's articulating what those results are and did so again today. >> let me play just a bit of colin powell on "meet the press" with david gregory yesterday, another strong supporter who supported him during the campaign but also subtly critical of president obama and the way he's ordered his priorities. let's watch. >> the president also has to, i think, shift the way in which he

has been doing things. i think the american people feel that too many programs have come down. there are so many rocks in our knappsack now that we're having trouble carrying it. i think the president has to, like a razor blade, just go after the single issue that is you we uppermost in the minds of the american people and that is employment. >> of course, washington says we had no choice, we were handed this, we had to deal with the auto industry, we had to deal with health care. however, they didn't really have to take on everything that they did. >> exactly. that's been a question of priorities from the beginning, but one of the things the president did say today, andrea, was that we are at a point where it's the prooivate sector that s to take the lead. i asked him in terms of stimulating the economy, is the big government era over? he didn't really answer but he said his goal is to get the private sector and all those quarterly balance sheets, get

those out and invest in products so the american economy can start growing more rapidly and get unemployment down. >> thanks so much, john harwood. great job and be sure to watch tod today's town hall with president obama right here at 3:00 p.m. on msnbc. leaving 1200 people homeless, many more starving. despite requests to help, pakistan's foreign minister joins me in the theater. thank you so much. what is the latest toll and the situation with the flood as far as your efforts and the international community's efforts to try to help the people who are suffering so terribly? >> i'd like to thank the international community for the help they've given. yesterday we had a very good meeting at the u.n. there were some additional

measures made. they have been to a great extent met. 92% of the money has been realized. a second appeal has been launched. the situation in pakistan is fairly serious because 20 million people have been affected. this is the largest and most historic national calamity we've ever dealt with. we have issues, we have issues of food, we have issues of shelter, we have issues dealing with one on one allegiance, we have mobilized national resources to deal with the challenge, but they are not enough. so international attention and international assistance is very important. >> there was a lot of criticism of president sadari in his first days when he was not in pakistan, he was in europe, traveled around. there were questions raised on whether the government of pakistan could survive this. what is the political situation now? >> first of all, you have to understand in our system, the chief executive is the prime minister and not the president. and after the 18th

constitutional amendment, all executive decisions rests with the prime minister. in the country, the cabinet is in the country, the particle li was functional, so everyone who was supposed to do what was required were in the country. >> there were also concerns that charities connected to taliban groups were doing a better job of delivering aid in rural regions than the government was, or the international community. is that a fair statement? >> i think that's an exaggeration. that's not true. some of them reached out, but i think -- look at the enormity of the challenge. the national effort is not enough. international support is, you know -- >> are you getting enough international support? what would you like the united nations to do to ramp it up this week? >> i think the first thing the united nations has to do is expand to the expansion that has been launched on the 17th of

september. secondly, more jobs in line with national priorities of pakistan. ask agai and again, coming back to your earlier question, that is exaggerated. the national and international have done a much better job. so yes, if he did create that vacuum, we would step in. but we would not create that vacuum and we will not let them step in. >> thank you very much. we really appreciate your coming today. >> thank you. and coming up, the global fight against extreme hunger and hiv aids. one campaign joins us with the laurchl of a new campaign. all the networks of msnbc universal are putting forth efforts of america's classrooms. join us on education nation right here on september 26th on msnbc and nbc.

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a new united nations report shows new progress is being made in the fight against hiv aids in afri africa. 22 of the most affected countries have reduced new hiv infections by more than 235 -- excuse me -- 25%. sorry about those typos. but despite the progress, the epidemic is far from over. the one campaign is out with a new public service announcement in its effort to stop the spread of hiv/aids from mothers to their unborn children by 2015. take a look. >> although 1,000 babies are born every day with hiv and half will die before their second birthday. but the plain truth is, this can all be prevented. we now have the medicine and the treatment to stop the spread of hiv from mother to child. we can reach the goal of no child born with hiv by 2015. but it won't happen without you. >> david lane is president and

ceo of one campaign. david, it's great to see you. you're chapgi inchanging your f. explain. >> one of the things we're trying to say in this ad, i think the public is so overwhelmed with global poverty, extreme poverty, this week they're coming together with goals to see what can be done in the next five years. i think it's important for the public to know there is an achievable goal. 500 children are born every day with hiv transmitted from the mother. today less than half of those mothers get treated. by 2015, every single mother can get treated. it's quite obvious if we continue to fund the global poverty era. >> you think this is achievable? >> this is absolutely an achievable goal. there has been enormous progress. the work on the aids treatment generally, there are only 50,000 people in the developing world

on treatment in the year 2000, today there are 5 million. to the critics' surprise, we've proven we know how to do this. >> and this is a coalition. this is bono who is writing in the "new york times" yesterday. it's also george w. bush who deserves, most advocates believe, great credit with what his administration did. >> absolutely. president obama has credited president bush with setting the foundation for his own work in this area. i think it's important to know that there is this broad-based coalition that's bipartisan. people come at this issue with a bunch of different motivations in terms of the moral faith community to national security. i think secretary gates is often called for more development assistance to the business community, and the one thing all these seg mentments coalitions in common are just results. as long as they know what we're doing is making a dimfference,

and i think aids is a good example of that. >> that's how broad this coalition is. the u.n. did say that we have continuing problems in expansion of disease in central asia and eastern europe. >> i think one of the important things to know is that complicate is an important obstacle to all these things. if you look at the millenium development goals, the country that has made the most progress has had local leadership taking charge of these issues, and areas where there was lack of focus, lack of demand for citizenship progress, the progress has lagged. and that's why this week when leaders gather in the u.n., we know some things we didn't know ten years ago which is importance of governance and trade and other areas. we look for development in those areas. >> and as far as the recovery

from this awful global recession, as bono was writing in the "new york times," there are serious head winds. 64 million people have been thrown back into poverty, he writes, as a result of the food crisis, and the poor will be hit first and worst by climate change. there should be no champagne toesz at this year's summit meeting. >> i think what we know and is in president obama's millenium goal, whether it's conflict, has always hit the poor hardest. in fact, they fall so far back that it often takes many, many years to get back on track, which we must pay particular concern. thank you, david. be sure to follow the show

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which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? chris cilliza joins us now. >> welcome back formally. i'm glad you're back safe. second, barack obama later this afternoon going to philadelphia to raise money for joe sestak, running for the senate. this shows the president is about winning, not picking favorites. but it could be uncomfortable. they went whole hog in for arlen

spector in may. >> remember, andrea, pennsylvania is two things. very large and very hard and expensive to communicate in. you have philadelphia in pittsburgh media markets. as well as the u.s. chamber of commerce and other groups. he needs the money. take the money that president obama can raise, use it for television ads. he runs the risk of being tied too closely to a somewhat unpopular administration. >> now, mike bloomberg in new york is getting more involved in targeted races, republicans, democrats, independents showing his clout and residual ambition. tonight it's for harry reid. harry reid who came out against

the islamic center for lower manhatt manhattan. >> as a reporter one question i'm always trying to answer is what is mike bloomberg up to? he's not just the mayor of new york city, remember, he's a billionaire with clear national ambitions. as you mentioned. he's been very strong against gun owner ships, trying to restrict the sale of illegal guns and that sort of thing. he has a national platform, and because of his immense wealth, he is somebody that we always keep an eye on. what zuz he want to do? "the new york times" wrote about it. whoo is mike bloomberg up to with all these endorsements? i think he'll keep us guessing. i don't think he's totally ruled out the possibility of at least thinking for running for president. my guess is he'll think about it again in 2012, and because of his money, and his profile, successful mayor of new york city, it's something we do have to keep an eye on.

>> and somebody who says what he wants to say and doesn't mind what the political damage may be. >> we've seen this succeed in a lot of places. the more you can seem like you actually mean what you say, you're not just saying it for political reasons. that's why joe sestak won the primary to go back to pennsylvania. he appeared to be the more authentic democrat. arlen specter switched parties in the spring of 2009. he won in large part because he appeared to be more genuine. more in line with your average voter. clearly someone to keep an eye on. >> someone who is genuine and doesn't have to fake it. >> thanks so much, chris cillizza. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow on the show, christopher hill plus pj crowley as the u.n. gathers here in new york. you can follow the show online and on twitter. thomas roberts is up next.

what have you got? >> a lot coming up in the next hour. the worst recession since world war ii is declared over. why are americans still hurting? we'll talk to john harwood, who just wrapped up a town hall. lay day gaga is using star power to support a cause. she's holding a rally two hours from now. michael smerconish will be here with his take on this. when i had my heart attack, i couldn't believe it. it was a real shock. i remember being at the hospital thinking, "i should have done more to take care of myself." you should've. that's why i'm exercising more now. eating healthier. and i also trust my heart to lipitor. [ male announcer ] when diet and exercise are not enough,

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- yeah. or jogging. - uh, how about like a wheelbarrow race? - oh, yeah, that's a great idea. - but imagine actually trying to use him as a wheelbarrow, like stacking bricks on him and doing, like, doo-doo-doo. you know what i mean? - or yoga. - which is actually peaceful and quiet and not a lot of talking, so... - exactly. is he still looking at me?

hi, everybody. i'm thomas roberts in for tamron hall. is it really over? word the recession has come to a close, but do americans feel that way? can she get voters under her spell? how she's reacting to an old video clip where she says she dabbled in witchcraft. >> plus the politics of gaga. we'll talk about