Page 2 - Dithering On Libya News Today

Situation in libya. our own chuck todd and savannah gustry are down there traveling with the president. >> reporter: hey, willie. well, chuck and i are here in rio. it is a little bit windy and of course, the presidents trip has been less about whats happening here and more about whats happening across the world. >> and even the brazilian people are seeing it that way as well. largest newspaper in rio -- headline in portuguese, "in brazil obama orders attack on libya." then a photo of a clinking...

Of gadhafi. and his ability to be able to hurt people and to attack people and to really have terrorist attacks that have been going on through his leadership for a period of time. >> congressman, democrat from maryland, thanks for your time today. we appreciate it. up next, on the road with president obama. well check in with chuck and savannah in south america where the president will hold his first press conference later today on the military action in libya. plus, gray smoke spotted at j...

Some senior military officials have told us, maybe we should take our time just a little bit to make sure that everything is in place before the u.s. steps back from the more prominent he public role. but make no mistake about it, it could still be led by an american commander, and u.s. forces will still play a fairly prominent role in any of the military operations there. >> as you say, the white house and pentagon eager to get the american face off this mission. >> if i can make one more quick...

Pictures in tripoli to whats going on in brazil. so that economic message isnt getting there. that said, it has been in one way, as one administration official said to me, look, we dont want people to think weve launched a war in libya and if we canceled this trip, gone back to washington, d.c. to the situation room, then it looks like weve launched a full-scale war. they do want the world to see this as what they believe it is, which is an intervention by the international community to prevent ...

So it is surprising, but this is the hand he has been dealt by history. hes a reluctant warrior. so its not as if hes converted to being a cowboy. so in that sense, i think people recognize the difference between him and former president bush. but youre former president bus. but youre right. this is a great example of how things turn out different in history than you might expect. >> he inherited iraq and afghanistan but he didnt inherit libya. this was a choice that he made along with the u.n. ...

Clear that there will be no boots on the ground. at this point we are doing what we have to do to support the agenda of protecting the people and enforcing the no-fly zone and as of this time that has been effective. >> so it is a humanitarian mission based on what youve just said there. the president himself though said not long ago, gadhafi must go. so, is colonel gadhafi a target of this u.n. mission? >> at this time, no. that is not the goal at this time. whether or not hes collateral damage...

In japan hasnt gotten markedly better, it hasnt gotten markedly worse. thats one thing wall street worried about on friday. we do have huge deal news. all the always likes that. looks like at&t is going to buy t-mobile for $39 billion in stock and cash. nap deal announced this morning. the ceos coming on cnbc exclusively to talk about it. it is expected they will face reler to hu regulatory tuhurdles but they a convinced they can get past that. >> thats a big development for wall street. thanks ...

I cant plimagine that the agencies actively involved right now -- hopefully the saudis are providing money and perhaps jordanians or others providing trainers and advisors, but you wont see the 10th mountain division in libya, i doubt. >> general barry mccaffrey, thanks for your insight this morning. appreciate it. in japan, a disyou shalling development apartment the crispled fukushima nuclear plant where smoke was seen rising this morning from two overheated reactors forcing workers to evacu...

But right now were in this very uncomfortable transition where from what was sort of multilateralism for appearances to general multilatter ralism. its announced by the french and even though most of the weapons are being fired by americans at the beginning in the first 48 hours, he didnt want to admit that. so hillary clinton referred to them, others, enforcing resolution 1973 from the security council rather than us being the ones who were taking the lead. so this is a change. >> it doesnt mea...

Also by taking out his defenses we have weakened him so he will not be able to come back and do the things that he has done not only to his own people but the terrorism acts that hes done in the past. >> are you not concerned, congressman, about the dissolution of the government in yemen and who could come to power there? shouldnt we be equally concerned, if not more so, about whats happening in yemen than whats happening in libya? >> yemen is a lot different. yemen is a country that is more wid...