The best thing about a wide ranging News Conference like this could be what is unpredictable. We know what the president said and what jay carney is saying in the Briefing Room and other opportunities to hear from the president. Reporters will go lebanon for ways to pull out some new information or perspective. Certainly we can expect there will be questions about the relationship with russia, the nsa situation what are the extreme or limits what spying in the u. S. Or spying in terms of Data Collection might include. And then things like the domestic agenda. It certainly had been the hope of the white house that before congress had left town in august that an immigration bill might be signed. Well, the senate got that done but not the house. So what can they look forward to in the weeks and months ahead . Can anything on that subject be done . Of course, when congress does get back to town, the president will have to deal with them on issues like the budget, the debt ceiling. The president has made clear he doesnt want to negotiate on the debt ceiling so there are big issues still ahead. I think the most important things to look for are any new pieces of information about that threat level. Is the president able to be a bit more exclusive about that and his own sense of the relationship between the u. S. And russia now. President ial News Conferences are a great opportunity for news to be made. Some of it big and in scope and sometimes its about an issue that no one is seeing coming. Perhaps a question later in the in the session where someone asks something that is unexpected. Those are always my favorite moments in watching this unfold. We do expect between now and 3 00 when is it starts that Senior Administration officials will give us some idea what they hope to achieve when the president meets the press today. Kelly, thanks. Joining me is david axelrod, the former Senior Adviser to president obama and msnbc political analyst. Great to have you on. We had an opportunity to be on morning joe earlier today and where chuck todd had to say this about the fact that most likely this will not be the triumphant end to summer News Conference that the president would hope for but what are you expecting the toughest question to be . Do you think its going to be domestic or about Foreign Relations with russia . Theres plenty to choose from, obviously. These are challenging times. But the focus has been this week on Foreign Policy, on russia. A great deal of interest in those things. And then there will be some trying to project forward in terms of what might happen when Congress Returns in the fall as to the budget and immigration. So theres plenty for the president to rest with. I was laughing when i heard kelly saying its interesting maybe we can shake something loose. You know they are sitting in the white house saying, you know, the very thing that reporters are hoping for are the things you dont hope for when you work in the white house which is that unexpected question. But theres plenty to go over in this press conference. How do they keep the fruit on the tree and how do the reporters shake the fruit off and figure out what is going on. You said this morning too as well the president has a habit of reaching out to former advisers. Have you talked to him recently . Because sources that i hear say this president while he would do that, he generally knows his own mind and knows the direction that he wants to go, especially for his agenda. Theres no doubt about that. One of his strengths is that he has a longterm vision of things that he really wants to get done and he has the discipline to stick with that and he doesnt get too sidetracked by the frenzy of the moment in washington. Yes, ive spoken to him recently and im sure hes reached out to others as well. He is good about keeping in touch and just keeping folks up to date and soliciting poise ntf view. Was your conversation more personal or more professional . There were specific issues that i wanted to run by him. But generally when we talk, it is a wide ranging an oven personal discussion. It may involve some public issues and it also may involve, you know, the prospects for the Chicago Bulls which this conversation did. Its good to know you cover the full gamut there. I want to get you about what we know the latest terrorist threat that had the nonessential personnel of lahore embassy moving to another part of pakistan. It doesnt appear this is related to the Terror Threat that shut down the other 19 other diplomatic posts. Do you feel this is an overreaction or is this just better be safe than sorry approach . Thomas, i think we have learned from hard experience that we need to take all potential threats seriously. We have got diplomats working in dangerous places in the world and when there are potential threats, you want to protect as many of those people as you can. All of these facilities are continuing to operate but they are operating with scaled down personnel and that is the appropriate thing to do, if, god forbid, that wasnt done an something happened, there would be an awful lot of secondguessing as we have seen. When we talk about what is happening at the embassies im sure the president will get questions about the drone issue and drone strikes. They say 34 suspected al qaeda militants killed in less than two weeks now and three strims yesterday alone. We have a new poll showing favorable feelings toward the u. S. Internationally it is up at 64 and 07 at 51 . Could the drone strikes reverse that course . Reverse that sentiment that we have been slowly regaining since 07 . Obviously, its a complicated issue, but when youre faced with actionable intelligence and a potentially large threat, as apparently was the case here. Im not speaking from intimate knowledge. You have to act and protect our security overall. And that is the decision, obviously, the administration, the president has made here. Again, everybody has an opinion on these things, but when when something happens, when terrorism strikes, theres an awful lot of secondguessing why didnt we take a more aggressive posture in the first place . I know that they spend an awful lot of time considering how they proceed. That was true when i was in the white house. So my sense is that there was real actionable intelligence and a very deep concern that caused them to on step up their activities here, and that is part of the demands of National Security and the era in which we live. When it comes to russia and the relationship that president obama has with Vladimir Putin, obviously, we know its quite strained because of the fact the president has canceled that burglary meeting at the g20 coming up in st. Petersburg next month. What does it say about where these two men go from here . Because there is such a strain. How do they fix this if they are not willing to meet facetoface off to the side at the g20 to kind of break down these barriers . How would you advise the president about wthat . Thomas, i travelled with him to some of these bilateral meetings and conferences. You meet with the prospect youre going to be able to move forward on specific items. That is what president ial meetings are about. What needs to be done is the hard work underneath that level to make sure that those meetings are worthwhile and you see secretary kerry and hagel meeting with their counterparts today in washington and im sure thats to try to move the many items forward. Its not just edward snowden. There are many items of interests to to this countries that need work and that are important to both countries. Mr. Putin seems to tilt backward toward the cold war mental its but, on the other hand, he knows that he has National Interests, those National Interests are intercepted with ours in places and there is an impetus for him as well to get things done. I think the cancellation of the meeting, of the summit of the bilateral meeting was intended to send a message, hey, we have got important business here and we have to set aside these thee at triricks. There is the issue of syria. The issue of human rights abuses taking place in russia. If they feel the issues need to be addressed isnt it difficult to overcome them if the president is not willing any longer to meet with Vladimir Putin . Im quite certain the administration and the president is addressing these issues through the appropriate channels. Again, think the value of a president ial meeting is when you think you can make progress and at this juncture, they obviously decided that progress was not at hand. And so at other levels of government, talks are going forward, but this was kind of a wakeup call for the russians that we are not going to tolerate some of the provocations that have become more common since mr. Putin resumed his presidency. Do you think that putin has been purposefully trying to embarrass the president on an International Stage . I think putin obviously has, again, a cold war mentality. The president had a better relationship with the former president before putin. There are agendas that interact that are important and i think hes going to have to make some decisions to sort of tamp down that rhetoric or, you know, russia will suffer. Msnbc senior political analyst, david axelrod. Thank you. Good to be with you. Stay with us. We will have live coverage of president obamas News Conference at 3 00 p. M. Eastern. The News Conference is the subject of todays big question. If you were part of the White House Press corps, what would you want to ask president obama . All answers must be in the form of a gentlemen, jeopardy style. The breaking news we have been following the last hour coming to us from paris where all clear has been given at the eiffel tower. Its back over after anonymous call about a suspicious package was in towers. They have given it the all clear for the eiffel tower to reopen. Is it a big jolt to power . Im trying to istake you seriously. Anthony weiner captured on camera mocking with reporters and scolding his staff as well. Is he cracking under the pressure . We will weigh in on that. Mitch mcconnells run for reelection we talk about that as well next. Now you can give yourself a kick in the rear v8 vfusion plus energy. Natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. Need a little kick . Ooh couldve had a v8. In the juice aisle. Need a little kick . 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But as the groups president told our Chris Jansing yet, Hillary Clinton is not the only name on the short list of possible candidates. We do hope that Hillary Clinton will make a decision here and we would like to see her run, but the truth is we also have an incredible list of women on the bench to step up in 2016 if she chooses not to. Amy klobuchar and Janet Napolitano and Kristen Gillibrand. Kasie hunt joins us. Who is getting the most enthusiastic . Are there names as viable as Hillary Clintons name . Absolutely. Hillary is at the top of the list here. She was mentioned by senator mccaskill as somebody who mccaskill would like us to call madam president in 2016. There is a focus on building the bench also. Youve seen amy klobuchar, a senator from minnesota and Kristen Gillibrand from new york and wendy davis in texas. They polled caucus goers in iowa and showed 95 are ready for a woman president and 85 say its likely. Emilys list is focusing on the numbers as proof that this particular state, of course, kicking off the president ial season, is ready to choose a woman as their next leader. But keep in mind, thomas, the fact they are having this event here today is no coincide. Tomorrow in ames which is nearby, republicans will gather with conservative candidates, they are hosting senator ted cruz and donald trump and rick santorum, the former president ial candidates. Organizers wanted to make a contrast what is happening tomorrow and today. We are highlighting that coming up later where the gop is trying to bridge that divide with the gender gap. It seems, certainly from the crowd, the enthusiasm we hear there there is momentum that is building. On the republican side, it might be less. Reporter its pretty clear that democrats here are really excited, especially about the prospect of a clinton candidacy. One thing im hearing from women i talked to this morning is iowa has never sent a woman to a federal office or to the governorship of iowa and theres some real frustration among attendees here that hasnt happened yet and part of the reason they are excited that Hillary Clinton may be returning to the president ial field. A frantic search for two missing kids and the suspected kidnapper may have explosives with him. Searching for the real mona lisa. We will tell but that coming up. Lets play [ all ] whos new in the fridge i help support bones. [ ding ]. The immune system. [ ding ]. Heart health. [ ding ]. And muscles. [ ding ] that can only be ensure complete [ female announcer ] the fourinone nutrition of ensure complete. A simple choice to help you eat right. [ major nutrition ] nutrition in charge. A simple choice to help you eat right. Im gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. I think your friends will understand. Oh. No, its actually my geico app. See . 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Authorities in california say the suspect dimaggio may be armed and armed with homemade explosives. Police searching for him and Hannah Anderson since last weekend the day her mothers mom was found burned in a house and they found another body in the house they think is ethan, her brother but yet to be confirmed. Joe fryar is in san diego. Good morning. Bring us up to speed what authorities believe to be the homemade explosives. Why they think dimaggio has them. Reporter they have not been able to elaborate on that. Based on evidence they found inside of his home in boulevard the home that burned down over the weekend. At this point, this manhunt is 24 7 operation with tips coming from across the country. Investigators say it is possible that dimaggio and the missing teen could be anywhere in the u. S. , canada, or mexico. They are concerned he could be armed with homemade explosives. That news surprised brett anderson, the father of hannah, the missing teen. He told us he and the kids spent lots of time at dimaggios home 60 miles east of san diego. He knew dimaggio had gun you but learning he is explosives is beyond his comprehension. He never suspected dimaggio would be a suspect in this case after knowing him all these years. Hannahs mother and her brother was found over the weekend. Amber alerts in four states, california, oregon and washington and nevada. There was a cluster of possible car sight is on wednesday in Northern California and in oregon but so far nothing has been confirmed by investigators. At this point, they are asking everyone to still keep an eye out for dimaggios blue nissan versa and warning people not to approach the car because of the concern over those explosives. Robert . Thomas