recorded just months after president kennedy's assassination. final moments. new video of robyn gardner with the last person to see her alive in aruba. investigators are hoping it will lead to a breakthrough in her case. the exclusive video today, case. the exclusive video today, monday, september 12th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television and good morning. welcome to "today" on a monday morning. >> i'm savannah gut think. ann is on assignment in iran where she was given u unprecedented access to mahmoud ahmadinejad. >> that's right. she spent an entire day with that leader getting insight on how he sees the world and his place in it. ann will share that with us. casey anthony's parents speak out in their first interview since she was acquitted of murdering her day cayl caylee. how do they feel? we will hear from them coming up. later on, do your kids like to watch "spongebob squarepants." it may keep them entertained but is it bad for their brains? the interesting new research that may have you paying a lot more attention to what your kids are watching on tv. but let us begin with president obama's thoughts on the economy and the gop presidential candidates. nbc's brian williams spoke to the president exclusively. brian, good to have you here. >> well, matt, thanks for having me. what an interesting weekend to go to washington to the white house and talk to this president. first of all, we had the terror warning, of course, and, second, all those op-ed pieces warning this president he's going to be a one-term president. started out by asking about his poll numbers. 37% of the people believe in the way he's handling the economy and his overall approval rating of 44%. >> one of the things that i learned very early on is thought to worry about polls because if i was worrying about polls i wouldn't be sitting here interviewing with you. as you recall when i was running for president i was down about 30 points around this time in my first run for the presidency. you know, the truth of the matter is the american people have gone through the worst economic crisis since the great depression. and they are understandably impatient and i can say to them, look, all the actions we've taken have been the right actions. if we hadn't taken those actions things would be much worse but the bottom line is unemployment is still at 9%. and there's still a lot of folks hurting out there, and my job as president of the united states is not to worry about my job, my task is to worry about their job and their economic situation. >> do you watch any of the republican debate? >> you know, i didn't watch my own debates much less somebody else's. >> mitt romney, "the president is a nice guy. he doesn't have a clue how to get the country working again." your reaction. >> i'm not going to start reacting to republican rhetoric in a presidential campaign. let them decide who it is that will be their standard-bearer. we will have more than ample time to -- >> what do you make of rick perry, the front-runner, i guess? >> well, you know, he's -- he's been the governor of a big state, and, you know, there's no doubt he is a credible candidate as is mr. romney and a whole bunch of other folks. >> tea party here to stay. >> you know, i think the strains that you're seeing in the tea party are a permanent part of the american political landscape. we've always had a anti-federal government bent in a chunk of our population. that's nothing new. i do think that the extreme position that you hear that says government has no role to play in growing our economy, that the federal government has no function to play in building a strong middle class, absolutely wrong. i reject that view and i think the vast majority of americans reject that view. i think having social security and medicare and medicaid programs that provide a social safety net for people is a vital role for our government. it's not enough for us to just leave that to local charities. >> you said to matt lauer february of '09, "if i don't get this done in three years then there's going to be a one-term proposition." >> well, it would be -- you know, what we've done is we've been able to stabilize the economy and, you know, that is an enormous accomplishment, but the fact of the matter is that we are not where we need to be. and it is important for us to not relitigate all the arguments of the past but rather to say, right now what are the smartest things we can do to put people back to work, and when you look at what independent economists are saying about the american jobs act, my jobs plan, uniformly what they are saying is this buys us insurance against a double-dip recession, and it almost certainly helps the economy grow and will put more people book to work, and that's what the american people want right now. >> interesting day with the president. i went on to ask him when he's going to channel his inner harry truman as members of his base have been asking. and we were just getting started. i also asked him about all the people who voted for the man on the poster that said "hope." that answer was illuminating. we'll have that tonight on "nightly news." >> when you talk to him about the idea it could be a one-term presidency and he said, well, stabilizing it was an enormous accomplishment, do you think voters will see it that way. >> the voters will see a different president as a candidate in terms of energy and trying to defeat the opponent. whether that's going to make any difference to them on the economy, it still goes back to your question, can he move it off the dime and if not, voters have a funny way of enforcing their will. >> he's on the road a lot this week. he'll be in ohio, north carolina. supporting this jobs plan. how is he trailing the debate on that versus the republicans? >> i asked him, is this just a big jobs program, a big put people to work dig into the soil and make roads? he says, no, it has a lot of different facet, and he's going to, while not quite painting it as a do nothing congress he'll be running against congress as he goes out into all these congressional districts. >> 80% of people would like to get rid of that particular -- >> 82%, i think. >> brian, good to have you with us. >> thanks very much. >> you can see more of brian's interview with president obama, that's tonight on "nbc nightly news." seven minutes after the hour. here's savannah. >> from one closely watched world leader to one of the most controversial. ann is in tehran, iran, where she was given exclusive access to the iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad. ann, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, savannah. that's right. we were granted the first ever behind-the-scenes access to the daily schedule of iran's president ahmadinejad. drawing back a curtain on one of the world's most controversial and secretive leaders. after his 5:00 a.m. prayer, president ahmadinejad -- >> good morning, mr. president. >> good morning. >> reporter: walks from his private residence in the presidential compound to his daily workout. jogging with his security team at times seemingly rocky style. before sunrise. then to the gym often lifting weights or cycling. concerned about staying healthy, president ahmadinejad exercises more than 30 minutes every morning and reaches his spacious but simple office before 7:00 a.m. and there he works without shoes but alt 54 with reading glasses. first up scanning local newspapers and briefs including what western media are reporting. by 8:00 he's on his way. on this day to a gathering of prominent shia muslim leaders. he's called to promote iran as a shia superstate. by 9:40 he's boarding a government 707, more than 50 years old. the flying relic is likely a result of western sanctions long imposed against iran. even during the flight he's m t meeting with ministers. that's the norm his aides say claiming he sleeps just three hours a night and that his days often stretch to 2:00 a.m. they say even iran's supreme leader has advised him to sleep more. in his six years as president, ahmadinejad has visited each province at least three times and every city in each province. at 11:45 after an hour flight we land at remote korizan province. he first stops at a bazaar meeting local artisans. speaking to some, even in everyday english. >> mr. president, why have you made this point to come to one of the poorest parts of iran to highlight the art and the crafts? >> translator: i want to show that we have some common humanity. human values. do >> reporter: all the nations of the world? including the united states? >> translator: everywhere wherever there is a human. >> reporter: keeping a grueling schedule what is your primary motivation, mr. president? why do you work so hard? >> translator: we barely started working. >> reporter: mindful this is one of the poorest parts of his country at 12:50 he's on the move again. to review government subsidized housing. iran's poor masses are his base. 26,000 families here alone have gotten homes. these women agree the homes are far better than the ones they used to live in. but as the president attempts to leave, he is surrounded. swarmed by people pleading for food and other necessities. now dramatically more expensive because of rising inflation. later in the afternoon -- this man tells the president he lost three sons in iran's war with iraq and now his wife is sick. the president showing a compassionate side, perhaps trying to remake his image at home and abroad. at 6:35 he lands back in tehran. what is the future for iran? >> translator: i want the same future as i want for every nation in the world, peace, friendship, happiness and unity. >> reporter: at 7:30 back at the presidential compound for hours for more meetings. he stops to pray for the fifth time on this day. and then in darkness he returns to work expected to go until midnight when night comes day again. president ahmadinejad is about to appear once again on the world stage when he speaks are for the united nations general assembly but in a signs that his controversial rhetoric has not changed on sunday he reiterated his position that 9/11 was "a complicated plan devised as a pretext for the occupation of afghanistan and iraq." there is a lot to ask about including new concerns about their nuclear ambitions and we are now working to bring you that interview tomorrow morning on "today." now back to you, savannah. >> we will be waiting for it. thank you so much. 7:12 nouchlt here's matt. >> savannah, thank you. jacqueline kennedy was one of the most beloved icons in american history, also pretty private. now the world is getting to see a side of her only friends and family new with the release of a new book and audiotapes. andrea mitchell has details. >> reporter: jacqueline kennedy is heard giving her impressions for the very first time. ee emerges as a much more complex historical figure as does her husband, the president. there are also some startling candid evocative portraits of figures in her own words. it was only months after her husband's assassination when a 34-year-old widow sat down to record more than eight hours of recollections about her husband and his most private thoughts. while they were still fresh, even raw. jfk and his brother bobby on lyndon johnson, the new prefd. >> bobby told me this later and i know jack said it to me, sometimes, "oh, god, can you ever imagine what would happen to the country if lyndon was president? so many times he would say if there ever was a problem." >> reporter: she called lyndon jack's right arm and more than that we were friends, all four of us. almost a half century later we hear a different view. perhaps colored by bobby kennedy's resentments after the assassination. and her annoyance after this call from johnson a month after her husband's death. two days before christmas. >> i hope that you are doing all right. >> oh, i'm doing fine. thank you. >> do you know how much we love you? you have a good christmas, dear. >> thank you, the same to you. >> tonight. >> reporter: hours later jackie learned lbj was showing off for a room full of reporters. just as stunning criticisms of the leader of dr. martin luther king jr. but they need to be understood in context. at the time fbi director j. edgar hoover was trying to incite divisions between dr. king andkennedy and was told he was overheard on wire tapes making crude comments about jackie kennedy. kissing her coffin on the day of jack's funeral. they were supposed to be locked in a vault for a century but caroline kennedy decided to release them now, all 8 1/2 hours uncensored because she feels you don't gain someone else's oral history. she explained it isn't surprising her mother would have at the time made some statements she might have changed later. as caroline told "parade" when she first read the transcript shortly after her mother died they reminded her mother felt what made historical figures human was what made them more interesting and indeed emerging from this oral history is a very different jacqueline kennedy. not the long familiar public figure whose whispery voice guided us to the white house. >> seemed such a shame when we came here to find hardly anything of the past. >> reporter: or the fashion icon. >> i am the man who accompanied jacqueline kennedy to paris and i've enjoyed it. >> reporter: this jacqueline kennedy is far more complex with a keen eye for the characters around her husband. and a feel for diplomacy and politics. >> i mean, things do change quickly and jack would never -- often say never get into anything so deep you lose a chance at con surveillanceation. >> reporter: she says life with jack was always fast and that people said he never talked about politics to her but that that was all they ever talked about. the tapes also capture intimate family moments. at one point john kennedy jr. walked into the room and asked what happened to his father. he answered barely 3 1/2 years old, well, he's gone to heaven. by the way, the book will be released tomorrow but nbc news bought a copy which comes with the cd of the interviews at a book store in new york city. we'll have more tonight. >> all right. andrea mitchell in washington this morning, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> all right. a check of the morning's top stories and good morning. >> good morning, everyone. the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks went by as a day of remembrance and skrij lance. several disturbances on passenger planes received heightened responses and two military aircraft shadowed an american airlines flight when officials say three passengers locked themselves inside a bathroom. a denver to detroit flight was shadowed by a pair of f-16 jets after two were in the bathroom for an extended period of time. two were detained at the airport but no charges will be filed and an ex-nypd officer has been detained at the kansas airport. suspicious items were found in his carry-on luggage. cnbc's melissa lee has more for us. >> good morning, tamarin. the culprit is europe. the big worry that greece may default on its debt. officials in germany have been meeting about how to shore up german banks should a greek default occur. also concern that france's three biggest banks could face a credit rating downgrade because of their massive exposure to greece. these latest developments coming as markets as you can imagine are already on edge after friday's 2.7% drop on the dow. tamarin. >> all right, melissa, thank you. ground zero officially becomes a memorial and museum today as it opens to the public for the first time since the attacks of 9/11. the families of the victims got their first glimpse of the memorial sunday. security was tight and visitor will have to get tickets in advance. it is 7:18. back to matt, savannah and al. >> the sign-up sheet for those times to go visit the memorial, i think the next >> we have a little bit of fog out there to start the day. it should be quiet for most of the day. by the time we get into the afternoon, we put a 30% chance afternoon, we put a 30% chance for a >> savannah? >> it was all captured on surveillance video and john yang is in benton harbor, michigan, with details. good morning to you, john. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. this is the walgreen's where it all happened where jeremy hovan did stop that attempted armed robbery. some hailed him as a hero but walgreen's fired him. now he is making a federal case suing walgreen's for wrongful termination. security cameras captured the brazen late night robbery attempt. a masked gunman leaps over the counter and points a gun at jeremy hovan in the blue shirt. in response he draws his own weapon. >> i feared for my life and in self-defense i fired my weapon as i continued to move from him. >> reporter: instead of being rewarded hovan was fired. >> no life was lost. no life was harmed and nothing was stolen. so in that context i think he was a hero. >> reporter: hovan was on the overnight shift at the walgreen's last may when two armed men burst in. one holds a gun to the back of another worker and the second jumps the pharmacy counter trying three times to shoot hovan but the gun wouldn't fire. >> the gunman advanced on me rapidly. he hurdled over the counter and a single motion and pointed his weapon at me. the gunman repeatedly attempted to fire upon me. >> reporter: hovan says he tried to call 911 and can be seen holding a phone in his right hand and a gun in his left. he says he fired three times not wounding the would-be robbers but apparently scaring them away. another employee recovers one of the guns. hovan says he bought his gun after the store was robbed in 2007. he has a concealed weapons permit but admits he didn't tell his bosses that he had the gun at work. asked to comment, walgreen's said in a statement "store employees receive comprehensive training on how to react and respond to a potential robbery situation. law enforcement strongly advises against confrontation of crime suspects." hovan's lawyer says he never saw those policies and acted properly. >> he was exercising his reasonable right of self-defense in the face of a gunman who attempted to pull a trigger three times and shoot him presumably shoot him dead. >> reporter: those three -- those two gunmen are still at large and hovan's attorney says he continues to struggle with the emotional toll both of the attempted robbery and of losing his job. savannah? >> all right, john yang in benton harbor, michigan for us. just ahead exclusive new video of robyn gardner and the prime suspect in her disappearance together just hours before gardner vanished the impact it could have on the case. navigating today's real estate market is complicated. you've seen the signs. that's why having the right real estate agent is more important than ever. at remax.com, you can find experts in short sales or bank-owned properties or commercial real estate, agents who can help speed up the process, no matter how intricate. and that's good news, whether you're trying to sell or hoping to buy. because the only sign you really want to see is "sold." nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. coming up, cindy and george anthony's interview. comes centrum. coming up, cindy and george anthony's interview. your energy... ♪ ...and healthy skin. everyday benefits from advanced formulas. discover the complete benefits of centrum. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. time for a check on the morning commute. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> not the way you want to start off monday morning. heavy delays on southbound 795 out of owings mills. on the inner loop towards reisterstown road. the accident is gone, but we are dealing with those delays on the inner loop that st