NBC Nightly News open - 2009-04-01

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] On the broadcast tonight, from London

[0:04] down to business in a marathon, the

[0:06] president meets with the leaders of

[0:08] Britain, Russia, China, then the Queen,

[0:10] and the summit hasn't started yet. The

[0:12] Point Man, my conversation with the guy

[0:15] trying to sell a financial fix to a

[0:17] skeptical world. Does he understand the

[0:19] anger back home? Long road back, new car

[0:22] sales in deep trouble, but some see

[0:24] signs of a turnaround for an industry on

[0:27] the ropes. and star power. First Lady

[0:30] Michelle Obama takes the stage here in

[0:32] London. Tonight, the first reviews are

[0:35] in. Nightly News begins now.

[0:41] >> This is NBC Nightly News with Brian

[0:44] Williams.

[0:47] And good evening from London. in this

[0:49] city for the visiting American president

[0:52] and his wife. This was a marathon day of

[0:54] pageantry, protests, and politics

[0:57] stretching from early morning well into

[1:00] tonight. It started with the president

[1:02] meeting with British Prime Minister

[1:03] Gordon Brown at number 10 Downing

[1:06] Street. Then a news conference, then a

[1:08] meeting with Medved of Russia, then a

[1:10] discussion with him of arms reductions,

[1:13] then a meeting with the president of

[1:14] China and President Obama's announcement

[1:17] that he'll be going to China later this

[1:18] year. What might have been the highlight

[1:21] of the day followed the Obamas were

[1:23] invited to meet privately with the

[1:24] Queen, who has now met 11 US presidents.

[1:28] Then it was off to tonight's working

[1:30] dinner among the leaders. Our chief

[1:33] White House correspondent, Chuck Todd,

[1:34] is here traveling with the president in

[1:36] London to start off our coverage

[1:38] tonight. Chuck, good evening.

[1:40] >> Good evening, Brian. Well, in just a few

[1:42] short hours, the president was able to

[1:44] do a diplomatic decathlon, packing in a

[1:47] week's worth of international diplomacy

[1:50] into 12 hours.

[1:53] >> The president's whirlwind day began with

[1:55] an early breakfast at 10 Downing Street.

[1:57] Mr. Obama played loyal guest, not

[1:59] missing a chance to embrace literally

[2:01] his politically embattled friend,

[2:03] British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

[2:05] >> I am extraordinarily grateful to uh

[2:08] Gordon for his friendship and his

[2:10] leadership.

[2:10] >> Pleasantries aside, the president

[2:12] quickly found himself on the defensive

[2:14] with the British press, not for any of

[2:16] his policies, but for America's role in

[2:18] the economic crisis.

[2:20] >> I had a uh professor when I was in law

[2:22] school who said, uh, "Some are to blame,

[2:25] but all are responsible.

[2:27] uh and I I I think that's the best way

[2:30] for us to approach uh the problem that

[2:32] we have right now.

[2:33] >> And the president tried to put a period

[2:35] on this blame America debate, asserting

[2:37] that America has been a steady source of

[2:39] prosperity for the entire world.

[2:41] >> If there's going to be renewed growth,

[2:44] it can't just be the United States as

[2:47] the engine. Everybody is going to have

[2:50] to uh pick up the pace. In their own

[2:53] press conference, French and German

[2:54] leaders continued to press for greater

[2:56] emphasis on regulatory reform.

[3:00] >> Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarco have

[3:02] been less than enthusiastic about

[3:03] Obama's call for more stimulus spending.

[3:06] >> Today, Obama played down the rift.

[3:08] >> The truth is is that that's

[3:11] uh that's just, you know, arguing at the

[3:16] margins.

[3:16] >> Then he was on to back-to-back private

[3:18] meetings with two of America's historic

[3:20] rivals.

[3:22] In what seemed like a flashback to the

[3:23] Cold War 80s, Russia's president and Mr.

[3:26] Obama returned to the question of

[3:27] nuclear arms, agreeing to work on a new

[3:29] treaty that would slash both countries

[3:31] arsenals.

[3:32] >> What we're seeing today is the beginning

[3:35] of

[3:38] new progress in US Russian relationship.

[3:42] >> Meanwhile, he plowed new ground with the

[3:43] Chinese president.

[3:44] >> Our economic relationships

[3:47] are very strong. an acknowledgement of

[3:49] the singular importance China plays in

[3:52] the US economic future. Mr. Obama agreed

[3:54] to visit both countries by the end of

[3:56] the year.

[3:58] America's unofficial royalty. The

[4:00] president and first lady reconnected

[4:01] tonight for more ceremonial duties,

[4:03] including a private audience with actual

[4:05] royalty, the queen herself.

[4:07] >> I had meetings with the Chinese

[4:10] Russians. And no gathering of world

[4:12] leaders is complete without the

[4:13] yearbook-like group photo with the new

[4:16] Star of the World stage right in the

[4:18] center.

[4:21] >> Now Brian, there's already buzz about

[4:23] the president's gift to the queen. It's

[4:25] an iPod with photos of her 2007 state

[4:28] visit, plus a signed copy of a Richard

[4:30] Rogers song book, the Broadway musical,

[4:32] The Queen's Gift to the Obamas, a signed

[4:35] silver framed picture of herself and her

[4:37] husband. Brian