Recognition that in light of recent russian actions, as well as rhetoric, we want to make it crystal clear. We mean what we say when were talking about our article 5 commitments and an increased presence serves as the most effective deterrent to any additional russian aggression that we might see. Angela king, bloomberg. Thank you, mr. President. What are your specific expectations for what regional actors like saudi arabia, yemen and jordan can legitimately provide to a coalition against islamic state. Is there a role for there iran as well . As you know, secretary kerry today said that he expects the allied countries to coalesce around a specific plan by the end of september. Do you agree with the timeline that he said out, and what concrete commitments if any, are you leaving this summit with from the other nations thats were here . Let me start with the general point. There was unanimity over the last two days that isil poses a significant threat to nato members. And there was a recognition that we have to take action. I did not get any resistance or pushback to the basic notion that we have a Critical Role to play in rolling backis in savage organization that is causing so much chaos in the region and is harming so many people. And poses a longterm threat to the safety and security of nato members. So theres great conviction that we have to act as part of the International Community to degrade and ultimately destroy isil. And that was extremely encouraging. Beyond that, what we have already seen is significant support from a variety of member states. For specific actions weve been taking in iraq. Keep in mind, weve taken already 100 strikes in iraq that have had a Significant Impact on degrading their capabilities and making sure that were protecting u. S. Citizens, Critical Infrastructure, providing the space for the Iraqi Government to form. Our hope is that the Iraqi Government is actually formed and finalized next week. That then allows us to work with them on a broader strategy. And some of the assistance has been in the form of air lift or humanitarian assistance. Much of it has been providing additional arms to the peshmerga and the Iraqi Security forces. Theres been logistical support, intelligence and surveillance and reconnaissance support. And so a variety of folks with different capabilities have already made a contribution. Im confident that were going to be able to build on that Strong Foundation and the clear commitment and have the kind of coalition that will be required for the sustained effort we need to push isil back. Now john kerry is going to be traveling the region to have further consultations with the regional actors and the regional players. And i think it is absolutely critical that we have arab states and specifically sunni majority states that are rejecting the kind of extremist annihilism that were seeing out of isis that says that is not what islam is about and are prepared to join us in the fight. And my expectation is that we will see friends and allies and partners of ours in the region prepared to take action as well as part of a coalition. One of our tasks, though, is also going to be to build capability. What weve learned in iraq is, yes, isil has significant capabilities. And they combine terrorist tactics with traditional military tactics to significant effect. But part of the problem also is that we havent seen as effective a fighting force an the part of the Iraqi Security forces as we need. And were going to have to focus an the capable units that are already there, bolster them, bolster the work that the peshmerga has done. We can support them from the air, but ultimately were going to need a strong ground game and were also going to need the sunni tribes in many of these areas to recognize that their future is not with the kind of fanaticism that isil represents so that they start taking the fight to isil as well. And thats going to require the sort of regional partnerships that were talking about. In terms of timetable, we are working deliberately. If you look at what weve done over the last several months, weve taken this in stages. First stage is to make sure we were encouraging Iraqi Government formation. Second stage was making sure that building on the intelligence assessments that we have done, that we were in a position to conduct limited air strikes to protect our personnel, Critical Infrastructure and engage in humanitarian activities. The third phase will allow us to take the fight to isil, broaden the effort and our goal is to act with urgency, but also to make sure that were doing it right. That we have the right targets. That theres support on the ground if we take an air strike. That we have a Strong Political coalition, diplomatic effort, that is matching it. A strong Strategic Communications effort so that we are discouraging people from thinking somehow that isil represents a state, much less a caliphate. All those things will have to be combined, and, as i said, its not going to happen overnight, but were steadily moving in the right direction. And we are going to achieve our goal. We are going to degrade and ultimately defeat isil. The same way that we have gone after al qaeda, the same way we have gone after the al qaeda affiliate in somalia, where we released today the fact that we had killed the leader of al shabaab in somalia and have consistently worked to degrade their operations. We have been very systematic and methodical in going after these kinds of organizations that may threaten u. S. Personnel and the homeland. And that deliberation allows us to do it right. But have no doubt, we will continue, and i will continue, to do what is necessary to protect the american people. And isil poses a real threat. And im encouraged by the fact that our friends and allies recognize that same threat. Julie davis. Thank you, mr. President. I want to follow up on what you were saying about isil and ask if you think that the objective here is to destroy and degrade them. Are those the same thing in your mind . Is the goal to ultimately secretary kerry said theres no containing them. Is the goal to ultimately annihilate them, and also, you talked about the importance of expertise an the grond and building up capacity on the ground. Do you think since air strikes are not going to do it here if ultimately action is needed in syria, can you realistically expect the Free Syrian Army to do what is needed on the ground to really destroy, not just push back isil . You cant contain an organization that is running roughshod through that much territory causing that much havoc, displacing that many people, killing that many innocents, enslaving that many women. The goal has to be to dismantle them. And if you look at what happened with al qaeda in the fatah, where their primary base was, you initially push them back. You systematically degrade their capabilities. You narrow their scope of action. You slowly shrink the space, the territory that they may control. You take out their leadership and over time, they are not able to conduct the same kinds of terrorist attacks as they once could. As i said, i think in my last press conference, given the nature of these organizations, are there potentially remnants of an organization that are still running around in hiding and still potentially plotting . Absolutely. Well continue to hunt them down the same way were doing with remnants of al qaeda in the fatah or elements of al shabaab in somalia or terrorists who operate anywhere around the world. But what we can accomplish is to dismantle this network, this force that has claimed to control this much territory so that they cant do us harm. And thats going to be our objective. And as i said before, im pleased to see that theres unanimity among our friends and allies that thats a worthy goal and they are prepared to work with us in accomplishing that goal. With respect to the situation on the ground in syria, we will not be placing u. S. Ground troops to try to control the areas that are part of the conflict inside syria. I dont think thats necessary for us to accomplish our goal. We are going to have to find effective partners on the ground to push back against isil. And the moderate coalition there is one that we can work with. And experience working with many of them. There have been, to some degree, outgunned and outmanned. And thats why its important for us to work with our friends and allies to support them more effecti effectively. When you have u. S. Forces, other advanced nations going after isil and putting them an the defensive and putting them an the run, its pretty remarkable what then Ground Forces can do, even if initially they were on the defensive against isil. Thats a strategy that were going to be consult with our friends, our allies, our regional partners, but the bottom line is we will do what is necessary to make sure that isil does not threaten the United States or our friends and partners. Okay . One last question. Colleen nelson, wall street journal. Thank you, mr. President. Some Senate Democrats facing tough races in november have asked you to delay action on immigration. How have the concerns of other democrats influenced your thinking and do you see any down side at this point until delaying until after the election . I have to tell you, this week ive been pretty busy focused on ukraine and focused on. Focused on isil and making sure nato is boost tgs commitments and following through on whats necessary to meet 21st century challenges. Jeh johnson and eric holder have begun to provide me some of their proposals and recommendations. Ill be reviewing them. And my expectation is that fairly soon ill be considering what the next steps are. What im unequivocal about is that we need immigration reform. That my overriding preference is to see congress act. We had bipartisan action in the senate. The House Republicans have sat on it for over a year. That has damaged the economy. It has held america back. It is a mistake, and in the absence of congressional action, i intend to take action to make sure were putting more resources on the border. That were upgrading how we process these cases, and that we find a way to encourage Legal Immigration and give people some path so that they can start paying taxes and pay a fine and be able to not look over their shoulder but be legal since theyve been living here for quite some time. So, you know, i suspect that on my flight back this will be part of my reading. Taking a look at some of the specifics weve looked at, and ill be making an announcement soon. I want to be very clear my attention is in the absence of in the absence of action by congress, im going to do what i can do within the legal constraints of my office because its the right thing to do for the country. All right . Thank you very much, people of wales. I had a wonderful time. And president obama, the first United States president to go to wales on an official visit, ending the summit, the nato summit in wales. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. And the president made it clear there will be no boots on the ground in syria but indicated theyll be stepping up support for socalled moderate partners on the ground in syria. He said that it would be a deliberatative process, no immediate decisions. But hes not advancing that time frame but there is Movement AmongCoalition Partners and secretary kerry will be going to the region to try to get those, particular particularly majority sunni arab nations to step up to the plate in combath isis. Heed is the nato partners agreed unanimously that isis is a threat to nato and to europe as well. And said that as far as the ceasefire declared at 11 00 eastern time today in ukraine, ceasefire between russian pro russian separatist forces and kiev forces, that he was skeptical but hopeful but that there would be no immediate move to lift the sanctions that have already been placed. He said he thinks the russia was influenced by the sanctions and the threat of more sanctions in agreeing to that ceasefire. Im joined by Rachel Maddow, host of the Rachel Maddow show and Richard Engel. Theres been a lot of talk about what the president said last thursday. People from the white house immediately calling out to us saying he didnt mean to say there was no strategy but that this is a president , elected on a mandate to get us out of iraq and also not being militarily engaged. Certainly reflecting the mood of america. But then, of course, we have the second beheading, the gruesome murder of another american journalist by isis. And there is an appetite for leadership. He sounded certainly appalled to arms against isis and russia and ukraine. I think the president is cognizant of how his words land right now and also cognizant of the mood of the american people. That was striking the way he kept talking about unanimity among the nato members and the parallels that has for the American Public. If nato members agree, i think it can be as easily said that the American Public agrees that we are all revolted and horrified by isis. I dont think theres anything but unanimity an that. Theres also nothing but unanimity an the fact that isis is not only disgusting and terrible in terms of what theyve already accomplished but a real threat not only to the region theyre in but a threat to us. The question is what you do in response . I think there is an appetite for strong counterterrorism measures. I think the president is right in assuming that there isnt an appetite for new american war. And the question is, how big your counterterrorism efforts can get before you are talking about something that looks like war. Weve got secretary hagel, secretary of state john kerry and lisa monaco, the kornt terrorism adviser all going to the region, all trying to brng in more countries to a more coordinated effort. There isnt a lot of disagreement that something needs to be done. Threading the needle is how to do it without starting a war again. And that is exactly what, of course, our colleague and friend Richard Engel sees from the Vantage Point of that border area. What is turkey prepared to do . Turkey is the only nato member among the immediate those bordering syria and the confluctuaconflict there. Turkey has a real stake in this but not willing to play as active a role as the u. S. Would like. I think its though other way around if you ask the turks. They, two years ago, desperately wanted more action. They wanted a green light from washington to arm rebel movements. Last year when it looked like the United States was going to bomb syria, turkey was practically begging them to do it and was furious those air strikes never came. So turkey wants to play a role. Turkey has hundreds of thousands of Syrian Refugees that it doesnt want to host anymore. It would like them to go home. I think turkey would actively like to take aggressive action against isis and against the Bashar Al Assad regime. Turkey always has some responsibility. While turkey wanted action, while trkey wanted to help the moderate rebel groups, turkey for the last several years was allowing this part of the country, which is not far from the Syrian Border, to be an open transit zone allowing thousands of foreign fighters to go right through here and enter into syria. Some of them americans. Many of them europeans. We saw them. Everyone saw them. I remember walking actually right in this square and seeing a bunch of young men who clearly werent turks walking toward the Syrian Border with militarystyle boots and backpacks. We saw this kind of thing all the time. Everyone knew where they were going. The turks didnt stop them at that stage. They are taking some actions to stop them now. Of course, richard, what you point out is the saudis, the turks and uae were really upset for not doing what they wanted which was going after assad. And that that vacuum, they believe, helped isis gain even greater strength which now makes it such a big threat. At the same time, there is responsibility by saudis and certainly by the qataris for isis. So there are a lot of mixed signals going on and mixed messages in what they are doing on the ground. Chuck todd joins us now. Nbc news political director and the moderator of meet the press. We saw the president , i think, trying to get the rhetoric and the tone and the policy all in the same place today. Its funny you say that. Thats exactly what i noticed. He the white house is sensitive to the parsing of the language thats happened. The president cant stand when that happens. But the white house and his aides have been sensitive to it. He was unequivocal today. He simply said degrade and ultimately destroy isis. There was no hard stop. There was no additional language in there that people might want to parse. Look. You know we all know hes reluctant. I heard what rachel said. He wants to be care in how we do this because syria is a whole other can of warms. And you have to ask yourself this question that you have a whole bunch of americans that ive you hear from that simply say, weve been bombing someone in the middle east for 25 years. Today its isis. Yesterday it was al qaeda. Used to be your chief concerns were hezbollah and hamas and things like that. The question is, when does it ever stop . Is there a way to make it stop . And i think thats something, obviously, we know the president ran on somebody ran on a Campaign Pledge of trying to end this sort of cycle of warfare that were in. But then again, you heard the president himself say he says isis is a threat and its a direct threat. Whether he means directly to europe versus the United States, i think, is a little ambiguous at this point but you can tell hes reluctant but hes there. The next step is were probably a few weeks away, the United Nations gathering. Thats going to be a big deal. Thats the next step in building a coalition. And what they are describing, they have to go to congress. Theres no doubt in my mind they have to go to congress and get congressional authorization on this one. And, you know, i think he gets it. But, you know, its not going to be a slam dunk. You have been arguing so forcefully, where has congress been . Congress did not come back with the ebola crisis. Congress did not come back when ferguson blew up. Congress did not come back when isis beheaded james foley and then murdered brutally steven sotloff. When is Congress Going to come and face up to its responsibilities to have the real debate, the kind of debate we had twice over iraq . I think thats the right framing. I think the way that you all are describing this is right. And it shows where the framing is about to change on this issue. We are now about to enter into a really important political moment in the west. Its going to happen at the United Nations. Its going to happen in bilateral negotiations with countries in the region. Its going to happen in terms of putting together a regional strategy and its going to happen politically here at home. This is the part where if we all say that we agree, then we all make a decision as democracies what were going to do about it. In congress, cant do anything in reactive terms about horrific things happening abroad. Congress does have a very strong article 1 clause 8 responsibility that they need to decide if there are going to be military hostilities taken by the United States in reaction to this stuff. On august 8th, thats when the president notified congress that the there will be u. S. Troops traveling abroad to participate in military hostilities against isis. He gives them 60 days until roughly october 8th before those troops need to come home unless Congress Authorizes them. And congress has been banging itself an the chest and willing to say lots of things on cable news shows and on sunday mornings and talk about how strongly they feel about this. But their feelings are irrelevant. Its their vote that matters. They need to take a vote before the end of the first week in october or legally those troops need to come home. Its not a theoretical thing or about expressing themselves. Its about them making a decision and the president carrying out that decision. Thats the way it works in our country. In fact, we just saw them ramping up more troops, richard, to go to baghdad, to defend, protect the embassy and the airport. But the president was very clearly saying, no boots an the ground but well support moderate partners. These are the very groups that have been pleading with the u. S. For support for the last three or four years. What about no boots on the grond . Were doing surveillance. If we do air strikes, there are boots on the ground. They do have special forces or whatever to call in those air strikes most likely unless they are all done by predators, by unarmed predators. There was really two sections of this address today. And the first part was about russia. And on the russian piece, he was incredibly specific. And the whole nato summit was very specific, creating this new it has a bit of an awkward name. The very High Readiness joint task force. And even the president was struggling with the name. And this very High Readiness task force is supposed to have about 4,000 troops and it will rotate around Eastern Europe. It will have contributions from different member states. The u. S. Is already pledging 1 billion for it. And this is a trip wire force telling russia, dont advance too closely to Eastern Europe. The way you took crimea and the way youre taking over eastern ukraine, that wont be acceptable. Dont get too close to Eastern Europe. And that was a very strong message, very clear message, a very natolike message. And he also talked about the nato defending every nato every nato member will defend itself. Isis, he was a lot less specific. And it was a lot more aspirational. He said were going to send kerry to the region and hopefully form a coalition. But i did think he tipped his hand in one way. He kept talking about fatah, the tribal region of pakistan. Theyve been doing drones and strikes for ten years. Thats what hes envisioning for the parts of syria. Good point, Richard Engel. Thank you so much. Chuck todd, well be seeing your exclusive interview with president obama on his other thoughts and more on how to approach russia, how to approach isis on meet the press, the debut of meet the press with chuck todd on sunday. Rachel maddow, thank you. Well be watching tonight on the Rachel Maddow show. Coming up next here, president obama said the ceasefire between russia and ukraine would need to be tested. Senate Foreign Relations chair senator bob menendez joining me with congressional reaction to the president s remarks. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. While a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Staying active can ease arthritis symptoms. But if you have arthritis, this can be difficult. Prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain, so your body can stay in motion. 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And the president announced that he is skeptical but at least pleased by the ceasefire announced in ukraine today. Im joined on the phone by nbcs keir simmons from mariupol, ukraine. You heard some fighting around the time the ceasefire was announced. Whats the situation now . Thats right. Right up until the ceasefire was announced, there was artillery fire, relentless artillery fire, explosions echoing across the ukrainian countryside. Thunderous explosions. Then as the announcement came, there was a ceasefire and then they announced that ceasefire deadline came along. That fighting stopped. The guns were silent, if you like. We watched as Ukrainian Tanks withdrew from the checkpoint where we were. The front line just the prorussian foirces just a shor distance away. Theyve been putting that ukrainian checkpoint under pressure. She the ukrainians backed off as the guns went silent and it does appear until now. Were jfts leaust leaving becau getting dark and its not safe to stay out when it is dark. As far as weve been able to tell, up until now, that ceasefire has been holding. Keir, the ceasefire envisioned a prisoner or Hostage Exchange as early as tomorrow. But it does leave the rebel forces, the prorussian supporters, in control of key areas. It gives more sovereignty also. More independence to eastern ukraine. So did, crane ha ukraine have t some political power as a result of the recent advances, the pushback . Its a great question. Weve been talking through this week about the fact the reality on the ground is president Vladimir Putin and the prorussian forces have been with him and you see that played out in this ceasefire agreement because, and obviously were in the early hours. So well be picked over but this agreement really is saying that those prorussian separatists are able to hold the territory theyve gained in the way that they want to. Well, then that is a victory for them. Theres no other way of putting it. We did watch as we tried to bear down on mariupol. And they managed to hold them off. So there have been Small Victories for the ukrainians, even in these last few days. But overall, as you said, the picture that seems to be that the ukrainians are agreeing for this separation of sorts in their own country to be written into a ceasefire. And that can only be seen as bad news for kiev and, really it must reflect the fact that as the russians intervene and help the prorussians in the last few weeks, the ukrainions were put on the back foot, put on the defensive and really needed this ceasefire. I think on the other hand, the french move to stop, to halt the delivery of warships to russia, i think that impression of russia, too, potentially made them want to see an end to the hostility for now. By the way, andrea, weve been talking to Ukrainian Military here an the grown soldiers and we said to them, do you believe this ceasefire . And they said to us, we dont. Never trust the russians, they said. Thanks so much, keir simmons. New jersey senator bob menendez joins me now from new york. I know you were just back from ukraine. So your take on the ceasefire on whether the europeans should keep the sanctions in place and how much to trust Vladimir Putin on whether this thing is for real. Well, if the previous ceasefires are an indication of anything, the reality is each ceasefire that has been had has been used by the russians and their separate supporters to ultimately advance their strategic position and rearm. Hopefully this time it will be different. I hoped and called for while i was on my travels to ukraine and Eastern Europe to see the eu and the United States pursue more vigorous sanctions in order to make, number one, the ceasefire hold. Number two, as president poroshenko said, to have peace, there are two key conditions that have to take place. Number one, the withdrawal of Russian Troops back into russia. They invaded ukraine. And secondly, that the border between russia and ukraine has to have a real control and a closed border so that we dont see this happen again and hopefully the organization for cooperation and security in europe can be an entity that does that. The monitors who have been there on the grond so bravely trying to make sure the russians dont cross over and the ukrainians are not taken hostage and that there is, in fact, the rule of law. Senator, what about Congress Role in all of this . You heard what the president said about isis and about the unanimity of the nato alliance. Rachel maddow was saying under the notification by her account by august 8th, congress has to sayier or nay. The president has acted in that particular case under the view that he was defending american personnel at our embassy and acting in the context of his power as commander in chief. I think on the broader question of how we are going to degrade and defeat isis, which i totally support the president on, that strategy has to come forward and it seems to me that that may very well be the area in which my committee, the senate Foreign Relations committee that has jurisdiction over the questions of authorization for the use of force will have to take into consideration. As a matter of fact, i already had all of this with secretary kerry. Its going to have secretary kerry and i hope also our defense secretary will be able to make it as well. Because one thing is to understand the diplomatic and political strategies that are being devised here, having a defense element of that and understanding that would be important to have secretary hagel there as well. Should there be a vote . Should there be a debate an the floor of the senate . I have no doubt that there will certainly be a debate about what we do with isil. As it relates to a vote, it really depends upon what the administration is coming forth and asking for in terms of its use of force. And just like my Committee Gave the authorization for the use of force, when the president was traveling to russia and the g20 summit with syria and bashar assad was using chemical weapons and they voted to give that use of foirce to the president whic turned the tide. We will stand ready to consider it again if the president is asking for a more extensive use of force than hes had today. Thank you so much, senator bob menendez, the chair of the senate Foreign RelationsCommittee Just back from ukraine. Now we have breaking news on the global fight against the ebola virus as the death toll now tops 1900 people and the World Health Organization warns its the largest and most severe outbreak theyve ever seen. This morning dr. Rich sacra, the third american aid worker arrived at the Nebraska Medical Center in omaha. You can see the pictures there, the ambulance. Hell receive treatment in a special biocontainment unit similar to what we saw in emory in atlanta. The 51yearold dr. Sacra contracted the virus in ebola. He had been delivering babies at the same hospital where his Close Friends dr. Kent brantly and Nancy Writebol were both infe infected. Sacra will not have access to the experimental drug zmapp because the supply has run out. Moments ago his doctors gave an update an his condition and their treatment plan. The transfer really went very, very smoothly and the patient is up in our biocontainment unit. Our patient is sick, but stable and were taking appropriate care of this patient which we will continue to do so. Our unit is especially designed, exactly for this type of patient and for this purpose. Its a very safe environment for the patient, as well as for our Health Care Providers and the rest of our patients. Find yourself. 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Im going to do what i can do within the legal constraints of my office because its the right thing to do for the country. Joining me now, msnbc contributor Chris Cillizza and ruth marcus. Ruth, as best i can tell from what the president said, its congress fault. John boehners fault for not doing anything. Okay. Thats been, you know, their criticism, understandably. But he didnt address the timetable because the question was, are you going to do something before the midterms and the fact is, it just sounds mushier than ever. Asked then not answered. I think its very clear hes going to eventually do something that republicans will be very upset about, that immigration groups and hispanic groups will be proimmigration groups will be reasonably happy with. Something pretty bold, but i think the timing of that is way more likely than not to be after the election. And i think the fact that the president once again mushed that up and was unclear about his timetable makes the timetable, that delayed timetable even a little clearer. Thats a technical political term, mushed that up that ruth and i are using. Look, if he wanted to do it before the election, he certainly could have. He had the opportunity to lay a timeline out, and in the absence of a timeline, probably means he pushes beyond the election. We know for a fact this shouldnt be a big surprise. We know there are democrats in places like arkansas, louisiana, north carolina, alaska. West virginia, south dakota, montana, go down the list. That would prefer him not to take executive action on immigration prior to them trying to win what are difficult races. We know that they are leaning on the president and his staff not to do so. And my guess here andrea is he tied himself up a little bit by saying by the end of the summer ill have this. Now theyre trying to buy themselves a little more time and postpone it until after the election. Two months doesnt make a vast difference here and were close enough to the election that were dealing in days, not really in months at this point. Indeed. Briefly before we go, the Bob Mcdonnell case, put on your lawyers hat. I was going to put on my soap opera watchers hat. One of those hats. They are going to appeal and theyll probably appeal the judges instructions which defined what an official act is adversely for the defense. Yes. And im with the judge. Thats clearly going to be a grounds for appeal. There may be Something Else, but official act in my i did a little bit of studying an this when the indictment came out. It has a very broad set of definitions in the case law. So i think it was a bad day for Bob Mcdonnell and mrs. Mcdonnell. Thank you very much. Ruth marcus and Chris Cillizza. When we come back, remembering joan rivers. Well be right back. 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She died yesterday at the age of 81, a week after suffering complications during a routine throat procedure. She broke the Glass Ceiling for women in comedy with her furst big break. A 1965 guest appearance on the tonight show with janney carson. That led to guest hosting for carson and her own night talk show. She made her return to the tonight show on Jimmy Fallons first night. Fallon paid tribute to her. She came over to me and started crying, gave me a kiss. It was really emotional, really nice. I dont want to show a clip because i dont think it will do her justice because shes just too funny. Joan dedicated a chapter to death and foonerals in her 2012 book. I hate everyone starting with me. When i die, i want my funeral to be a huge showbiz affair with lights, cameras, action. I want craft services, i want paparazzi and i want publicity making a scene. I want it to be hollywood all the way. I dont want some rabbi rambling on. I want meryl streep crying in five different accents. 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For a revealing look at tennis this weekend and other sports, breaking down barriers in society, join me monday for my conversation with tennis legend and trail blazer Billie Jean King about her new Diversity Initiative and what inspired her from a very young age. When i was 12, i had this epipha epiphany, at the los angeles tennis club. I remember thinking about tennis and thinking about everybody who plays wears white shoes, white sox, white shorts o s or skirts dresses. White balls in those days. Now theyre yellow. And everybody who plays tennis is white. And i remember asking myself, where is everybody else . Where is everybody else . Join us for that complete interview on monday. That does it for this edition of Andrea Mitchell reports. Follow the show online, on facebook and on twitt twitter mitchellreports. Tune in this sunday for chuck to todds debut as host of meet the press. Woman everyone in the nicu all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days. 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Deputy National Security adviser ben rhodes says the administration is not ruling out u. S. Ground troops when it comes to fighting in syria. Were not ruling that out. 1 00 p. M. On the east coast. 10 00 a. M. An the west. A ceasefire in ukraine. Prorussian rebels in the Ukrainian Government signing a deal today after talks in belarus. The head of the ceasefire announcement, fighting continues near the ukraunian port city of mariupol. President obama spoke about this ceasefire just this past hour in wales. We are hopeful, but