couric: good evening, everyone. the gathering of world leaders at the united nations here in new york this week has not done much to improve relations between the united states and iran. in fact, president mahmoud ahmadinejad strained them even further when he said most of the world believes the u.s. government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks to benefit israel. today, president obama responded. chief white house correspondent chip reid is here covering the united nations meeting. chip? reporter: well, katie, today president obama came out swinging, but there is no sign the iranian president is backing down. president obama had strong words today for iranian president ahmadinejad who suggested in a speech at the united nations yesterday that the u.s. government was behind the 9/11 attacks. well, it was offensive, it was hateful. reporter: especially, he said, because the comments were made not far from ground zero. where families lost their loved ones, people of all fa
attacks to benefit israel. today, president obama responded. chief white house correspondent chip reid is here covering the united nations meeting. chip? reporter: well, katie, today president obama came out swinging, but there is no sign the iranian president is backing down. president obama had strong words today for iranian president ahmadinejad who suggested in a speech at the united nations yesterday that the u.s. government was behind the 9/11 attacks. well, it was offensive, it was hateful. reporter: especially, he said because the comments were made not far from ground zero. where families lost their loved ones, people of all faiths all ethnicities. for them to make a statement like that was inexcusable. reporter: in an interview intended to air in iran, mr. obama also called the statement disgusting and said it stands in contrast to the response of the iranian people after 9/11. when there were candlelight vigils and i think a natural sense of shared huma
statement disgusting and said it stands in contrast to the response of the iranian people after 9/11. when there were candlelight vigils and i think a natural sense of shared humanity and sympathy was expressed within iran. reporter: today the iranian president defended his remarks and called for an investigation of the 9/11 attacks. u.s. officials say it s just the latest in a long line of deeply offensive remarks by ahmadinejad, from denial of the holocaust to calling for israel to be wiped off the map. but demonstrating once again how wildly unpredictable he can be, ahmadinejad also today met with sarah shourd, the american hiker recently freed from iran. she pleaded for the release of her fiance and a friend who are still captive in iran. i believe my case set the precedent for their release. reporter: in another surprise ahmadinejad today suggested that iran is prepared to restart talks on its nuclear program which the u.s. insists is intended to produce nuclear
waterway down there. reporter: they certainly did, katie. local officials here have been fed up with the federal government s pace of response to this crisis and they ve said all along here that they ll do what they have to to protect their waters and today they took an ambitious first step. it s a desperate attempt to keep oil out of barataria bay, responsible for a third of louisiana s seafood revenue. local officials here are finally beginning to blockade the bay s entrance with barges after a month-long battle with the coast guard for permission. as far as we know, we re breaking new ground. give a cajun some tools and he ll figure out how to do something. reporter: there will be more than 60 of these barges anchored and tied end to end in this bay. when they re here, that will make a 7,000 foot barrier to block and then channel the oil. it it s a bold unproven tactic devise bid local political leaders including the grand isle mayor. by putting this barrier and ge
takes a controversial parliamentary maneuver to do it, so be it. congressional correspondent nancy cordes is on capitol hill watching the twisting of arms and the counting of votes. nancy, democratic leaders insist they will have the votes, but will they really? and when? reporter: well, katie, they re aiming for a vote, as you said, this weekend. so that s their self-imposed deadline. it s going to be close, no question. but they made a few key pickups today. not two weeks ago, representative dennis kucinich told cbs news there was no way he could vote for the health care bill in its current form. my position is pretty well established. reporter: but that was before he got the hard sell if the president, including some one-on-one time on air force one. whatever mr. obama said to him, it worked. even though i don t like the bill, i ve made a decision to support it. that s a good sign. reporter: still, a democratic victory is far from assured. there are currently 4