welcome to today on this saturday morning. less sistter is on vacation. we re happy to have you here. i brought joe. is that okay? you can t come by yourself? we re a pair. we ll get to joe in a second. we have a lot to tell you about including president obama s strong defend of a proposed mosque near ground zero. he spoke out about that about a white house dinner. he said i believe that muslims have the same right to practice their religion than anyone else in this country. it s his first public comments on this and coming up we will get reaction from joe scarborough. and then as part of the heartland continues to struggle with heat, severe thunderstorm warnings and dangerous flooding, tens of thousands in iowa may now be without drinking water for days. we will head live to iowa with the latest. plus new federal rules on overdraft fees for debit cards take effect this weekend. they re in response to the widespread outrage overrules that would allow the b
good morning, everyone, i m alex whit. welcome to msnbc saturday. president obama s now weighing in on those controversial plans to build a mosque just blocks from ground zero in lower manhattan. the project has led to protests around the country. and veronica de la cruz joins me live with the details. and good morning, veronica. this is the first time, really, the president has addressed this issue publicly, right? that s absolutely right, alex. and good morning to you, as well. the president spoke out in support of building this mosque last night at this annual white house dinner celebrating the holy month of ramadan. the president said the muslims have the right to practice their religion like anyone else and that includes the right to build a place of worship on private property. this is america. and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. the principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country. and that they will not be treated different
captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. i m ann curry in for brian williams. as a part of america s heartland is struggling against a triple threat, extreme heat, severe thunderstorm warnings and dangerous flooding, it s happening in ames, iowa, and it s gotten so bad, tens of thousands of people may be without drinking water there for days. our own ron allen spent the day in the intense weather and joins us now from the soggy grounds of iowa state university. ron? reporter: good evening to you, ann. yes, this part of campus is usually dry this time of year, but this water has been standing here now for several days. further back you can see there are workers inside several buildings trying to pump out water and dry out things to get it ready for school. also here in the town of ames is another big problem, is an entire community of people who do not have clean water. city crews worked feverishly to repair flood damage today. officials say strict water
i m ann curry in for brian williams. as a part of america s heartland is struggling against a triple threat extreme heat, severe thunderstorm warnings and dangerous flooding, it s happening in ames, iowa, and it s gotten so bad, tens of thousands of people may be without drinking water there for days. our own ron allen has spent the day in the intense weather and joins us now from the soggy grounds of iowa state university. ron? reporter: good evening to you, ann. yes, this part of campus is usually dry this time of year, but this water has been standing here now for several days. further back, you can see there are workers inside several buildings trying to pump out water and dry out things to get it ready for school. also here in the town of ames is another big problem, there s an entire community of people who do not have clean water. city crews worked feverishly to repair flood damage today. officials say strict water conservation measures and a boil water alert will
weight. it is a big inconvenience, but it s the least i can do to help out with the community. reporter: ames is home to iowa state university. what might look like a pretty lake on campus are actually football practice fields covered with water. the residents of this mobile home park say flood waters rose several feet. they tried to salvage what they could. just laid this down. caller: like everyone here, joshua drake keeps his eyes on the skies. you could see it. the clouds are coming right now. they re talking about another 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches. that s not good. that was ron allen reporting from ames, iowa. investigators have talked to two survivors from the plane that went down in alaska this week. one said they were flying along and they just stopped flying. the national transportation safety board also just released these new pictures showing the crash site s remote location. the accident killed five people, including former u.s. senator ted stevens. and nbc s