kelly o'donnell with that end of this story in our newsroom in washington. kelly, thanks. >>> then there's this. all during this health care debate we heard about this country over and over. some say canada should be a model for health care. yet others warn that america could become canada and they don't mean that in a good way. later on in this broadcast tonight, we'll have a close-up look at health care here in canada. >>> now we switch to a big story out of new orleans where the police chief said today he is shocked by a guilty plea that has rocked that city. a veteran officer admitted taking part in an elaborate cover-up to hide what happened when police killed two unarmed people on a bridge during those frantic days after hurricane katrina. we get more tonight from our justice correspondent pete williams. >> reporter: it became a symbol of post katrina chaos, witnessed by an nbc news camera crew. for reasons still unclear, an emergency call went out as six people were crossing a bridge over the city's industrial canal headed to a supermarket. two others

nbc's kelly o'donnell was on the hill for the hearing, starts off our coverage here tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this is so far from resolved. while the committee repeatedly thanked the ceo for coming here voluntarily, promising to find and fix those problems, his answers were not satisfactory. one congresswoman even angry said that the toyota ceo did not show remorse for lives lost. a spectacle in two countries. japanese media call akio toyoda the crowns prince, star of his very prominent family. here the star witness. global leader of a car company under fire. >> my name is on every car. >> reporter: speaking in english only during this prepared statement. >> i, myself, as well as toyota am not perfect. >> reporter: mr. toyoda apologized for incidents of sudden, unintended acceleration linked to 34 deaths and a massive recall. >> i am deeply sorry for any accident that toyota drivers have experienced. >> reporter: what went wrong? mr. toyoda claims the company's rapid growth led to lapses in safety quality control. the questioning began in

kelly o'donnell. we will be talking to ray lahood straight from the hearing. works his way across the capital to our cameras. we will have our own followup questions for ray lahood. president obama's 2012 real ex-strategy. [ female announcer ] the latest athletic fabrics that keep you cool and dry have now inspired stayfree® to create a whole new level of comfort when it comes to your period. only stayfree® ultra thins have thermocontrol™. designed with the comfort of athletic fabrics in mind, stayfree® with thermocontrol™ quickly wicks moisture away for exceptional dryness. so you stay incredibly comfortable no matter where your day takes you. stay dry. stay cool. with thermocontrol™ only from stayfree®. i'm from fayetteville, north carolina, ...and i smoked for 29 years. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of ch

nbc's kelly o'donnell live on capitol hill. thank you, kelly. >> you bet. >>> developing now two u.s. born pandas are on a flight to home. the fedex cargo plane took off from dulles airport near washington, d.c. tay and mei. a lot of broken hearts regarding the animal at the national zoo there. >>> rahm emanuel's controversial comments. former governor sarah palin refuses to accept his apology for using the r word. but rush limbaugh, well, he's using it, too. is there a political double standard over what we all agree is an offensive word to use. >>> a frightening situation in florida. sharks swarm a kite boarder. he's attacked as people watch helplessly from the shore. >>> an emotional good-bye for a popular resident, as we said, in washington, d.c. leaving the nation's capital. ble. i'm on an aspiriregimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. ta to your doctor, and take care of what you have to take care of. we know why

and savannah guthrie, kelly o'donnell and coming up the u.s. strategy in pakistan. the deaths of three american soldiers bringing unmewanted attention how diem deeply the jats involved. up next, sarah palin getting ready to address the first ever tea party convention. what a problem it's been. what impact will she have. send me your thoughts on twitter at mitchell reports. this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. as small businesses are busy reinventing the economy, small business owners have a lot of questions. can paperless billing get me paid faster? how can i keep my best employees? how can i bring down my insurance costs? that's why we're building a community called openforum.com where owners can swap ideas and ask questions. will tweeting get me more customers? how can i get paid faster? i was about to ask you the same thing. join the conversation at openforum.com. trying to be good to your heart? so is campbell's healthy request soup. low in fat and cholesterol, heart healthy levels of sodium, and taste you'll love. guy: mmmm! chef: we're kind of excite

. >> let's bring in kelly o'donnell. we have two tracks here. we have the house, got to figure out how to vote on the senate bill. that's been clear that at some point that's going to happen and then the senate to do their fixes via the reconciliation process. what is the attitude on the hill this morning compared to yesterday morning? >> there is real concern. i think everybody can claim some sort of victory because they all played very nicely they had their moment to explain their views, they can check that box. now what do they do? it is a lot of pressure on house leadership to get people in line, if they can convince them it is not a political walking off the plank moment to vote for this. now, the rules sometimes really matter. this is one of those cases where the procedure will really count. can they get the house to agree to the senate version which we passed, you know, back on christmas eve, and then believe in the senate to make the changes that the house really needs to see? that's a leap of faith. >> it is so fascinating that there is

kelly o'donnell covers capitol hill for us. so who's going to blink here? harry reid, up for re-election in 2010, which always matters in these decisions, or nancy pelosi? >> reporte >> reporter: well, if we were to just take one snapshot, it's this right now. pointing at each other, who must go first. and house speaker nancy pelosi told bloggers that she believes the senate has to act first to make changes on its version of health care, because she believes her house democrats simply will not go for it. senator harry reid came out and said that he didn't think that was procedurally possible. and what's interesting about harry re harry reid is while he gets a lot of grief for his public statements and leadership behind the cameras, he gets lots of high marks for his understanding of the legislative rules and how to get things done. how to count votes and how ho work procedure. that's interesting he doesn't think there's an easy way to do that. both sides think they have to put the pressure on the other. now, the house is going to take some smaller action. t

. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell joins us now from capitol hill and, kelly, akio toyoda, had an op-ed that he releaseded yesterday, perhaps a glimpse into what he might say today which is certainly expected to be an apology from that company. >> reporter: well, tamron, part of what he will say is that the growth of toyota, which is now the world's largest car company, may be in part to blame. growth that went too fast, not allowing the company to really be on top of all the issues that have now is yosurfaced through enormous recalls more than 8.5 million cars recalled for issues that deal with brakes, gas pedals, sudden acceleration complaints, those sorts of things. he will say he regrets that. a lot of what will be on the line today, as you hinted at that, is the family reputation of the toyotas, the company, its future, its stock value, enormous implications and, of course, implication for driver safety. when we heard from rhonda smith and her emotional testimony, it's not often that we get that kind of human emotion and science in the same hearing because we'll also be hearing about en