Nightly News   |  August 31, 2011

Boehner rebuffs Obama over speech date

A dustup ensued in Washington when President Obama requested in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to address a joint session of Congress on Sept. 7. NBC’s Chuck Todd has more.

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>>> and in washington today, a big dust up over the president's plans to give a big speech to the nation may say a lot about where our politics and divisions are right about now. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd is with us tonight. chuck, you're also our political director, that put you right square in the middle of this today. we found ourselves bumping up against this. the president wants to give a speech to a joint session of congress on jobs and the economy. speaker of the house writing him back and says how about the next night because the night the president chose next wednesday, we, nbc is televising a republican debate from the reagan library , where does this stand tonight?

>> reporter: here we go again, it seems as if the president and speaker boehner took up just where they left off before they went on recess. the white house believed they had gotten clearance from speaker boehner that they would officially get this invitation to make this address on wednesday evening. but speaker boehner said they weren't given much of a heads up, and said why don't you do it thursday. the white house claims the timing that they were asking for had nothing to do with the republican presidential debate , that said, as of right now, it's any understanding the white house is considering agreeing to boehner 's invitation and doing it on thursday, but a final decision hasn't been made, but i tell you, brian, here we go again. and thursday bumps it up against another television event and that is, let's face it, saints-packers, the same day the nfl season gets under way. chuck,