First lady: ‘Gloves are off’ for Olympic bid

Video: Obamas, Winfrey make Olympics pitch

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   >>> very much. first lady michelle obama touched down in copenhagen overnight, where she and her husband hope to help chicago land the 2016 olympic games . nbc's john yang is in chicago with more on that. john, good morning to you.

   >> reporter: good morning, matt. this morning, some of the most powerful and influential figures, not just in chicago , but in all of america , are in copenhagen , helping this city go for the gold. first lady michelle obama and oprah winfrey , the first lady of television talk, the superstars of chicago 's olympic team in copenhagen . for the final portion, they'll be joined by the most prominent chicagoan of them all, president obama . given his busy schedule, he'll only be on danish soil for about four hours.

   >> i'll sleep on the plane, i'll land, i'll speak and then fly right back.

   >> reporter: leaving before the final vote. it's all part of a full-court press led by chicago mayor richard m. daly. he's enlisted famous chicagoans from hillary clinton to michael jordan , even residents of the shedd aquarium . events backing the bid have reached all the way to the white house south lawn .

   >> i cannot think of a better city to host the 2016 games than my hometown.

   >> chicago will make america proud and america will make the world proud.

   >> reporter: the president, the first lady and the others will be trying to sway the 105 voting members of the international olympic committee .

   >> chicago 's chances are significantly, and i mean significantly enhanced by the fact that the president of the united states is going to be on hand here.

   >> reporter: chicago 's main competition comes from rio de janiero , vying to host the first olympics in south america . madrid and tokyo are also bidding.

   >> we don't want the olympic games !

   >> reporter: not everyone in chicago thinks hosting the games is such a great idea. a local ad man launched a website, chicagoansforrio.com, even linking to the site for rio's bid. a poll earlier this month found chicagoans sharply divided, 47% favoring the games, 45% opposing them. john cass is a columnist for "the chicago tribune ."

   >> if you go into the neighborhoods, talk to the people in their bungalow, single-family homes, are they going to have $1,500 to sit ringside for the boxing tournament?

   >> reporter: chicago and the other cities make their final pitch on friday, and the committee will make its decision. here in chicago , hundreds of people will be gathered outside city hall downtown watching and waiting. matt?

   >> all right, john, thanks very much. john yang in chicago this morning. it's now nine

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