and the president has left afghanistan. john, you know what it's like to travel with the president like this. you went to baghdad with president bush. from being on air force one, what is that like? >> it's a dicey ride in. perhaps they're overstaying the -- overstating the risk, but they want to be extra cautious with the president. you showed the pictures of this president's visit. it's a 747. has the united states stamped on the side. that big flag on the back. they advised president bush when i took that trip six years ago next month to baghdad, they advised the same thing to president obama. they rather have them take a plane that doesn't look any different. he wanted to take this to send a signal. president bush wanted to do that. i was recruited and just left the white house beat six years ago. they white house said would you do this on a secret basis. tell as few people as possible within the news organization. when you get on the plane, they tell you turn off all electronic devices, shut off the televisions, shut o

troops be out of afghanistan. but then he outlined a ten-year framework, details to be negotiated during which the u.s. will have some sort of military and economic role in afghanistan. so it's a lot a work even though 20,000 or 25,000 more troops will be out this year. the u.s. will still have well over 60,000 troops on the ground in afghanistan in a very hostile, warlike environment. and there will be a lot of casualties, unfortunately, in the process. >> senior member of the senate armed services committee has said today clearly this trip is campaign related. we've seen recently president obama has visited college campuses to win back the support of that age group. similarly this trip to afghanistan is an attempt to shore up his national security credentials because he spent the past three years gutting our military. doug brinkley, do you think that is fair? this is just cheap politics? >> it's cheap politics. we have to pull together more as a country than looking at everything our commander in chief does and

afghanistan. what he said to the troops there and what he said to the american people about a half an hour ago. he just finished speaking. he's expected to leave just shortly after daybreak at bagram air base. reporters with the president were sworn to secrecy until in the zone. from there he quickly went by chopper to kabul, another war zone where him and president hamid karsai signed the strategic partnership agreement. it promises american support for afghanistan through 2024. ten years after the last american combat forces are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2012. excuse me, 2014. the president made some brief remarks, then headed back to bagram for a rally with the troops. more than 130,000 men and women serve in afghanistan. the vast majority, about 90,000 are american right now. a short time later, about half an hour ago the president spoke to the united states laying out his vision for ending america's longest war. saying afghanistan is where the war began and where it will en

and nato forces in afghanistan from pakistan into afghanistan. it looks like the president just had a brief little three-way photo opportunity with these leaders and no real substantive break through which is what the u.s. wanted with president zardari of pakistan. what are you hearing? >> what happened during the summit is president zardari of pakistan came hoping for a president with president obama. he didn't get that meeting, what he got instead was a quick opportunity to exchange words for the president and then a quick photo with president obama and with president karzai later today. he did not get that big meeting for precisely the reason you point out. he and his country did not come to terms with the u.s. on an agreement to open the supply routs back up for the u.s. to bring both troops and supplies in and out of the pakistani country, in and out of pakistan, because pakistan simply as my sources are saying, asking too much money for this. and so this is not going to be negotiated, u.s. sources are saying at a presidential level, it's go

ambassador to afghanistan ryan crocker. thanks for spending part of your morning here with us in studio 7. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> simmering anti-western sentiment in afghanistan boils no a week of violent protests and 30 deaths including 4 americans. today -- is it time for the u.s. to go? a conversation with the u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker in kabul. >>> then -- gas, taxes and 2012 with obama campaign adviser robert gibbs. >> and -- >> good to be back in michigan. >> good to be here in tucson. >> republican politics. plus their recent trip to afghanistan. rapid increasing gas prices. how high and how long? with former ceo of shell oil. i'm candy crowley. and this in is "state of the union." the afghan government says the man who killed two american soldiers inside a highly secured afghan government building is an afghan intelligence officer. president hamid karzai has offered condolences to the families of the four americans killed since news that u.s. personnel apparently inadvertently b

strategy in afghanistan? >> well, i think there's no question that the safe havens have been and remain a problem. it's difficult for the afghans and ourselves and our nato allies to decisively defeat an enemy who can take sanctuary and maintain its headquarters in another country. we've been clear about that. we've been public about that. the pakistani government needs to take action for their own sake as well as afghanistan's and ours. >> u.s. ambassador ryan crocker, thank you so much for your time. >>> after the break, president obama seems confident about his re-election chances, but will rising gas prices get in the way? obama campaign senior adviser robert gibbs joins us. >>> and later, secretary of state hillary clinton emerges in a new interview as the president's biggest advocate later in the hour. i am loving this greek yogurt. i like yoplait. it is yoplait. but you said it was greek. mmhmm. so is it greek or is it yoplait? exactly. okay... [ female announcer ] yoplait. it is so greek. >>> joining

forces and other nato forces from afghanistan is good for afghanistan and good for our allied countries. today we discussed that. we have finalized plans. so 2014 will be a year in which the united states will not be spending as much money in afghanistan as it is spending today. it will save money and we will be providing security ourselves. >> but for another two and a half years until the end of 2014, there will be thousands of american troops in afghanistan. >> yes, yes. >> and that will be expensive. >> it will be expensive, like it was in the past ten years, but this is a commitment that the world community has made to the war on terror, to the security of the united states, to the security of the world and to the security of afghanistan. >> are you satisfied with this withdrawal schedule or is it too fast -- >> no, we are satisfied. >> are you ready to take over all of afghanistan by the end of 2014? >> absolutely. we have already worked out plan to have in six months' time 75% of the country taken over by afghan security forces. >> the new president of france wants all french tro

they want out of afghanistan. in the end, i'm not sure president obama didn't do himself more harm than good with this little stunt. here's the question. president obama in afghanistan, foreign policy or campaign stop? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog or go to my post on "the situation room's" facebook page. >> thanks very much. i write about a similar subject on my blog cnn.com/situationroom, today as well, what we didn't hear from the president in afghanistan last night. >>> private sector companies are pulling back on hiring. mary snow is monitoring that and some of the other top stories in the situation room right now. mary, what do you have? >> wolf, that report issue reveals a dramatic slowdown in private sector job growth with businesses adding just 119,000 jobs last month, that's down from more than 200,000 jobs respectively in march. the report could set the tone for the government's monthly jobs report due out this friday. former nfl linebacker junior seau has died from an apparen

>> well, if you compare afghanistan today to the afghanistan ten years ago, a lot of things happened. from the support that we receive from our international allies, including the united states of america and the taxpayers' money that was invested in afghanistan. whatever you name it, from economic growth to education, health, participation of women in different walks of our society, the free press, our national security forces, our police forces and infrastructure projects, infractions that afghanistan has within the region, within our neighbors and also the role that we play as an active member within the international community, all that happened within ten years' time. having said that, we have been suffering for the last 30 years after the invasion of the soviet union. so a lot of things happened but i'm not saying everything happened perfectly but we have a lot of challenges and we have a long way ahead of us. >> so i ask you that question because this morning "the new york times" had a story in which they kind of synthesized everything that has been said by president karzai ove

of fighting in afghanistan. you see the spike in fatalities, this is combat deaths, other deaths in afghanistan, military personnel, nearly 500 in 2010. at the height of the surge, 262 so far in 2012, just shy of 2,000 now, well below the more bloody, more deadly iraq war but approaching the 2000 number as the president tries to wind that down. one other point to note since we're having this conversation about the candidates for president, lot of those veterans who are coming home from iraq and afghanistan, here's where they live. the darker the state, the higher the veteran population. you see a state like virginia, state like new hampshire with a higher percentage of population so veterans in some of the battleground states, important constituency. >> dan, on the trail, in stump speeches, does the president regularly talk about afghanistan? >> well, it's never the focus of the president's stump speech unless he is talking to veterans or he's in a region that's heavy military. what you hear from the president i

is reflected in opinion polls in afghanistan and what took place a few weeks ago, afghanistan needs the united states and since we haven't finished with the job of finishing the terrorists in afghanistan, making sure that the terrorists do not come back to afghanistan, that we also need to -- yes, it has been a difficult few weeks but would like to continue to cooperate with each other. >> you know, what is the effect on u.s. troops? i know when you read some of these things that the president of the country is saying, comparing the u.s. to the taliban or putting it in the same sentence and calling them demons, it not only undermines faltering u.s. support for this war but it must do something to the troops? >> it does, candy. we have to go back to basics, i think. the afghanistan and the united states, because it's in the american interest, we have to get off this idea that it's a favor to afghanistan. that attacks were planned in kandahar. we don't want that to be a place again. but from the point of view of the american troops, what is more important is are we as a country commit

and afghanistan? >> well, wolf, president obama is moving very quickly across afghanistan during this visit for a very simple reason. as he tries to move ahead with this strategic partnership keeping the details of this trip secret is key to keeping the president safe. it doesn't get much riskier than sending the president of the united states into a war zone. president obama arrived into bagram air base, afghanistan, under cover of darkness with extraordinary security measures. reporters traveling with the president were sworn to secrecy. the secret service is prepared for anything that could happen. it starts with getting in. u.s. planes landing in afghanistan perform a corkscrew type landing making sharp banks and terms to avoid heat seeking missiles. the colonel knows first hand how dangerous it can be. now retired he told wolf blitzer about secretly taking george w. bush to baghdad in 2003 while combat raged. >> the challenge wasn't so much to get him in there because we easily fooled everybody a

afghanistan. >> afghanistan. >> but you don't want to talk about other places? >> don't want to talk about other places. >> it's a very sensitive subject. >> then why would i talk about it? >> of course. [ laughter ] he's very good. i've heard top u.s. officials, secretary panetta and others, testify, there are fewer al qaeda elements left in afghanistan today than there are in yemen, for example, or somalia, for that matter. is that true? >> you know, i think that's a true statement. and again, it's been a year since i've been in afghanistan, but the number of al qaeda in afghanistan, you know, a year ago, numbers somewhere in the hundred or so. they can still be key interlocketters. so we're always aware of them, and where there are al qaeda, the military makes an very aggressive stance to go after them. so they are still a problem in afghanistan that we have to deal with. are there more in yemen? based on the reports that i see and the open press reports, there certainly appear to be a lot of al qaeda in yemen. >> and what do you -- what should the u.s. be do

these are key neighbors of afghanistan. how are you going to prevent these countries from interfering in afghanistan after the americans leave in 2014? what role is the northern alliance going to play? these are important questions. and finally, the economic kpe question. there's no sustainable economy in afghanistan, even ten years after american intervention. the american forces will leave. tens of thousands of afghans serving americans will be out of a job. >> thank you for discussing a subject that isn't going to go away. >>> up next what in the world? understanding the problems in the arab world by exploring events that took place 1,000 years ago. don't miss this. blan ttd# 1-800-345-2550 ttd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the typical financial consultation ttd# 1-800-345-2550 when companies try to sell you something off their menu ttd# 1-800-345-2550 instead of trying to understand what you really need. ttd# 1-800-345-2550 ttd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we provide ttd# 1-800-345-2550 a full range of financia

and an lawmaker kept out of afghanistan by the president of afghanistan. i'll ask why the highest u.s. officials actually went along with it. i went to a small high school. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us. and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. [ director ] cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. >>> as mitt romney campaigns to lead the nation, he rarely talks about his leadership experience in the mormon church. he volunteer

and nato forces in afghanistan. we'll get the latest on the alleged civilian massacre by an american soldier and the fallout. >>> bill clinton's surprising first reaction to the death of osama bin laden. for business. [ beeping ] in here, data knows what to do. because the network finds it and tailors it across all the right points, automating all the right actions... [ beeping ] ...to bring all the right results. it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪ to help business do more for customers. homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city. i learned early on if you want to make a difference you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i'm committed to making a difference and i am a phoenix. oh, yeah? [ chris ] you can call us 24-7, get quotes online, start a claim with our s

congressman is banned from entering afghanistan. president karzai told me it's because the congressman disrespected his country and now that congressman, dana rohrabacher, republican of california is firing back. also, a look at junk from japan now landing on u.s. shores. >> reporter: i've seen pictures of huge yards and anchors of these things stacked up and they're all empty now and this is where they all are. there's another way to help erase litter box odor. purina tidy cats. only tidy cats has new odor erasers... making it easy to keep things at home... just the way you want them. new tidy cats with odor erasers. in here, great food demands a great presentation. so at&t showed corporate caterers how to better collaborate by using a mobile solution, in a whole new way. using real-time photo sharing abilities, they can create and maintain high standards, from kitchen to table. this technology allows us to collaborate with our drivers to make a better experience for our customers. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities

difficult to explain to the people of afghanistan. second thing we have learned at this hours, there is imagery. at these small bases, as you know, for perimeter security, they have very high-powered cameras mounted around the base at an altitude above ground. this is called persistent surveillance, so they can monitor the area and see what's coming and going 24 hours a day. those cameras picked up images of the staff sergeant both leaving the base and coming back to the base, but we are adamantly told the cameras could not see as far as the village, the nearby village where he conducted this alleged crime. there is no imagery of that being conducted, but they do have imagery of him walking out alone and coming back into the base alone. wolf? >> i take it, barbara, they still haven't released the identity, the name -- i spoke to general allen yesterday, and he said they were waiting to do that, but what's the rationale for delaying releasing his name? >> reporter: under the military justice system, wolf, names of suspects are generall

how president obama pulled off the dangerous trip to afghanistan. and newt gingrich drops out of the race for the white house saying he might be backing mitt montana but does newt gingrich still think romney's a liar? i'll ask him. ct, i'm already seg your best friend, justin. ♪ i would've appreciated a proactive update on the status of our relationship. who do you think i am, tim? quicken loans? at quicken loans, we provide you with proactive updates on the status of your home loan. and our innovative online tools ensure that you're always in the loop. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. [ children laughing ] ♪ ...is the smell of salt in the air. ♪ it's the sound a seashell makes. [ seagulls calling ] away...is a place that's beyond your imagination, yet well within your means. find your away. for a dealer and the rv that's right for you, visit gorving.com. >>> he's officially out of the republican race for the white house but some of gingrich's sharpest attacks of mitt romney are living on thanks to the obama campaign. i sat d

military operates in afghanistan. the agreement is an effort to end the afghan anger over special operations night raids on local homes. from now on afghan commandos will take the lead in those raids. those are your top stories. now back to fareed zakaria, gps. >>> we think of our current economic crisis as new because at its heart is the accumulation of too much debt. the battle between creditors and debtors is age-old. i had a very interesting discussion about this in london recently with phillip, the author of the economist buttonwood column, and he has a terrific new book out. paper promises, debt, money, and the new world order. you look at the current crisis we have with regard to debtors and creditors, you know, all of the western world in debt, and you say this is actually not so unfamiliar. this is part of a much broader pattern. >> exactly. over history we've had periods when people have built up too much debt, and then we've had crisis when the debt has not been repaid, so classic one was the 1930s. in that

it's been a tough ten years in afghanistan. i think it's important that we remember the reason that we're in afghanistan. it goes back to 9/11 and the attacks that were made on this country. we've seen certainly some successes when i talk to our military men and women. they can-foot the successes and, you know, think about the opportunities for women right now in afghanistan and i enthusiast it's so important we continue to stand for human rights for women all around this world and that's a key to defeating terrorists. i don't think that we can ignore the fact that there are those terrorists, al qaeda that continue to threaten america and threaten freedom around the world. and so i've supported president obama in his approach in winding down and making that smooth transition in afghanistan but i think everyone is getting tired of the war. >> if i can get you to answer quickly because i want to move you on to one more subject. it time to push for a quicker removal of the troops than the president want? >> certainly do believe so

it was yesterday at the british-run base in southern afghanistan. defense secretary leon panetta is about to land when a vehicle full of gasoline containers comes barrelen down the runway, crashes, explodes into the plane, the driver died of his burns, but we are learning new details today. the pentagon says the driver of that stolen vehicle was in fact, they believe, aiming for the welcoming party for panetta on 9 runway. he may not have known they were there for panetta, or may not have known panetta was about to land, but a u.s. military official says that the driver drove the vehicle at a high rate of speed at individuals who had to get out of the way to avoid being hit. the secretary's plane was diverted to another part of the runway, they all had to stay on board until it was safe. here for the first time defense secretary leon panetta talking about it. isms from the evidence that i've been told so far, that this individual basically, whatever happened here was directed as others that were there on the field and not me or my plane or anything

involvement in afghanistan was the 9/11 attacks. those were done by al qaeda and i think it would be very hard to argue that al qaeda has won this war. >> yeah, i think that -- let's move forward to 2014 so i can make my point probably more appropriately. in 2014, american forces will pretty much have gone. the taliban are being trusted to do business, otherwise nothing is going to move forward. is it likely that the taliban can be trusted to do that? and in a sense, if they don't, then the original point of this war, to go in, yes, to take on al qaeda but also to take on the taliban, who are protecting the al qaeda operatives, if that fails, if the taliban simply revert to the way they were before, and there is a genuine fear they do that, then the overall gambit of the war would have failed, won't it? >> well, you know, it depends on what we feel is a failure. i mean since we've been there, we in the united states have not been attacked again by al qaeda. if we broaden the definition of success to a stable and humane afghanistan,

from afghanistan. our mission there is to make sure we have an afghanistan that can secure and govern itself and it never again can become a safe haven for terrorist who had planned attacks on our country. >> you know u.s. intelligence officials are told congress there are more al qaeda operatives in somalia than in afghanistan. >> the danger is this. if we don't succeed in afghanistan, there is a real probability the taliban will come back and who will be the first people to take advantage of it? al qaeda. that's what we have to protect against. >> are we asking too much of these american troops who spend up to five tours of duty and now these reports with dead bodies of taliban fighters urinating on dead bodies. one american soldier starts killing 17 afghan civilians including children. is the stress too much to bear right now on these troops. >> there is no question we've been 10 years at war. obviously it takes a toll. the vast majority have performed at the highest standards we have expected. for

troops would still be in afghanistan and not 90,000 u.s. troops are there as we speak, ten years later, almost 12 years later. i wouldn't have expected that. i would have hoped that we would have been able to stabilize the situation and remove any al qaeda influence. we've done that, and maybe they can find other places to work out of, and i think they underestimate the ability of the taliban to remain a force in being and a continuing threat to the country of afghanistan. so we have to do what we can in the next year or two, but ultimately that taliban problem will have to be solved by the people of afghanistan and the leadership of afghanistan and the many, many afghan soldiers and police officers that we've been training for years will continue to train. so they'll continue to take on the burden and as we've seen in recent weeks more and more of them will be in charge of your country, but at the same time we have to be prepared even after 2014 to continue to provide them support, to do intelligence work and to keep our drones flying, but

one watchdog group says the behavior of the em ploes undermines the mission in afghanistan. staggering around half naked, seemingly drunk. wrestling. shouting at the man videotaping them. this is a.m. mature video from earlier this year of people working for an american security contractor in kabul, afghanistan. this man identified as the security manager for the contracting firm george scientific. >> it reminded me many times i visited my friends in college that were in fra ternties. >> reporter: john is one of two former employees filing a seven figure lawsuit against the firm for allegedly committing frud on the u.s. government. they say they were harassed for trying to blow the whistle. the company denies that. the plaintiff alleges ambulate event drinking, the misuse of firearms which they say prevented the firm from carriying out its assigned duty. the video was shot on a cell phone. >> how often did you observe this behavior? >> the misbehavior was actually almost every other night. several times a week. it was just at any time you could see get together tonight and w

that's why we're in afghanistan. it is in our national security interests and we better align or policies, that's what we both saw, we need to do a better job of aligning those policies to say the first priority here is to deny safe haven. that means a strategic defeat of the taliban and we have to defeat the safe havens in the tribal areas. >> the two good things i think we saw was, one, the professionalism of the afghan military is increasing dramatically. >> will they be ready by next year? >> that is the belief and general allen spoke to us for some time, and i was really impressed with what he had to say. the second thing were young girls in schools. about 40% of the school population are young girls. and as you know, taliban threw acid on them to prevent them from going to school. the taliban while we were there tried to close schools in one province, but as you drove in, you saw young girls in their white scarfs holding hands walking down the street coming from school. that is wonderful to see. >> i have to cl

on afghanistan, it bears repeating, on afghanistan, up until just several weeks ago, up until last night, actually, governor romney has embraced a policy that says the president is somehow being weak in terms of setting a timeline to get out of afghanistan. last night, out of nowhere, he fully embraced the president's policy of handing over authority by the end of 2014. in fact, paul ryan, congressman ryan when he was debating my dad in kentucky just about two weeks ago, he suggested, that is congressman ryan, putting additional troops in afghanistan. so just within the span of two weeks, romney and ryan have contradicted themselves, have contradicted that 14 months of his statements about foreign policy. >> as vice president biden's son, how did you feel when the president shoved your dad under a bus? let me play it to you now. >> those decisions generally are not poll tested, and even some in my own party, including my current vice president, had the same critique as you did. but what the american people understand is that i look at what we need to get done to keep the american people

of rage over the burning of holy books in afghanistan. at least nine people died in the suicide bombing outside an air base in jalalabad. there are no nato casualties. the taliban called the attack a retaliation for last week's koran burning by nato type troops and militants claim to have poisoned food at a base near the pakistani border. we're joined from kabul. it seems like the reaction is getting worse by the day, nick? >> reporter: it's changing in character, too, wolf. interesting about this suicide attack today, the taliban claim they were avenging the koran burning. this is basically a conventional taliban, suicide bombing on a nato base. they may try to claim the violence and the forthcoming insurgency campaign of the warmer summer months, is perhaps, all tied into avenging the koran and that could appeal to other afghans, also furious at this nato blunder. we also heard today, as you said, about this possible poisoning attempt. the taliban claim they may have killed five americans by poisoning food on the base near the pakistani

and he's on a path out of afghanistan. i think there are some troubling aspects, as your first guest, congressman paul, would point out. but yeah, i think -- you know, i call it the taxi cab bump. you know, during the bush years when you get in a taxi cab in a foreign country and tell them you're american, they didn't like that, but ever since obama is in charge, when you get in a taxi cab in imman and baghdad, you get it, and they appreciate the americanism of it. >> that's definitely true. good luck. >>> coming next, only in america. do we really need a top gun sequel? [ shivering ] sorry. sore knee. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? it's the one you store in the freezer. gives that instant cold sensation. that's chilly. same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists. and it lasts for hours. [ sigh of relief ] [ short breath ] [ longer breath ] [ short breath ] [ male announcer ] new bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. [ male announcer ] new bengay zero degrees. we want to pr

afghanistan is worse off. he's supervised the predator explosion and the missiles and into not only pakistan and also afghanistan and he's exacerbated the entire region and the people who are there are going to hate us more so for civilian damage, collateral damage. on top of it, you know, he's built up this reputation. first of all, as a military man, i really think he's overdoing it as a showman because he goes in front of congress to talk about the counter insurgencies wearing, if you noticed, the ribbons grow every year. he's got now like a regular fruit salad up here. amazing amount. and it's disgusting. general marshall, one of the greatest heroes of world war ii, is famous for being a modest man, going in front of congress and wearing hardly anything. >> he had this reputation of king david. >> very much so. >> a lot of people in the forces. didn't always mean it as a compliment. meant as he was slightly regal. >> america values success. what success in iraq and afghanistan? can you tell me? he's left -

how will you end the war in afghanistan? what will you do differently to prevent iran of getting a nuke cloer weapon? you see a theme here, anderson. the idea is, you can expect the president to be on the offensive to the extent he can be pressing governor romney tonight to explain his differences and one of the themes is, if he's not going to back the president's policy, the president is going to argue in a number of cases that governor is -- that governor romney is looking for more military action in a number of places around the world so endless war versus more of the same could be the way you see the president frame this. wolf? >> jessica, thank you. >>> his name was widely floated as a potential romney running mate and even though he didn't get the nod, republican senator marco rubio of florida remaining one of the gop's rising stars and certainly a major romney supporter. senator rubio is joining us now from boca raton. thank you for coming in. >> thank you, wolf. >> i'm sure you saw that sharp attack on you in sunday'

burning of the korans in afghanistan. but president bush did very much the same thing in 2008 when he apologized when an american soldier started firing his weapon into -- let's play this clip. >> i believe it was either the first or second issue that the is that brought up to tell president malaki that he heard about the incident and apologized for that, in a sense he said we take it very seriously, we were concerned about their reaction, we wanted them to know the president knew this was wrong. >> i don't know if you remember, but did you criticize president bush in 2008 for apologizing for the iraqis? >> look, i wasn't a presidential candidate at that point. what i will say is that the u.s. army destroyed bibles in 2009. i find it reprehensible we have this double standard. i find it at the present time you have americans being killed in afghanistan over her issue. i don't think the commander in chief apologizes when young americans are being killed. i don't find anything september all. sources churches get burned in n

every day, hundreds of people in afghanistan, pakistan and iraq are killed. would it not have been better to have a more precise analysis and find out the true in-depth reason of the events of september 11th, make that -- make those findings transparent to the populations in the nations across the world, and then have a response in unison. of course, the expense would have been much less. do you know how much has been spent during the afghan and iraq war? >> a considerable amount of money but let me ask you this, mr. president. if nearly 3,000 iranians had been murdered in the way that americans were on 9/11, in tehran, how would you have reacted to the country that you believed had done that? >> translator: so you are saying that the country of afghanistan was at fault? was responsible? so you're seeing the responsible party as a whole nation? >> i think it is inarguable that al qaeda and osama bin laden's men who worked for him were training in afghanistan. so afghanistan was certainly knowingly harboring terrorists who were training to commit atrocities. >

he spends a lot of time in afghanistan. i think he would agree that is really a very, very tough situation. we made a lot of progress, especially under general petraeus and general allen, but more does remain to be done. >> senator lieberman, if i would read these tea leaves, it says the taliban is not the least bit interested in peace talks. >> yeah, i agree. they're not interested in genuine peace talks. i mean, we have been reintegrating lower level taliban who have come back over to the side of the afghan national security forces over the last couple of years, but the people at the top of the taliban, in my opinion, are not interested in reconciliation. this is the second murder of this kind of somebody high up in afghanistan who turned and tried to be a peacemaker. so it's obvious they don't want peace right now, and until we continue and unless we continue to put pressure on the taliban, they are never going to come to the table and have genuine peace negotiations. i think the important message here is to the policyma

it was planned from afghanistan and our mission there is to make sure that we have an afghanistan that can secure and govern itself and it never again can become a safe haven for terrorists who had planned attacks on our country. >> do you know the u.s. intelligence officials have told congress there are more al qaeda operatives in somalia right now than in afghanistan. >> the danger is this, that if we don't succeed in afghanistan then there is a real probability that the taliban will come back, establish the same kind of safe havens that they have in the past and who will be the first people to take advantage of it? al qaeda. that's what we have to protect against. are we asking too much of these american troops who spent three, four, five tours of duty and now these reports posing with dead bodies of taliban fighters, urinating on dead bodies, burning korans and one american soldier starts killing 17 afghan civilians including children. is the stress too much to bear right now on these troops? >> well, look, there's no question we've been ten years at war, and obviously, ten years o

he spent years on the front line in afghanistan. he joins me exclusively. >>> also barack obama's long-lost sister. >> i have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins of every rice and every hue scattered across three continents. >>> and ryan o'neal living his life on the edge. the last time he was here, he said some pretty uncomfortable things about his daughter, tatum, and his long-time love, farrah fawcett. >> tatum and farrah -- i get them mixed up all the time. >> welcome back. >> piers morgan? >> he's back talking candidly and emotionally about farrah, tatum and his other children and his own battle with cancer. >>> plus only in america. the most electrifying political ad you've ever seen. this is "piers morgan tonight." >>> good evening. our big story tonight, politics and the president. amid charges of him spiking the football, president obama hails the beginning of the end of the war in afghanistan. i'll ask a man who knows that troubled region better than most. has this country achieved everything it set out