military personnel in afghanistan. all this happening on the first anniversary of the killing of osama bin laden. nick payton walsh is in kabul for us. set the scene for us. we know the rumors had been wild throughout the day in the afghan capital. we assume he's very secure inside that presidential balance has. but all of this was stop secret given the security precautions that are necessary to protect the president of the united states. first of all, tell our viewers what time it is in afghanistan and what's going on. >> we're just past midnight. about six hours ago, one of the leading tv stations broke the news. many immediately denied that. i heard from one afghan pishl that in fact presidential palace staff were asked to go home around about midday sparking rumors that there may be some sort of vip visit. as you say, he's been to bagram. and of course now on to the presidential palace in kabul where they should sign the partnership agreement. >> nick, stand by. gloria borger is with me. as we look at the video com

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

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. 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

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

>> 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

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

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

mission in afghanistan. an american soldier going on a house-to-house shooting massacre in two southern afghanistan villages early sunday. 16 civilians were killed, 5 others were wounded. afghan president hamid karzai says this was an intentional act. he calls it unforgivable. a pentagon spokesman says the u.s. is certain that the gunman acted alone. >> it was noticed when the individual left the outpost and was reported up the chain of command. they did exactly what they should do, which is try to take a proper accounting at everybody at the outpost. there was in fact one person missing and they knew who it was. >> sara sidner is live in kabul, afghanistan. if we can begin the fact that it was one soldier. there were some suggesting it was several soldiers. what can you tell us about that? >> officials are sticking with the one soldier story that just one army staff sergeant left the base, went on a shooting rampage and return and turn himself in. they are still saying this morning this was the work of one

afghanistan. the president will be telling us about the new strategic partnership agreement he has just signed with afghanistan's president outlining the relationship between the united states and afghanistan after the withdrawal of u.s. forces at the end of 2014. white house officials tell us the timing was driven by the negotiations over that agreement at an upcoming nato summit. critics will say it is about politics. everyone knows today is the anniversary of the raid in pakistan that killed osama bin laden. on the ground, do people there -- are they aware that president obama is on the ground? >> reporter: late in the afternoon the sun went down there was a report on afghan media suggesting that he was already in kabul. since then we have seen absolute silence across the city occasionally by helicopters and that is presumably some part of the president in and out of the capital. the speech we are about to hear in the next half hour i think will be cap suilated. there are two bits of the speech

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

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

and afghanistan. president obama reached out to his afghan counterpart, but the phoned conversation seemed to do little. president karzai condemned the shooting spree as an unforgivable crime. brianna keilar is at the white house. so, brianna, how worried is the administration about this latest blow to the alliance? >> carol, they are very concerned. there's enough challenges with afghanistan. this is obviously something that creates a huge challenge, going further for the at mrgs. it comes on the heels of this burnings of korans. there's also the concern of the cumulative effect hat this point. you saw yesterday how quickly president obama reached out and made a phone call he did that from the limousine from one of his daughter's game. president obama is calling this tragic and shocking and stressing -- and this is something that you're hearing a lot of administration officials hear, carol, that does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the united states has fo

mission in afghanistan, here are some of the highlights. >> is it time for us to leave afghanistan, mr. speaker? >> i think it is. i think we have to reassess the entire region. we have to understand that our being in afghanistan is counter productive. it is not for us to for them to change. >> i understand the frustration and i understand the ganger and the sorrow. i also understand and we should not forget that the attacks on america on 9/11 originated in afghanistan and if afghanistan dissolved into a situation where the taliban were able to take over, or a chaotic situation, it could easily return to a al qaeda base for attacks on the united states of america. that is still our goal as it was the day that we went in. >> i think that we're on the right track to get out of afghanistan, just as soon as we can. there's conversations with karzai now, i think our timetable is pretty good. >> what a crowd. >> i'm submitted to going all the way to tampa. i have 175,000 people who have donated to the campaign, 95% of them have given under $250. they want a visionary conservative in the reag

is the afghanistan war worth it? go to face book.com/suzannecnn. >> here's a look at the stories that we're working on. are u.s. troops safe in afghanistan. how these killings could impact troop on the ground, u.s. security in afghanistan and the entire region. >>> he's being accused of killing men, women, and children. he is a father himself. what would cause an army sergeant to go house to house killing innocent afghan civilians? we're going to delve into the psychology of all of this. >>> plus, we take you live to washington state to get the mood of the alleged soldier's home base. like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber one. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu relieves your cough 50% longer than tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime. [ snoring continues ] [ male announcer ] because snoring sounds better than

afghanistan. soviet troops invade an islamic nation. a call for jihad against the infidels sounds throughout the muslim world. a call raised by men like abdullah azzam, a palestinian cleric, charismatic and deeply spiritual. he is the man who would mentor and shape osama bin laden throughout much of the 1980s. >> my name is hadaifah azzam. i've been living with bin laden for more than eight years continuously you could say. >> reporter: huteifa is abdullah azzam's son. this is his first interview for western television. >> my father was leading islamic and arabic studies and osama bin laden was studying engineering at that time. >> reporter: bin laden was drawn to the influential cleric, seen here in afghanistan. he was the ideological force behind the call for jihad and he implored the young and impressionable osama to follow him. >> at the end of 1984 in the summer my father told him, you have to leave with me. i'm leaving to pakistan and afghanistan. >> reporter: bin laden responded. he made the move from saudi arabia to pakistan. >>

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

and afghanistan at the time. and the other thing, of course, is the afghans are now saying absolutely publicly there will be no drones allowed to take off from afghanistan to target terrorists wherever, in pakistan or else where. this is also a big issue. >> huge issue. >> when the u.s. takes its forces out, it will rely increasingly as it has already on the drone strikes so that's an issue, if they can't take off. >> the number of drone strikes by the obama administration has skyrocketed compared to under the bush administration and peter bergen recounts in his new book the impact it's had on al qaeda, the fear that drone strikes has caused al qaeda, osama bin laden wrote about it himself. >> absolutely right but still the militants in pakistan we saw two weeks ago with the audacious attack some say came across from pakistan and penetrated the very heart of the government, didn't get to the palace in kabul but it did get to the parliament and the other, of course, issue is remember, we all remember when the unit

i got a visa and went to afghanistan. i actually went on a few trips both with the troopers in the field and also at headquarters, and at some point i think he realized i was taking this research seriously, sharing hardships with the troops and risk and so forth. we had a relationship before i went there as far as this dissertation was concerned, so it just took it to another level. >> given your time, paula, in afghanistan, i just want to ask you about some news today where we're hearing about the secret u.s. military report, that the taliban are poised to retake afghanistan as soon as nato leaves. in fact, i want to tell you something petraeus said just yesterday. >> there is nothing easy about afghanistan. as we used to say, it's all hard all the time, but it's also all-important all the time. there is a reason we went there in the wake of 9/11. we have hugely important national security interests there, and it's very important to that country, to the region and the world that we do everything possible to try to get th

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

afghanistan is now a nonmajor ally. the u.s. will maintain strong defense and economic ties after combat troops leave afghanistan in 2014. >> our strategic partnership agreement is not aimed at any other country. our goal is to work with the region and the international community to strengthen afghanistan's institutions so that the transition is successful and the afghan people themselves can take responsibility and the future of afghanistan will be safer and more secure. >> next, secretary clinton heads to tokyo to ask other countries to pledge financial support for afghanistan. right now, libyans are going to the polls in their first free election in decades. it's a reason they overthrew gadhafi's chance at democracy. they are electing an assembly. the government faces a tough job. it must reign in those responsible for lawlessness and try to unify that country. >>> we officially know how mary richard kennedy died. the estranged wife of robert f. kennedy hanged herself and died of asphyxiation. no tra

commander in afghanistan. and this is a critical time, as president obama figures out what to do with those remaining 68,000 combat troops, u.s. troops set to leave afghanistan by the end of 2014. the thing is, as the hill, as democrats and republicans come back to the hill this week, the confirmation hearing for general joseph dunford who is set to replace general allen, that was scheduled for thursday, as well. and it will go ahead as planned, even though the confirmation hearing has been delayed. >> brianna "the washington post" has a report speculating who may replace secretary of state hillary clinton, and also who may move in to the defense department. what can you tell us about that. >> that's right. so a lot of people, zoraida, as you know, were talking about senator kerry, perhaps he might be someone who would replace hillary clinton. everyone knew that this was a position that perhaps he had his eye on in 2008, and hillary clinton took that position. but, "the post" is reporting that president obama

can this afghanistan survive? will it keep having democratic election, can it actually defeat the bitter enders and the taliban? there's a good reason to believe no. but the country or at least a majority of the country is ready to wash its hands. i think there are a lot of folks on the right who are going to say, look, this is a serious mistake. we should maintain an investment, we should stick at it. but the problem is that that's not a very politically viable position even if you believe that to be true. >> nor as a pragmatic one. maybe what he's saying is pie in the sky but the broader goals are more out there. >> and much bigger. >> and tim punk joining us. he's gotten criticism from the likes of mitt romney, for laying out a time line. but the president brought that up and addressed it specifically. here he is. >> as we move forward some people will ask why we need a firm time line. the answer is clear. our goal is not to build a country in america's image or to eradicate every vestige of the taliban. these

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

this american soldier is being held this hour in afghanistan. he allegedly left his base in the middle of the night. he walked to two nearby villages, broke down doors, shot, stabbed and burned afghan civilians. in total, the number we have is 16. 16 people are dead. that includes nine children. it's a horrible turn of events in afghanistan and sarah is live for us in the city of kabul. sarah, i know this massacre happened near kandahar. tell us what happened. >> reporter: we're hearing from villager villagers in the western district of kandahar province, those villagers are describing a very horrific scene that happened early on monday. they said the soldier kicked through their doors, and in one case the mother says he dragged out one of the people inside the house by the hair and shot and killed that man right in the doorway, and then went on to start spraying the house with bullets. we've been seeing pictures coming out of the area that are absolutely gruesome. we're seeing a picture of a toddler that is wrapped up that looks to have a bulle

this is something that happens routinely in afghanistan. human rights organizations will frequently fight the number of women throughout the course of their life will experience some brutality. it is not just the taliban. the northern alliance has been equally awful in the way they kept young boys as sex slaves and continue to do so. what we are really looking at in afghanistan is the whole series of social practices that center around notions of honor. people are much more reliant upon local institutions than federal structures. we'll see not only by the way in afghanistan but also in pakistan if a woman is accused of having some sort of sexual infidelity they will go to some tribal council. it will be really dejor that they would force her to be gang raped perhaps by the family members of the party that was aggrieved or possibly killed. it is important to not see this exclusively in terms of the taliban but this is a set of practices that has existed and continue to exist throughout afghanistan. by the way, we can ask the question what wi

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

troops out of afghanistan. now the white house could speed up that withdrawal now set to be completed by the end of 2014. "the new york times" is reporting the administration may bring home nearly half the 90,000 troops by early next year. the move had been considered for weeks but gained new urgency after sunday's attacks and recent outrage after the burning of korans. he says no decision has been made and he is warning about a, quote, rush for the exits. >>> at the bottom of the hour we'll talk to a reporter from "stars and stripes." she will explain why the newspaper is calling the soldier's home station in washington state the most troubled base in the military. >>> have you been outside yet? the first official day of spring is only one week away but, boy, is it warm outside. temperatures are expected to be 20 to 30 degrees warmer than normal this week and that's all over the country. the people who run the cherry blossom festival in washington think the trees may bloom weeks earlier this year in mid march

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

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

and its involvement in the afghanistan war. many pleading that the afghanistan war needs to be stopped, or at least the u.s. involvement stopped immediately. again, these live pictures taking place right here, thanks to our affiliate wbbm providing the images. right now you just see a whole lot of people milling about. unclear what kind of activity is happening there on the ground, as the leaders of 50 nations meet inside. a wider view, you can see it's a sizeable crowd. at least from the surface it appears to be peaceful. we're not getting any indication of reports that anything other than that is taking place. this is a peaceful gathering of demonstrators outside the nato meeting. >>> meantime, inside, with those leaders of 50 nations, afghanistan is dominating the talks. before the summit began, president barack obama met with afghan president hamid karzai. let's bring in chief white house correspondent jessica yellen traveling with the president. what can you tell us more about this meeting with karzai and obama? >> reporte

army staff sergeant goes on a shooting rampage in afghanistan. officials say he went house to house in two villages killing as many as 16 civilians, most of them children. he is in custody on his base in kandahar now. >>> i'll be back at 4:00 eastern time for a full hour of politics. we'll take you on the campaign trail, and our candy crowley will dissect some of the candidates' favorite stump speeches. >>> i know that gasoline prices are high, but i have a word for you -- algae. >> algae? >> algae. >> we'll have a little fun with that at 4:00 eastern time. stay with us. "your money" starts after this. whwheeee! ! whwheeee!! whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ahah h heaeadsds u up. whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! evevererytythihingng y youou l , nonow w momobibilele.. dodownwnloloadad t thehe n nep totodaday.y. fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. >>> good afternoon, i'm ali ls

and his commitment to afghanistan. yes, this certainly helps him. the picture is amazing right now. if you are an american voter and you're watching this, you feel very patriotic and what have you. that certainly doesn't hurt mr. obama at this point. >> you can just hear the criticisms that -- i mean, i'm sure we'll hear that it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to get on air force one, fly the prime minister to the battleground state of ohio to watch the basketball game with the premise that you just want to show the prime minister a slice of real a merry can in a. >> quite frankly, they could have gotten in a car and drove down to virginia just 20 miles away and had dinner and seen a little bit of real americana. the ncaa, we're real fans of that. republicans are going to be critical of that, no question about that. even taking that one step further. sidelining foreign policy, they will be critical of president obama for flying around on air force one as he campaigns through november. it happens every four years

many others with a strong interest especially in the near future of afghanistan. jessica joins us in chicago. i would imagine that you are far away from that. it is disturbing to see. but let's talk about the president and what he is doing this weekend. working hard on diplomacy there. >> that's right. before the summit even kicked off. afghanistan is dominating this meeting and it's so important that before the summit began, the president sat down with afghan -- president karzai. he thanked the u.s. taxpayers for everything the taxpayers have done for afghanistan and said that the afghans will no longer soon be a burden to the u.s. and assured the president that afghans will be ready to take over the combat lead when it's handed over. the president vowed that the u.s. will not cut a hasty exit. sheer what the president said. >> we would provide support for the national security forces that have made excellent progress over the last several years. and also painting a vision post 2014 in which we have ended our combat role. the afghan roll as we understand it is ov

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

sara sidner in afghanistan. the taliban ramping up the threats saying they would behead americans to avenge the deaths of the 16 afghans. what more can you tell us about the threat? >> reporter: basically, just that. that sent an e-mail today saying that they had to take revenge for this incident. that involved u.s. soldier. that u.s. soldier has been detained as you know but they're saying that they will behead any american anywhere in afghanistan. and so that's the latest very strong threat from the taliban. so far, we don't know of anyone claiming responsibility for that attack that happened while the funeral was going on but still a very difficult situation there. lots of difficulties getting information out of that area. we did see protests for the first time since this incident happened a couple of days ago in jalalabad and quite far from kandahar. kandahar is in southern afghanistan. jalalabad in eastern afghanistan. 400 to 500 people did show up, most of them university students. the road, an important r

let's be clear, whether we say tried in afghanistan, we don't mean tried by the afghanistan justice system. we would mean that the u.s. military would just move the trial over to afghanistan. but i think that, again, they're really leaving this up to the military and how they decide they want to proceed. certainly, they want to take into account the afghan's concerns that justice be served. there are also a lot of particular rules about whether witnesses can be introduced, whether afghan witnesses can be introduced. because if the prosecution uses afghan witnesses, then, of course, the defense will need to question them as well. so those kind of questions are still being worked out. again, nothing to say as they have in the past that he couldn't be actually tried in afrg. but, you know, as we've been talking about, this agreement that governs u.s. military in afghanistan when the fall of the taliban happened, u.s. and afghanistan had agreement that the soldiers had immunity from afghan law and processed according to the u.s. military justice system. so disagreement is in effect. i don't se

she's live in kabul, afghanistan, for us. sarah, is it likely that bales will be returned to afghanistan? >> reporter: not likely at all. how anyone accused in the military, what the process is for that person and normally they would go through a military tribunal. we heard from his attorney, staff sergeant bales' attorney saying there's not a chance that he's going to be brought back here and tried here. you're hearing chants death to america but also that he betried accordinging to islamic law. that is also not going to happen. they'll use the law under which the agreement exists. we should also talk about the protaft. this is the second time we've seen it in jalalabad. quite a rowdy protest. hay closed down one of the main roads, and now we're seeing another protest break out there again. but we're not seeing protests all around the country. they're very isolated. this is only the third protest since this happened on sunday. it's almost been a week now. very different from what we saw when u.s. troops were accused of burni

sar sarah sidner is in afghanistan. let's get to takoma, washington where dan simon is now. >> reporter: of course the focus is trying to see if there were clues or warning signs that may have caused this army soldier robert bales to carry out this unthinkable rampage. right now there is a lot of speculation whether or not he suffered deep emotional problems after having been to four different battle zones, three in iraq, one in afghanistan. of course, his attorney tells cnn in 2010 he suffered a serious brain injury after his vehicle hit a roadside bomb. that attorney telling cnn that the day before the rampage took place, his client watched a fellow soldier get seriously injured. take a look. >> what i heard from the military lawyers who are working on this case with me, who i'm very impressed with, that another soldier at this base was brutally attacked the day before this incident and had his leg shot off right in front of my client. >> reporter: the military moved bales' family. he's a father of two children and hi

say the world remains in full support of the exit plan from afghanistan. listen to this. >> we are working with the afghans over the next several years to achieve a complete transition to afghan lead for afghan security, one in which we continue to provide support for the afghan national security forces, but have made excellent progress over the last several years. and also painting a vision post-2014 in which we have ended our combat role, the afghan war as we understand it is over, but our commitment to friendship and partnership with afghanistan continues. >> reporter: now the next step is to find commitments from the other countries here, don, for financial support going forward, some $4 billion total between now and 2014, and also to begin talks about what some kind of military support might look like after 2014. don? >> and other things besides afghanistan as well are high on the list to deal with. >> reporter: yes. there is a long list of issues, and usually it would be much longer, but because afghanistan is such a focus, a little more limited. one