alabama and mississippi, this is romney yesterday. >> senator santorum is trying in some way to boost his prospects and frankly misrepresenting the truth is not a good way of doing that. >> what a difference a day makes. romney finished third in both southern states and has retreated to the northeast to refill his campaign coffers, at the waldorf. who was the, we talk about the biggest loser a lot, vis-a-vis the republican race, who was the biggest loser last night, romney or gingrich? >> it's a big hot mess and romney is the big loser. you know, i'm for the chaos theory and the more disruption the better, i think it leads to, to outcomes that are unpredictable and unforeseen and

hopefully will lead to something that will -- that might work in november. this outcome is going to lead to a more likely strong third party candidacy. >> so you think there's room for a third party? >> sure. >> says the -- >> the cofounder. >> nothing to do with no labels. but americans yes. >> let's be clear, you love mayhem, what did you make of this? did you feel it ends up being a good thing for the republican party, what has happened down south and where it leaves the field. >> i want to bring this to your attention. do they really? really? i don't know that anything has changed. mitt romney is leading in the delegates and the states. the narrative that he is not inevitable is there, rick santorum had a great night, good for him. newt gingrich is swimming in a

see of delusion but the primary is like the land that time forgot. nothing changes. >> well, well, i don't know about that. karen finney does not know about that either. >> certainly none of these days will be the day that we find out exactly, that will not happen. but the schedule is such that it will be like oh, yeah, that guy. what we did learn s the math matters. despite what the campaign ls say, as we know, romney is technically doing fine on the math. he still has an argument to make that he can do well in the south. >> but that is his only message now is the math. >> and that carried people along in 2008. what this suggests to me is that we will hear a romney/santorum ticket. basical lally he wants to hold

he has to show he will make the addition to the ticket that will shore up the south. >> i was talking and i was told that gingrich is in this to the end. that -- >> that is really shaping up as a nonstory. >> in terms of delegate count, it's not a nonstory. >> he is back from the back though, gingrich, it's more about his ego. as chuck todd pointed out, he won georgia but not even the states that neighbored georgia. >> he can go to the convention and have his delegates and cuts the deal. it has to go to a second ballot. >> and that is looking like it may happen. >> what is the deal, what does gingrich think is promised? >> president. >> you think that mitt romney will put newt gingrich on the bottom of the ticket. >> i think santorum will.

>> and we are talking i am probable. >> but it is up to sheldon adelson, he is the decider at that point. >> i want to talk about the exit polls -- >> wrong again. >> i hope you are right by the way this time. >> really, really, what do you think? romney still seen as the most elect able in mississippi. 39% of mississippi voters taking the most important factor is beating obama. santorum and gingrich, split white evangelicals and romney got less than 30%. romney not seen as conservative enough in both alabama and mississippi. but lady, that is where the numbers get more interesting. in mississippi, and alabama, santorum won the women 35% to romney's 32% and in alabama, 38%

to 25%. santorum won working women. >> working women, independents, and wealthy voters making over $100,000 a year. he won women in both states. you can talk about this being unique to mississippi and alabama women perhaps, but this does go against the narrative that he waged a war on women that is not selling. his message is working. >> there's two things that i would point out though, number one, alabama, and mississippi extremely conservative. having spent time down there. a good portion of them think that inter marriage should be illegal and that the president is a muslim, the question i have, did race and conservatism trump the gender issues? >> why not go for newt or mitt then? >> because, if there was such a thing as a catholic evangelical that would be rick santorum. he is speaking their language.

>> they like catholics. >> that is not my point, he is speaking the language of the evangelicals, and newt has never locked it up with women. >> that is true. >> what is contrary is the electability argument is not carrying the day. >> you are right about that, mitt romney need as bigger story, if the romney campaign were a company, this would be the moment that you call in the private equity guys to fire everyone and it would be interesting to see if they do something like that. it's time for a shake up if they expect to like put forward a stronger message. i mean, that little bit you showed before, talking about santorum, it's so weak, he does not deserve to be the front-runner if that is the way he is talking. >> that is, in terms of messaging, mark, i would love to know your thought on that. everyone has had prescriptions for mitt romney for a while. and people are saying it's time to get new staff. certainly saying that santorum is at the desperate end of his

campaign, it is beyond cat fish gate and cheesy grit gate and nascar gate and team owners, you can trump that up to a guy that is not good at sort of off the cuff trying get the voters attention. but that seems liked about political caluclus. >> i think it's hard to think that anybody told them to say that. everyone has an idea of what you should do and it's let mitt be mitt, you know? i talked to someone that worked for bob dole and he had a theory, bob dole had bad candidate skills and it hurt him by wrapping it up early, and he had a long stretch where he was up against his general election opponent. he was arguing that romney has a longer run way to improve his skills. but that means you have to beat these guys. >> the kind of candidate that

santorum is so different than obama. that is it, he will develop the perfect skills for putting away someone like santorum and then face a different opponent. >> in terms of team romney, what continues to be surprising to me is that they have not figured out in the let mitt be mitt, what is he good at and how do we do more of that? secretary clinton when she was rubbing for the senate, there was the idea of who she was, we knew, one on one, she was dynamite. so what did we do? more one on one contacts. if they have not figured out what he is good at, they have to figure out how do we cut through this perception. every single day he is re-enforcing that perception. >> maybe he is not good at that. maybe he is a technocrat.

>> santorum is not a good one either. >> oh, dear. >> you have to have the confidence to let your guy off the leash. if you keep too tight, you have gaffes because he is on such a tight leash most of the team, he doesn't have the muscles worked out to do that -- >> on his own. >> has been in a carrier on top of the roof for too long. too many bad dog jokes to make. we will be talking more about the 2012 race and what is ahead, but right now you are looking at the white house rose garden where the president will have a joint news conference with the prime minister, david cameron in just a few moments, they are going to discuss afghanistan, iran and the relationship between the u.s. and the uk, we will bring you their remarks live. that is ahead on "now." everyone in america depends on the postal service. i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer.

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president obama and british prime minister, david cameron are about to speak at a joint news conference, we have gotten reports of an explosion from a base in afghanistan of a british base. mick, can you tell us more about these reports at camp bastian, i believe it is. my read out said that there are allegations that it could have been a suicide attack. what intelligence do you have to share with us? >> tall details are sketchy. there was a bit of a scare just about the time that secretary panetta's plane was landing at a british air base in afghanistan, when a lone driver in a stolen truck managed to drive on to the run way of that air strip. now that driver somehow ended up

crashing into a ditch and the truck burst into flames. the driver severely burned. there was, apparently, at this point, we received no mention of disclose i ha explosives, but the secretary's plane was forced to divert in that air field and park in another place. now, amazingly the -- there are a number of press people that are accompanying the secretary this incident happened hours ago and apparently nobody on the plane except perhaps for secretary panetta's security people and his staff knew that it happened. so, it does not sound as if this driver, and that pickup truck got anywhere near the secretary's plane, but never the less, it's some cause for concern, because he got in an

active air field where secretary panetta was supposed to land, it was a stolen truck, bursts into flames, but again, it's possible to say whether it was just an intentional truck thief or whether this was in fact an attempt to interrupt or attack secretary panetta's plane. we just do not have those kind of details yet. >> jim, thanks for the intel, joining the panel now is martin bashir, the expert on all things anglo american. >> i do not think so. >> i know so. >> i remember reading in 1944 that winston churchill was asked if he had complaints about america and he said the toilet paper is too thin and the newspapers are too fat and i'm hoping that prime minister david cameron does not say anything stupid like that on this occasion. >> martin, let's talk about u.s.

and british relations. certainly the backdrop of what is going on in afghanistan will figure in to the discussions today. we do not know the latest details but we know about the soldier killing 16 civilians, and the koran burning. when we talk about the relationship between the british and the u.s., how do you assess it, when president obama first came into office, there was tension, has that been relieved? >> it has been relieved in the foreign policy arena, both the british public and american public if you look at the public polling are sick and tired of both conflicts. so there's togetherness on that. interestingly, it's in domestic policy where they differ for the first time. when you think of thatcher and reagan, they were both fairly strong minded, privatizing, capitalist i cic leaders, presi

obama has sought to restore the economy in america by stimulus and aus tearity. and david cameron has taken the approach of every single republican. and guess what in the last quarter there was zero growth in the uk, in the economy, unemployment is now over 8% for the first time and inflation is rising and all of the public surveys are damning of this prime minister. and on domestic policy there could not ab greater difference that be the two. >> we are depending on europe's economy getting their act together, the fact that david cameron has pursued the policies that have not helped. a number of our banks are vulnerable even though they will not admit it. that has to be a huge issue in terms of how it gets settled. >> i think, in a strange way,

germany is now the principal and more important partner. and the british government, you know, that prime minister cameron was barely elected and he runs a coalition government with the third party, the liberal democrats and many feel he would not win the next election based what he did with austerity, what i think is funny about the discussion of economics in this country is that speaker boehner stands up and critiques that the president does not cut more. and mitt romney stands up and will cut everything. slash it all. and it's so interesting, look at britain as your case study. if you want austerity, go and have it. >> it's interesting that david cameron is not meeting with any of the republican leadership in the united states, which is in and on itself telling. i want to go back to the war a

bit, you brought up the support for the war in the uk is wayning, and it's shown that 73% of britains belief that war in afghanistan cannot be won. and 53% think the troops should be withdrawn. and 60% of americans believe the afghanistan war has not been worth fighting and want to withdraw forces. you have to think that when you have the two guys in the room there is going to be a specific time line discussion on withdrawing troops. >> and the consideration is can we be effective and accomplish the things we are trying to accomplish and obviously the united kingdom being a key partner in this endeavor. so again, they are probably having the conversation of given how the climate is changing, is it realistic that we can get done what we need to get done. is it still worth it? has to be part of their conversation.

>> what is the withdrawal plan from excameron's side? >> 2014 that, is the position of the british government. the other thing to bear in mind. tony blare who was elected in 1997 and everyone says had a wonderful relationship with the presidents during his tenure, he and his prime ministership have been devastated by the iraq war. people in britain have minim minimalized his contribution at every other level principally because people in britain feel that was a war that they were lied to about. that there were claims of weapons of mass destruction and they were not there. there's a big difference, this president never said the iraq war was a good idea. and that is a huge difference. >> but the issue is also, it's not, you know, it's not just afghanistan, there's syria that they have to contend with and iran and israel. those will be topics of discussion. i want to bring in some of the

recent op-eds that were written or actually president obama and prime minister cameron were speaking earlier today and talking about the rock solid nature of their relationship which is of course, diplomatic speech of we are still playing nice. can we play that sound? >> through the grand sweep of history, through all the twists and turns, there's a constant, the rock solid alliance between the united states and the united kingdom. >> from the balkans to baghdad and across the decades we have been proud to serve with you, when the chips are down, britain and america know that we can always count on each other. >> the special relationship, it's worth mentionsing that this two men went to a basketball game last night an ncaa championship. >> i was disgusted. >> what is your problem with that? >> martin i heard that my

commander and chief my president had a hot dog with water. that is despicable. i am outraged to at least get a beer or a soda. >> you could not have beer there. there's always a third way marker mckinnon. there needs to be an alternative. >> a flask. >> and you know, give the president credit. basketball is not a huge game in the uk, it's a professional game but not very big. the prime minister as the leader of the great britain hosting the olympic games where america will win ten times this medals as the uk, the president was taking him to a neutral sport where there's not too much tension between them. introduce him a new sport. >> and obama had the good sense not to try and stretch and take him to like a nascar race. >> that is mitt romney. >> stay in your wheelhouse. >> it was a good cross chat about basketball.

>> yeah. >> it was a net gain. >> and it was in ohio, which of course is a swing state, so political calculation is not totally absent. >> was sarah palin watching that arrival ceremony wondering where the queen was? am i confused? >> yes, she was, she was waiting the queen for the head of the uk government. when david cameron came down the stairs she was dispointsed, she was saying where is the queen? >> i'm going take the conversation away from unbridaled attacks and bring in -- >> we are speaking truth. >> truth to power. joining us now from the white house is nbc's kristin welker, thank you for making this conversation serious again. >> i try, alex. >> i know that one of the goals of this conversation is to sort of, if not reassure, reiterate the special relationship between the u.s. and the uk especial given our recent american focus

of what is going on in asia and southeast asia, tell us about the goals vis-a-vis the white house? >> we have seen the president focus on the asia pacific region during his administration. so, there has been question about the relationship between the united states and the uk, this trip very much stressing is that so-called relationship as you talked about, and of course the basketball game was for fun and laughs but there will be a state dinner tonight. so the administration really rolling out the red carpet for the prime minister and it's worth noting, alex, that prime minister cameron is the first foreign official that has been invited on air force one by president obama. we are expecting them to come out in a few minutes and talk about things like iran, afghanistan, syria. you'll not see a lot of daylight between the two issues. >> i think that the prime

minister being taken on air force one will not make him happy. >> this is like chuckles, live at the banana peel. >> in all seriousness, when i worked with the clinton administration, world leaders pay attention, are they part of the special relationship, did they get to go on the plane? did they get a state didn't snr. >> and her majesty hosted the president and the first lady and they stayed in the palace, this is a reciprocal act. there's an attempt to continue the relationship. and particularly for example in lib libya, the british forces were supplied and supported and now with on going issues in syria. >> it's a special relationship

and call it such -- here we are with prime minister david cameron and president obama. >> it's a great pleasure to welcome my friend, prime minist minist minister david cameron. i want to set the record straight. during my visit to london last year, david arranged for us to play local students table tennis, as they would say in britain. we got tlahrashed so when it ca to sports this visit, i thought it would be better to just watch. we just finished up a very good discussion and it was a reminder of why i value his leadership and partnership so much. he appreciates the alliance between our countries as a foundation not only for the security and prosperity of our two nations but for international peace and security

as well. david shares my belief that in a time of rapid change, the leadership of the united states and the united kingdom is more important than ever. and we share the view that the future we seek is only possible if the rights and responsibilities of the nations and people are up held. that is a cause that we advanced today. at a time when too many of our people are still out of work, we agree that we have to stay focused on creating the growth in jobs that put our people back to work even as both of our countries make difficult choices to put our fiscal houses in order. between us, we have the largest investment relationship in the world and we continue to explore ways to increase transatlantic investment. and i honor the opinion of david where our banks are deeply connect. we moved on to discuss afghanistan, where we are the two largest contributors of

forces to the international mission and where our forces continue to make extraordinary sacrifices. the tragic events of recent days are a reminder that this continues to be a difficult mission and obviously we both have lost a number of extraordinary young men and women in theater. what is undeniable though, and what we can never forget is that our forces are making progress. dismantling al qaeda, breaking the taliban's momentum and training afghan forces so they can take the lead and our troops can come home. the transition is under way and half of the afghans are living where afghan security forces are taking responsibility. inside, the prime minister and i reaffirmed the transition plan that we agreed to with our coalition partners in lisban, specifically at the up coming

nate oh, summit, we will talk about shifting to a support role in 2013 and afghan taking full responsibility for their security in 2014. we will complete in mission and we will do it responsibly. and nato will maintain an enduring commitment so that afghanistan does not become a safe haven for al qaeda. and we have thauked about iran's fail for meet international obligations. on this we are united. we are determined to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. we will keep coordinating closely with our p 5 plus partners. we will keep up the strongest sanctions to date and the european union proposing to put

a embargo on iranian oil. meet your international gap obligations or face the consequences. we are supporting the transitions under way in the middle east and north africa. british forces played a critical role in the mission to protect the libyan people and i want to commend david personally for the leadership role he played in mobilizing international support for the transition in libya. we also discussed the horrible violence that the assad regime continues to inflict to people of syria. right now, we are focused on getting humantarian aid to those in need and we agreed to increase pressure on the regime, tightening sanctions, and cutting the regime's revenues, isolating it politically, diplomatically and economically. just as the regime and security forces continue to suffer deinfections, the opposition is growing stronger.

i'll say it again. assad will leave power. it's not a question of if, but when. and to prepare for that day, we will continue to support plans for a transition to support the legitimate aspirations of the syrian people. more broadly we recommitted ourselves and our leadership to the goal of global development. along with our international partners we have saved countless lives from the faminen in the horn of africa. you have done a lot to bring life saving aid tot people in africa. we are committing to help preventible deaths of children and maternal health. let me say that it's a tribute to david's leadership that the uk will be playing a leading role in the global partnership to strengthen the open

government upon which human rights and development depend. finally, i'm pleased that we are bringing our two militaries, the backbone of our alliance closer. as i told david, i can announce that next month, we intend to start implementing our long awaited defense trade treaty with the uk, this will put advanced technologies in the hands of our troop and it's will mean more jobs for workers in both of our countries and we are moving ahead with our joint initiative to care for our men and women in uniform. for decades, our troops have stood together on the battlefield. now, we are working together for them when they come home with new partnerships to help our wounded warriors recover. assist our veterans' transition back to civilian life and support our remarkable military families. david, thank you as always for being such an out standing ally, partner and friend. as i said this morning, because of our efforts, our alliance is

as strong as it has been. michelle and i are looking forward to hosting you and samantha at tonight's state dinner. i look forward as well to welcome you to camp david, my hometown in chicago in may, to continue the work on which both our nations and the world depends. thank you. >> thank you very much for that barack and thank you for last night's sporting event. i thought there was a link between that and the table tennis. i remember it well and because i know that america does not like being on the losing side, i'm trying make up to you with the gift of a tennis table which i hope will be there in the white house -- >> we should practice this afternoon. >> i need the practice. one of these days i'll get my own back by getting you to a cricket match and explaining the rules to you and some of the terminology that you'll have to try and get straight as i tried last night. but thank you, we have had excellent discussions today and it was great that our team this

is time to join those talks as well. barack, thank you, because there are some countries whose alliance is a matter of convenience but ours is a matter of conviction. two states, as i said this morning, united for freedom and enterprise. working together, day in day out, to defend those values and advance our shared interests. that has been did fundmental business of this visit and we have made important progress on four vital areas. afghanistan, syria, and iran, and economic growth and i want to take each in turn. first, afghanistan, recent days have reminded us just how difficult our mission is. and how high the cost of this war has been for britain, for america and for afghans themselves. britain has fought along side america every day since the start. we have 9,500 men and women serving there, more than 400 have given their lives and today

we remember each and every one of them. we will not give up on the mission. because afghanistan must never again be a safe haven for al qaeda to launch attacks against us. we will not build a perfect afghanistan, although let's be clear we are making progress with more markets open and more health centers working and more children going to school and more people able to achieve a basic standard of living and security. we can help ensure that afghanistan is capable of delivering its own security without the need for large numbers of foreign troops. we are now in the final phases of our military mission. that means completing the training of the afghan forces so that they can take over the tasks of maintaining security themselves. that transition to afghan control has agreed is liz ban is now under way. and next year, as the president said in 2013, this includes shifting to a support role as afghans take the lead. this is an advance of afghan

forces taking full responsibility for security in 2014, and as we have said, we will not number a combat role after 2014. at the same time, we will back president karzai in working towards an afghan led political settlement. second, a year on from the united security council resolution on libya, we agreed to maintain support for the people of the arab world as they seek a better future. let me say in response to what you said mr. president, barack, about libya, that i'm proud of the action that britain and france and others took, let's us be clear, none of that would have been possible without the overwhelming support and overwhelming force that the united states provided in the early stages of that campaign, exactly what you promised you would do. that actually made that intervention possible and has given that country a chance at stability and some measure of democracy. most urge entsly now in syria, we are working to get human i

itraian aid to those that need it and we must document the evidence so that those guilty of crimes can be held to accounts no matter how long it takes. and we must do everything that we can to achieve a transition to stop the killing. we must maintain the position, and we will give support to the transition and we are ready to work with russia and china for the same goal including through a new united nations security council. we want the quickest way to stop the killing. that the through transition rather than revolution or civil war. but if assad continues, then civil war and revolution is the consequence, so we will work with anyone who is ready to build a stable syria for all syrians. third, we have discussed iran's

nuclear program. the president's tough reasonable approach has united the world over sanctions on iran and britain has helped to deliver an oil embargo. along side the financial sanctions the embargo is increasing the pressure on the regime. now, we are serious about the talks that are set to resume. but the regime has to meet its international obligations. if it refuses to do so, then britain and america, along with our international partners will continue to increase the political and economic pressure to achieve a peaceful outcome to this crisis. and the president, and i have said nothing is off the table. that is essential for the safety of the region and the wider world. both britain and america are dealing with massive debts. the measures we take reflect different national circumstances. but we share the same goals. delivering significant deficit reduction over the medium term

and stimulating growth. one of the keys to growth is trade. the eu and u.s. together account for more than half of all global trade. foreign direct investment between britain and america is the largest in the world. it creates and sustains around a million jobs each side of the atlantic. and it provides a strong foundation for by lateral trade worth nearly $200 billion a year. deepening trade and investment between us is crucial and help to stimulate growth. barack and i will priorityize trade and investment flows. i'm looking forward to continuing our talks at the nato summit and visiting camp david and your hometown. who knows what smort we will be -- what sport we will be able to go see there. the relationship between britain and america is the strongest that it has been. and i believe it's because we are working as closely as at any

point in our history. and i'm confident that we can help to secure the future of our generations and the world for generations to come. we have questions from each respective press corp? we will starts with rh shapiro of npr. >> thank you, mr. president. given the difficult circumstances in afghanistan from the last few weeks wharks makes you confident that two years from now when the troops leave that it will be better than it is today and i wonder if you can talk about the pace of withdrawal, whether you see something slower or more speedy and mr. prime minister, you and the president take different approaches to economic growth, you stress a more austerity measures the president focuses on stimulus measures. why do you feel your approach creates more jobs.

thank you. >> first of all on afghanistan, i think david and i understand how difficult this mission is, because we have met with families whose sons or daughters or husbands or wives made the ultimate sacrifice. we visit our wounded warriors and we understand the sacrifices that they have made there. but, as i indicated, we have made progress. we are seeing an afghan national security force that is getting stronger and more, robust and more capable of operating on its own and our goal set in lisban, is to make sure that over the next two years, that afghan security force continues to improve, enhances capabilities, and so we will be prepared to provide for that country's security when we leave. we also think it's important that there's a political aspect to this. that all the various factions and ethnic groups inside of

afghanistan, recognize that it's time to end 30 years of war. and president karzai has committed to a political reconciliation process. we are doing what we can to help facilitate that, ultimate ltly it will be up to the afghans to try to work together and come to a path way to peace. we cannot be naive about the difficulties that will be involved in getting there. if we maintain a steady, responsible transition process, which is what we have designed, then, i am confident that we can put afghans in a position where they can deal with their own security. and we are also under scoring through what we anticipate to be a strategic partnership that has been signed before we get to chicago that the united states and along with many other countries will sustain a relationship with afghanistan,

we will not have combat troops there but we will be working with them both to ensure their security and to ensure their economy continues to improve. there are going to be multiple challenges along the way. in terms of pace, i do not anticipate at this stage that we will be making any sudden additional changes to the plan that we currently have. we have already taken out ten thousand of our troops and we are slated to draw down an initial 23,000 by this summer. there will be a robust coalition presence inside of afghanistan during this fighting season to make sure that the taliban understand that they will not be able to regain momentum. after the fighting season, in conjunction with all of our allies we will continue to look

at how do we effect the transition in a way that does not result in a steep cliff at the end of 2014 but rather is a gradual pace that accommodates the developing national security forces in afghanistan. although you asked it to david, i want to make sure that i just comment quick online the economic issues. this is a question that david and i have been getting for the last two years. we always give the same answer, but i figure it's worth repeating. the united states and great britain are two difference economies, in two different positions. you know, their banking sector was larger than ours. their capacity to sustain debt was different than ours. and so as a consequence, each of us are going to be taking

different strategies at employing different timing, but our objectives are common, which is we want to make sure that we have government that are lean and effective and efficient and providing opportunity to our people, that are properly paid for so we are not leaving it to the next generation and we want to make sure that ultimately our citizens in both countries are able to pursue their dreams and opportunities by getting a good education and being able to start a small business and being able to find a job that supports their families and allows them to retire with dignitiy and respect. so, this notion that somehow two difference countries are going to have identical economic programs, doesn't take into account pro found differences in position. the goals and values and objectives, are the same.

i'm confident that because of the resiliance of our people, that we are both countries that are incredibly well positioned to succeed in this knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. >> i would very much agree with that. i mean, there are differences because we are not a reserve currency so we have to take a difference paths. we are take ago series of measures to help promote growth before coming here we took a series of steps to try to unblock and get moving our housing market. we have cut corporation tax in our country to show that it's a great destination for investment. we are investing in aapprentice ships. so a series of steps are being taken, but there's differences in the states of the two economy but we are heading in the same

direction of growth and low deficits. if you look at the u.s. plans for reducing the deficit overcoming years, in many ways they are actually steeper sth e what we will do in the uk, different starting points and different measures on occasion but the same destinations and a good understanding as we try to get there. i have joey jones from sky news. >> and mr. president, can i ask you both, whether you have any information about a car bombing this afternoon at camp bastian and on the general afghan question, why do you feel that people feel you talk a good game but they do not buy it? why do you think it is that the people are looking at a situation that they thi is a mess, terrible sacrifice and two men that are unable to impose their wills and they are not persuaded by your arguments?

>> what has happened at camp bas bastian very early details coming through. we want to examine what has happened before making clear anything bit -- anything about it. the security of our people is priority. and this there are things that have to be done to keep them safer in the coming days, we will do them. on the broaderer issue of afghanistan, i would make that points, if you compare where we are today, with where we have been two, three, years ago, the situation is considerably improved. i think the u.s. surge in the additional uk troops we put in particularly in helman province will a great effect. the level of security is right up. and the capitol of the province is now fully transitioned over the afghan lead control the

markets are open, you are able to do and take part in economic activity in that town which was not possible when i first visited it several years ago. so, look, it's a difficult situation still, there are many challenges we have to overcome, but what is happening in afghanistan today is quite different to the situation we had three, four, five years ago, do i think that we can get to a situation by the end of 2014 where we have a larger afghan national army and police force both of which are pretty much on fr sdprak with avenue -- on track and the afghan government is able to take care of their own security and they are not a threat in terms of the way they were, i think we can achieve it. it's has been hard, and we have to reminds ourselves and everybody what we are doing there. you have to go back and remember

that the vast majority of terrorist plots that were effecting people in the uk and the u.s. were coming from people in that region. that is why we went in and why we are there today. it's not a selfish long-term strategic interest, we want afghan to look after their own security with their own forces so we are safe at home. that is the key. that is the message that we need to keep explaining to people and what we are trying do is achievable and doable. >> i concur with everything that david said, the only thing i would add, you ask why is it that poll numbers indicate that people are interested in ending the war in afghanistan, it's because we have been there for ten years. and people get weary and they know friends and neighbor who is have lost loved ones as a consequence of war. no one wants war. anybody who answers a poll

question about war is saying enthusiastically, we want war, probably has not withbeen ininvd in a war. but i think the vast majority of the american people and british understand why we went there, there's a reason al qaeda is on its heels and been dicimated and there's a reason that plots against the united states or great britain cannot be made. and there's a reason why transnational operations directsed against our interests and friends and allies is difficult. it's because the space has shrunk and their capacity to operate has diminished. now, as david indicated, this is a hard work.

when i came into office, there was drift in the afghan strategy in part because we had spent a lot of time focussing on iraq instead. over the last three years we have refocused attention on getting afghanistan right. would my preference have been that we started some of that earlier? absolutely. that is not the cards that we are dealt. we are now in a position where given our starting point, we are making progress, and i believe that we will be able to make our -- achieve our objectives in 2014. al? >> thank you, mr. president and mr. prime minister. switching to iran -- >> i can point out that somehow alister gets to ask a question on behalf of the u.s. press corp, but he sounds like -- >> it's the special relationship. >> were you upset about that chuck? >> yeah, what is going on with that jay, come on man. it's a special relationship. >> so, on iran, do you believe

that the talks represent a last chance for the country to difusi concerns over military action and prime minister, on syria, how are you approaching russia on getting them on board for a resolution and do you believe that assad should be tried as a warm crimin war criminal? >> as dafld said, we have applied -- as david said we have mobilized the national community with greater unionity than we have seen. those sanctions are going to -- summer and we are seeing significant effects on the iranian economy. so, they understand the seriousness with which we take the decision. they understand that there are

consequences to them continuing to flout the international community. and i have sent a message very directly to them publically that they need to seize this opportunity of negotiations with the p-5 plus one to avert even worse consequences for iran in the future. i do have a guarantee that iran will walk through this door that we are offering them? no. in the past, there's been a habit for iran in these negotiations with the p 5 plus ones to delay and stall and do a lot of talking and not actually move the ball forward. i think they should understand that because the entinternation community has applied so many

sanctions and because we have employed so many of the options that are available to us to persuade iran to take a different course, that the window for solving this issue diplomatically is shrinking, and you know, as i said in a speech just a couple of weeks ago, i am determined not simply to contain iran that is in possession of a nuclear weapon, i'm determined to prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon in part because of things that david mentioned. it would trigger a nuclear arms race in the most dangerous part of the world, it would raise nonproliferation issues that could carry significant risk to our national security issues. and it would em bold en

terrorists in the region that would feel they can operate with the protection of iran. this is not an issue that is simply in one country's interests or two country's interests, it's an issue that is important to the entire international community. we will do everything we can to resolve this diplomatically but ultimately we have to have somebody on the other side of the table who is taking it seriously. and i mohope that the iranian regime understands that. this is their best bet for resolving this in a way that allows iran to rejoin the international community. >> thank you, on syria, when you see what is happening in homs and elsewhere, we need to appeal to people's humanity to stop the slaughter and get aids and assistance to those that have been effected and rachet up the pressure of the regime. and we need to appeal to the

interests. it's not in their interest to have a bloodied broken brutal regime nightly on the television screen. the syrians felt that many in the west -- now they can see people in the west wanting to help them. raising their issues, calling nor the world to act on their problems and we need to make sure that russia joins with that. it will take a lot of hard work and patience, but i think it's actually in russia's interest that we deal with this problem that we achieve transition and that we get peace and stability in syria. that is the appeal that we should make. on the issue of holding people responsible. i do, not a scribing to the icc, but what is being done in homs and i've spoken to one of the photographers that was stuck in homs, what he witnessed and saw, it's simply appalling and should

not be allowed to stand in our world. and that is why monitors have been sent to the border and elsewhere, so that we document what has been done so that no matter how long it takes, people will remember that international law has a long reach and a long memory and the people that are leading syria and committing these crimes need to know that. tom brad bury from itm. >> mr. president, it's great you have agreed to learn about cricket. i noticed the prime minister to tell you that a match takes five days. so, it's going to be a long trip. on a serious subject of syria, you want assad to go, and you wanted gadhafi to go and he did not for a long, long time. can you answer specifically, have you discussed the today the possibility of a no-fly zone and how to implement it and degrade the syrian defense mechanisms? >> what i would say, that is

that our team is working hard on this issue and the focus is right now, trying get transition. the fastest way to end the killing is for assad to go. so the way we should try to help bring that about is through diplomatic pressures, pressure that can bring to bare, that is where our focus is. of course, our teams are all the time, as i put it, kick the tires, ask the difficult questions, what are the other options and other things that we can go and it's right that we do. they are not without difficulties and complications, so the focus is transition, and all the things that we can do to bring that pressure to bear and that has been the focus of our discussions. >> i echo everything that you have said. our military plans for everything. that is part of what they do. but, i was very