a surprising announcement by the president for an end date to the war. it's tuesday, may 27th, and this is "now." >> you're completing the mission. this year, we will bring america's longest war to a responsible end. >> future for u.s. forces in afghanistan. >> president obama -- >> wants to be able to keep a residual force. >> 9800 troops. >> at the beginning 062015 we'll

have approximately 2800 service members in different parts of the country. >> the u.s. troops will remain after 2014 on two very narrow missions. >> one for counterterrorism efforts as well as training security people. >> is that the right number? with the very aggressive taliban pushback? >> there are some questions among military brass whether that number is enough. >> it remains to be seen whether the troops can hold the line against the taliban. >> americans have learned that it's harder to end wars than it is to begin them. >> what's the message to the troops? now that we're withdrawing. >> essentially turning the security of afghanistan back over to its people. >> you've seen kind of the lead national security republicans in the senate criticize this. >> we already know it was difficultiaries, the taliban is going to come back with a vengeance. >> the future of afghanistan must be decided by afghans. >> a day before he's expected to lay out his postwar policy vision, president obama this afternoon announced new troop

levels in the winddown to the war in afghanistan. after that war formally ends later this year the president announced today the u.s. will seek to keep 9800 troops in the country to complete what he outlined as two narrow missions. >> america's combat mission will be over by the end of this year. i've made it clear that we're open to cooperating with afghans on two narrow missions after 2014. training afghan forces and supporting counterterrorism oirp operations against the remnants of al qaeda. >> under the president's plan the u.s. military force would withdraw down from the current 32,000 troops to 9800 by the start of next year. over the course of 2015, the u.s. force would be cut in half. by 2016, americans would effectively be withdrawn. fewer than a thousand would remain as part of an ambassador security presence in kabul. all this plans is contingent on

a bilateral security agreement one that hamid karzai has refused to sign. but with afghan set to elect a new president in a runoff vote next month president obama has said he's increasingly confident that afghanistan's next lead her put pen to paper and allow america to refocus its resources. >> in addition to bringing our troops home, this new chapter in american foreign policy will allow us to redirect some of the resources saved by ending these wars to respond more nimbly to the changing threat of terrorism. i think americans have learned that it's harder to end wars than it is to begin them. and this is how wars end in the 21st century. >> joining me now is deputy national security adviser. tony, thanks for joining me today. let's start with the number, 9,800. is it enough to beat back the taliban resurgence we've seen in the last two years. >> alex let's put it in context. we're turning the page on a decade of war.

when the president came to office we had about 170,000 americans in harm's way in rairk and afghanistan. he vowed to end both wars responsibly and that's exactly what we're doing and we've been on a very deliberate trajectory in afghanistan to continuously draw down our troops after we built up afghanistan's capacity to deal with its own security problems. we've seen them deal very effectively with the recent elections and we believe the mission going forward in 2015 with the support they'll get from our troops and from the nato mission that will continue, will help them to continue to do that job. >> tony, i guess -- this is an incredibly complicated situation and i think you can make the argument either way. we know from reports that there are a lot of afghanistan citizens who are deciding on who they'll electricity for their next leader based in large part regarding their decision on the bilateral security agreement. not because they think u.s. forces have -- their presence has been flawless but they're seen as the sort of bullwork against the taliban.

what do you say to those afghan citizens about the u.s. presence in so far as we've prevented the taliban from winning the country? >> i think what we're seeing and hearing from afghan citizens is they want a continued international and american presence which we're providing and what we heard from both of the leading candidates for president, abdullah abdul and both of them this support it and have indicated their intent to sign it promptly upon being elected president. but there's clear support in afghanistan for regaining their own sovereignty and increasingly taking responsibility for their own affairs. that's what this is about. a responsible trajectory to give them the ability to do that as we continue to train them and continue to deal with the traimpbl threat. >> what is the white house's stance and confidence level, i guess, going into these runoff elections. abdullah and -- are they more confident in either one of their respective leadership abilities

compared to hamid karzai? >> we know both of them and know them well and we've dealt with them and they're both capable leaders and either would make a strong leader for afghanistan. both of them have indicated they want to continue to corporate closely with theites, with the international community. they need additional support. the afghanistan people want it but they want it in a way that continues to restore afghanistan sovereignty and responsibility for its own affairs so the trajectory the president has launched us on to responsibly end the war to go down to 9,800 troops at the beginning of next year on the way down to a normal presence in afghanistan, at the end of his presidency with an ambassador and security to protect it meets our interest and the interest 06 the afghans. >> tony blinken, thank you so much. >> thanks, alex. >> political ed tore and white house correspondent at the huffington post sam stein. i'll start with you, sam. there have been a lot of head

lines here unsurprisingly, senate republicans, john mccain, lindsey graham, have not be happy with the president's the announcement. lindsey graham tweeted president obama is not ending wars. he's losing them #afghanistan. it's not surprising the three amigos are not happy with this decision. but in many ways i have a hard time imagining a republican president would do anything that much different. >> well there's multiple factors at play here. one is what does the next afghan government want us stoed because they have to be a partner to the bilateral security agreement and second, other republicans in the gop tent who want a more precipitous withdrawal and house speaker john boehner came out with a statement in support of the president's plan and thirdly is what the u.s. military commanders want us to do. the president's policies pretty close in line with what they were recommending which is about 10,000 troops. the problem senators mccain and

graham have, they think by putting an end we're inviting them to come in once we're gone. i'm shush tony and the obama administration will say there's still residual presence there and we retain the rite to go after them so that's going to be their gripe. >> glenn, just talking about afghanistan, we, of course, we think of the 340e789s in 2007 and 2008 when that was -- iraq and afghanistan were issues upon which an election was decided in large part. if we telegraph forward to 2016, from your expert political perch, do you -- how much do you think the war in afghanistan -- the numbers on violence are not good. the trend lines are note good. after u.s. troops draw down after there's no longer a sort of measurable militarized u.s. presence in the country it's possible the situation will further deteriorate. how much of that will be litigated in 2016, or an issue domestically? >> there are two factors. the first is whether or not there's another terrorist attack

that we can originate in one of these countries. if we see an incredible deterioration of resurgence by the taliban and al qaeda retaining footing in afghanistan this won't look like a great decision if we see thegame moving elsewhere and today, for instance, we redeployed some naval resources, the marines off the coast of libya because that situation is deteriorating. it will look like a good situation so i think factors on the ground are going to determine how this looks on 2016. to that point, my second point is i thought one of mooer interesting reashsreaction from shem flournoy she says, we have to wait and see. if it works it works if it doesn't it doesn't. so we're going to see this interesting reversion to these roams that clooifr and brachl played in 2008 with hillary now staking out probably a slightly -- my guess is, i don't

have information, stake out a slightly more hawkish position than the obama administration. >> you do have a more hawkish position when you don't have of the deal with the finances and the blood and that's spent over there. but what's interesting and i think we'll see more of this this week, the president is beginning to sort of carve out a counterterrorism national security strategy which is -- and "the new york times" has a headline -- the president spoke to the state -- a more nimble presence which is, you know, highly trained, elite units, counterterrorism units in africa, elsewhere operating from single bases, the use of drones and much more strategic deployment. the boots on the ground model of american intervention may not be something we see again. >> yeah. i think that's been the case for a while now. you've seen it in various talks that the president has given on foreign policy. he talks about had an outdated viewpoint of how to combat terrorism.

the problem politically with that is some of the mechanisms you use with a more nimble foreign policy are things people have more problems where. for instance, drone strikes which is a big issue, obviously. the other thing that hadn't been talked about with respect to the afghan policy is sort of the general war -- this gets back to the more nimble foreign policy. there's general weariness about having troops in the country. the cost and even to maintain 9,000 troops there is significant. so these things factor into and glenn, we have talked about the veteran's afair controversy. and hoich this white house has had to grapple who have fought with them and what's happened to them when they have come home. how much do you think the president going to afghanistan and giving an a commencement

speech at west point and saying we'll keep the promise to the veterans and all veterans that they'll get the care they deserve. how much do you think this qualifies or ameliorates the problems of the white house or this administration vis-a-vis, ? >> i don't think it does anything. we have this knock-on effect. we've seen this incredibly outbreak of mental illness and impact that curse sometimes years after these people get home. so i think the white house, this is an entirely separate track. the white house really needs to get its act together and take control of the v.a. very, very quickly. >> sam stein and glenn the thrush. arm chair neurologist and karl rove warns a 2016 clinton candidacy could be too old and steal for american voters. "the washington post"'s chris andees. mcintosh of emily's list join me to discuss the doctor's

latest diagnosis. that's next on "now."

marge: you know, there's a more enjoyable way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies.

they're delicious, and an excellent source of fiber to help support regularity. wife: mmmm husband: these are good! marge: the tasty side of fiber. from phillips.

she still hadn't said the three magic words "i am running." today we saw the clearest indication yet of just what hillary clinton might be after when her publisher released the author's note from are clinton's new book "hard choices" which arrives in bookstores on june 10th. in it the former secretary of state talks about why she made certain decisions in her life. what her vision is for the country and she reveals the lessons she's learned from a lifetime in politics. in other words, or in the words

of the "wall street journal." clinton has written something akin to an early draft of a potential 2016 convention speech. along with an excerpt, simon and shuster released and audio version which includes some personal reflection. >> all of us face hard choices in our lives. when i chose to leave a career as a young lawyer in washington to move to arkansas to marry bill and start a family, my friends asked -- are you out of your mind? i heard similar questions when i took on health care reform as first lady. ran for office myself. and accepted president barack obama's offer to recommend our country as secretary of state. in making these decisions, i listened to both my heart and my head. >> she's got a special tone. at a memorial day parade in chappaq chappaqua, new york, the popular consensus was run, hillary run.

but at fox news it was different. two weeks after he suggested the form ever cabinet secretary may suffer from brain damage, carling rove offered a new angle from which to chastise clinton. >> we're 20 years past the point at which bill clinton was elected president. in american politics there's a sense this you want to be new. you don't want to be too familiar. you want to be something fresh. you don't want to be something that's old and stale. >> brought to you by a man who has spent the past few decades in politics. here we have our team, emily and chris. emily. i'll start first with karl rove talking about old and stale. does that suggest somehow that jeb bush or miechk huckaby are new and fresh? or karl rove is new and fresh somehow? >> or mitt romney or john

mccain? >> i think he says this so we all talk about karl rove because that's the only time he has relevance in the national news. when was the last time you were in a room when somebody said i wonder what karl rove thinks about that? it's been a really long time. >> last neverary. and i'm sorry i referred to you as emily, jess. you work for emily's list. chris you did a great breakdown of what this author's note meant and singled out the line which set off alarm bells in my mind, one thing himry writes, that's never been a hard choice for me is serving our country. it's been the greatest honor of my life. chris, as you rightfully pointed out how can you say that and not be running for president? >> you can say she was looking retrospectively as her life as u.s. senator and first lady but she knows the context of the thing. to the strategy involved here,

this is the author's note of the book that was released by the publisher to get some buzz. so it's impossible to separate out 2016 from what she's saying and i just don't know. of course, look, barack obama on "meet the press" said i'm not interested for running for president and i won't. i'm not convinced that hillary clinton can't run because she wrote in her memoirs that public service has never been a hard choice but it's hard to imagine her putting keys to internet -- i don't know how things work these days, typing that line without realizing sort of, how it would be received. >> and jess, if you look at other political memoirs, these kind of hard choices, does this stand out of a sort of tell-all memoir written by someone who doesn't want a political future? hard call? was written by john mccain. no apology, by mitt romney.

promises to keep, by joe biden and american life, by ronald reagan. i know the head and heart thing seems to be what hillary is presenting at a strategy if she were to campaign. hilary. and am i being harsh to think it's tooing h boring for american politics. >> >> what i found exciting was how she was going to relate her state work around the globe to american families at home. we do a lot of research at emily's list into voters and what they're interested in. women, especially, wanted somebody that understands their day-to-day lives. that's what they're missing in the republican side of the aisle and that's what they crave in a leader and today we heard that's what she's doing with the book. explain how noesh yagss in st. petersberg with russia with compare. that's incredibly smart. i'm excited to read what she has to say on that subject and i'm excited that she's trying to

write this book for americans who -- not involved at all in the beltway chatter are still incredibly impressed by her and are interested in her which is a clear contrast with mr. rove and the rest of the republican party. americans want to know what she has to say and we finally get to hear it. >> i'm not writing this for the beltway insiders. an advanced coach to playbook where it's blasted by mike allen and discussed a lot in the beltway media. is there actually the intention on team clinton, to vault over the heads of this sort of d.c. punditry and to the living rooms of ordinary americans? can such a thing be done, even? >> no. i don't believe it can be done and i don't think they intend to do it. as you point out the release of this author's note to try to frame the narrative of what this book is going to say, there's a piece in the "new yorker" about the fraught relationships

between dloif a between hillary clinton and the media. one of the things that hurt her in 2008 was how antagonistic, and not the rhetoric. john mccain says the media is terrible at the convention but he's friendly with reporters. but rhetoric is rhetoric. day-to-day, covering a campaign, they realize a mistake they made was it was too fraught with the media and she probably, she, the campaign will be more friendly to the media if she runs, than last time. >> jess, what of the democrats? we know it's been discussed the hillary weary piece. i'm of the mind that the inevitability thing maybe something democrats are grappling with but the bigger challenge is getting the prokive left on her side and there's talk about elizabeth warren and the shadow candidacy of warren. even if someone like warren doesn't run or if elizabeth

warren doesn't run to what degree democrats, left-leaning democrats, progressive democrat who is felt marginalized will push her? is that something team hillary needs to be concerned with? >> in all her recent public appearances we've seen her talk about this message of economic opportunity and it's this sort of pop laos rhetoric that's kind of lighting on fire all of the progressive movement, both sides of the spectrum of the democratic party. i expect we'll hear more about that and i expect we'll read more about it in the book but i can't wait until she's out to make her own case. >> someone, alex, i believe, someone will run to her ideological left in the primary. the question is the seriousness of the challenge. elizabeth warren will represent financially from a name perspective, an real challenge. a howard dean or bernie sanders would not. >> elizabeth, who has the better audio book? warren or clinton. that's what we'll be talking about in a few weeks.

>> that's a book club i'd like. >> jess and chris, thank you guys both. coming up, a convoy of chemical weapons' inspectors traveling to investigate an alleged chlorine gas attack comes under attack. details next. [announcer] if your dog can dream it, purina pro plan can help him achieve it. ♪ epic classical music stops ♪music resumes music stops ♪music resumes [announcer] purina pro plan's bioavailable formulas deliver optimal nutrient absorption. [owner] come on. [announcer] purina pro plan. nutrition that performs. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer.

[ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems,

serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. take the next step. talk to your doctor. this is humira at work. ugh. heartburn. did someone say burn? try alka seltzer reliefchews. they work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm. amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief.

today in syria a group of international chem weapons inspectors came under attack and it's unclear who is responsible. the organization for the prohibit as of chemical weapons, the group overseeing the destruction of the syria's chemical weapons arsenal issued a statements anoupsing that all that have h their staff members are safe. they announced 7.2% of their chemical weapons remained in the country but recent reports issued by human rights watch and the french government detail multiple chlorine gas attacks. ones that they were this unable

to verify due to an attack on their inspectors. chlorine gas is not banned under chemical weapons conventions but can be equally deadly. the syrian war now, in its fourth year, has left over 160,000 people dead. the u.s. is the largest contributor of humanitarian assistance but the obama administration has faced heavy criticism for its lack of leadership and action on syria. in a commencement speech at west point tomorrow president obama is expected to map out a foreign policy aagain da. "the new york times" is reporting the speech could, quote, deepen the nation's involvement in syria. today, two other reports appear to strengthen that very narrative. one from the "wall street journal" claiming president obama is close to authorizing the military training of syrian rebels and another from frontline reporting on syrian rebels who are already receiving u.s.-backed military training in qatar. president obama is expected to deliver his speech at west point tomorrow, tomorrow morning. just ahead, president obama

promoted science at the white house today as new york prepares to host the latest installment of the world science festival. can the scientific community make headway with people that think facts no longer matter? festival cofounder and alan alda join me coming up next. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious, and an excellent source of fiber to help support regularity. wife: mmmm husband: these are good! marge: the tasty side of fiber. from phillips.

captain: and here's a tip. bellman: thanks, captain obvious. when you save money on hotel rooms, it's just like saving money on anything else that costs money. like shoes, textiles, foreign investments, spatulas, bounty hunters, javelins...

 [female announcer] we grow big celebrations,o. and personal victories. we grow new beginnings, and better endings. grand gestures, happier happy hours.

so let's gro something greater with miracle-gro. what will you grow? now they're part of our 2 for $25 guest favorites!r one olive garden dishes. featuring your all time favorite creamy chicken alfredo and seductive shrimp mezzaluna. it's our most inspired 2 for $25 ever. at olive garden. when i was growing up, my science fair projects were not as successful as the ones here. one year i accidentally killed some plants that were part of my experiment. another time, a bunch of place escaped in my grandmother's apartment. >> that was president obama this morning at the white house science fair announcing a new $35 million investment in teacher training for science technology and mathematics

programs. look no further than these statistics. from 2009 to 2012, the country slipped from 25th place to 31st place in math. and in gianscience, we dropped 20th to 24th. to some the science space world view is still up for debate. according to a poll from march, more than 4 in 10 americans question whether human being evolved from natural selection. a similar number question the age of the earth and the majority of americans, 51%, question the big bang theory. the prevailing hypothesis as to the beginning of the universe and then there's clooimt change which a plurality of americans are skeptical. this week for the seventh year in a row the world science festival which will seek to set the record straight on the facts. the five-day festival opens tomorrow in new york with a reading of "dear albert" a play about albert einstein's robust

career stars paul rudd. here we have the cofounder of the world science festival, brian green and emmy award winning actor and science enthusiast, a personal hero of mine, alan alda. great to have you on the show. you're such great 234s your respective fields i'm just an ameba intellectually here. in terms of science and the conversation around fact-based evidence and scientific learning, it feels like the national dialogue has atrophied to some degree. you're an accomplished scientist. why did you start the festival? >> i think that shows that so many people don't really understand what science is about. it's not a subject in the classroom. it's a way of life. it's a way of being able to determine what's true out there in the world. out there in the universe. and the whole point of the world science festival is to allow people to immerse themselves in the wonders of science and understand what the process is. the excitement of discovery and

how empowering it is when you can understand how the universe works. >> yeah. i think there's also something great about having a curiosity in terms of the natural world and why we are where we are. and, yet, alan, culturally speaking, i feel like there's a lot politically to tamp down academic accomplishment, ivory tower learning and reason and fact-based evidence concerning the environment and energy. does that dismay you? how did you get involved in this in this entire scientific -- >> science is a wonderful deck story. it's entertaining and exciting and fun. at one of the things that i began to see when i started interviewing scientists on a science show for pbs about 20 years ago was that -- you can think about beautiful be sunsets and beautiful vistas but there's nothing more beautiful in nature than to watch a smart brain at work. it's gorgeous. and one of the things that we do

at the science festival, i think, is note just introduce people to the beauty and the wonders of nature, but to get them to start thinking even more the way scientists think. as you said, evidence-based thinking. after they go to the science festival, i hope that there's a higher probability that when someone says, that's not true, they'll say, how do you know that? where did you get that information? >> right. >> that's what interests me. not whose opinion it is. >> brian, i want to get your opinion on robert lefkowitz he said a few weeks ago, when you're putting up facts against faith, facts can't argue against faith. it makes skens now that science would have made no headway because faith is untestable. do you agree with that? there's so much conversation about faith versus science. >> by definition faith is something you believe in. you don't look for evidence to

bolster that belief. faith is an act of internal giving yourself over to a collection of ideas. that's not what science is about. the two realms can co-exist perfect lily well. if you want to understand how the universe, not why it's here or its purpose. that for many people they do find answers in faith or religion. but if you want to understand how, how the atoms work and come together to build molecules and come together to build the planet and stars and understand where the universe came from, that's the domain of science. >> you have to get him to calm down when he talks about this. >> sorry. it is in some ways, a very emotional topic. it goes to the core of who we are. i would be remiss if i didn't talk about the fascinating play that will be put on as part of the science festival which you wrote and it's about the life of albert einstein. >> what it is is letters between -- i felt that if you

could take the letters between him and his wives and the other women in his life -- >> which there were quite a few, apparently? >> he needed to be loved. einstein. and as brilliant as he was about so many things, he was not so smart about his relations with women. >> but who knew? who knew that einstein was such a horn dog. by official count, six women. >> that's the official count. >> right. in some ways it would seem like those flaws humanize him and make his story less about the inaccessible genius and the man with the crazy heir toe a man that needs to be loved. >> a way to understand something so difficult to understand as relativity, one way in is to get to recognize the guy who thought of it as a fellow human being, with human frailties. not a priest and, you know, in the scientific previously robes.

a person like us who happens to be extremely smart. if we start to see him as a person, and see what his struggles were in those love situations as well as the science situations, i think we might become more involved and be willing to take the trouble to figure it out. when we were in the greenroom i was bothering brian about field theory. >> we have a unified field theory in the green room. that was the first time. >> a little powder and undereye concealer and field theory. >> it takes hearing it over and over again from different angles until you really get it. but each time it's exciting because you're always getting close to the way things are. >> and i think, you know, it's a very laudable thing to humanize science and to not be afraid of the intersection of human emotion and sort of the unanswered questions around humanity and scientific theory.

so you guys, it's wonderful what you're doing. may this festival go on for seven-fold more years. you can learn more about the world science festival by going to world skriejs festival.com. brian green, thank you for being the first string theorist on our show. and alan alda i'm a huge fan. >> thank you very much, thank you. regulators announce new safety requirements for construction of the keystone excel pipeline. why would the safest pipeline need them? environmental activist jane klebb explains when she joins me live ahead. to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪

there's no dip in that bowl. they're new pringles tortillas. so good, they don't need dip. mmmm... not bad, right? i'll have some more! that's a double dip! you... double dipped... new pringles tortillas. you dip 'em or don't. pringles!

the was a truly amazing day. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. for over 18 years we've helped people

take care of the things that matter most. join today at angieslist.com as the white house delays its position on the keystone pipeline new safety regulations have been added to the mix. we'll find out what might happen coming up next. first, hampton pearson has the

cnbc market wrap. let's look at how stocks stand going into tomorrow. the dow closing 70 points higher and the s&p addressing 11. the nasdaq climbing 51 points. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. et your fibe. try phillips fiber good gummies. et your fibe. they're delicious, and an excellent source of fiber to help support regularity. wife: mmmm husband: these are good! marge: the tasty side of fiber. from phillips.

don't just visit rome. visit tripadvisor rome. with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better.

have you ever looked at someone and right away thought you know exactly what they're like and what they believe in? well, odds

are you're wrong. what's on the outside and what's on the inside can be very different. the more you know. the safest pipeline ever constructed in the united states, that's how the canadian energy company responsible for building the controversial keystone pipeline, how they refer to their plan to ship canadian sand oil across the mid western united states. and by safest, the company might also mean, most questionable. today, the ap is reporting that regulators have decide to plates new safety requirements on the construction of the pipeline's northern portion. including hoo including hiring third party to issue safety reports. why would the safest pipeline constructed need additional

safeguards? >> it turns out the southern half of the pipeline, the portion that's already been been built might not be the safest pipeline ever constructed in the united states. according to the report, a full 72% of welds on the pipeline's southern leg rooired repairs in one week. that sounds bad. is it? according to forensic engineer and oil pipeline expert, in high risk projectslike nuclear submarines or nuclear power plants, even one tenth of a rate of bad well are cause for deep concern and there's apparently more cause for deep concern. over the course of its construction, the pipeline had to be excavated in 98 different places to make coating repairs. in one case, a government inspector witnessed transcanada officials investigating dents in the pipeline that had been laid without sufficiently clearing rock or soil frback fill.

this is why, perhaps, activists are raising concerns not just about problems relating to continued and increased reliance on dirty fuels but also, test t effect of the pipeline to the communities on its route. the safest ever built. sometimes it can be tragic to overpromise. joining now is the executive director of bold nebraska. thanks for joining me, jane. the statistics relating to the southern half of the keystone pipeline. do they make you worry? >> it's more than worried. i'm terrified. i know families that own along that route and they're worried. they saw transcanada digging up the pipeline and raised a clear red flag with state officials swelds federal officials and everybody ignored them at first. it took land owners sending pictures and video cameraing transcanada digging up the trenches themselves in order to get action. so we're happy that they are taking action now but transcanada is a company that

can't be trusted. >> jane, what are the concerns when you talk to the folks who are along the part of the pipeline that's not been built, what could faulty engineering lead to? give us a sense of what the stanks are? >> so you're looking at a pipeline. in america, we have no good solution to cleaning up a tar sands fill. we saw tar sands fill in cal may zoo, michigan, and in arkansas and they don't know how to clean it up when it hits water so land owners who farm and ranch are terrified if they have a worse case scenario still on their land they're done. a farmer in north dakota had a traditional oil spill and he has $10 million worth of cleanup on his property, seven acres. he'll never be able to farm that land again. you're talking about folks' livelihoodeds and a deep culture. there are pipelines in texas and oklahoma. these are small 16 and 20 inch pipelines. we're talking about a 36 inch pipeline running through the

heartland. not only is that terrifying it's not a responsible way in order to get energy to america. >> you mentioned the word culture, jane. one of the things you've zone so brilliantly is you've organized a conservative and in some ways, nonpartisan environmental movement. when we talk about energy and energy reform and the future of this planet, so often that conversation splits along political divide. tell us about how you've gotten by and from all sides in terms of bold nebraska's work? >> we really just won't to old fashioned organizing style, to be honest. we went to folk's kitchen tables, k3450u7b9 centers and churches and did a slide show presentation on what tar sand looked like and the concerns about keystone one. and on transcanada's first pipeline and we had a -- when farmers have a chance to counter with what they're misleading

them with they immediately joined the cause. big green organizes don't get it and i think they're getting there, farmers and raenchers may have a republican on their voter registration card but they're stewards of the land and they protect that land. they want to pass it down to future generations. so when you come in and threaten their land with imminent domain, transcanada was telling our farmers and ranchers, if you sign and if you don't weir taking aland away. that caused a stir and we organized those folks and they're standing strong against transcanada's threats to this day. >> in terms of the administration delays the final decision on this part of the keystone pipeline, how do you read that? are you opt mistic about the chances of the pipeline not getting permitted? >> honestly, president obama -- to delay it, nebraska has no legal route. south dakota -- they're about to lose their permit in south

dakota as well because of all the delays. in nebraska we constitutionally challenge the governor's way he cited that pipeline. the judge ruled in favor of the land owners and the governor is trying to overturn it in the supreme court but we feel confident we'll continue to win. i don't think this pipeline is going to be permitted. if it was able to be permitted it would have been permitted by now. it's an irresponsible way to get energy to the country and certainly nebraska farmers and ranchers as well as tribes won't let this pipeline come through our land. >> jane klebb, doing some amazing work. thanks so much for your time. >> thanks, alex. big fan. 56 the break, the supreme court makes a key ruling that could have a major impact on the future of capital punishment. and who states can actually execute. details next. ♪

[ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. ♪ she can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ take it on the way you always have. live healthy and take one a day women's 50+. a complete multivitamin with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. age? who cares.

new business owner, it would be one thing i've learned is my philosophy is real simple american express open forum is an on-line community, that helps our members connect and share ideas to make smart business decisions. if you mess up, fess up. be your partners best partner. we built it for our members, but it's open for everyone. there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. today with the supreme court took an important step towards

ensuring the constitutionality of the american criminal justice system challenging states that wish to execute mentally disabled inmates. in 2002, the high court banned the execution of criminals with intellectual deficiencies ruling it a violation of the eighth amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. 17 years prior to that case 44 mentally disabled 'inmates have been killed by the state. after that ruling several states drew a hard line to define mental disabilities based on iq test results. in florida, any inmate who scored above 70 is eligible for execution. the courts would not permit any other measure of mental instability. at the center of this investigations is pretty lee hall. convicted of raping and killing a 21-year-old pregnant woman in 1978 and who scored a 71 on his iq test. he was scheduled to be put to debt. tissue is, iq tests are inexact science. expert who is design and analyze the test saw a person's actual i

kwooimplt can be five points below or that of their test score. his iq might actually be 66, which would quality him as mentally disabled despite the fact he's scheduled to be executed. justice anthony kennedy and in his majority opinion wrote that florida's strict iq limit contravenes our nation's commitment to dignity and its duty to teach human decency of a mark of a civilized world. the court can ruled because the iq score falls within the standard error of measurement, his fate should not be solely decided on that score alone and his defense should be allowed to present additional evidence as it relates to possible mental deficiency. freddi lee hall's future remains uncertain but after today eats ruling his life or death will at least, be based on more than a single test. that's all for now. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. eastern. "the ed show" is coming up next.

good evening americans. welcome to "the ed show." live from new york. i'm ready to go. let's get to work! it's true, coal is very plentiful in america. >> america is a saudi arabia of coal. >> not only is contributing to climate change but it's also creating asthma. >> extremists that want to destroy our coal industry. >> here in coal industry, ke78 cal like has reignited the debate about whether the power of industry trumps health and environmental concerns. >> america is not working when president obama is seeking to close the coal power plants. >> the largest increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the last decade. we can't use yesterday's coal technology in a world where we understand the environmental and climate