captions paid for by nbc-universal television on the broadcast tonight, exit strategy. can america get out of its longest war on its own terms? tonight what may be new road blocks in afghanistan. the war on smoking. with an alarming number of teenagers starting to smoke, there is a new national scare campaign. already some folks are worried it goes too far. game on. the president and vice president hitting it hard tonight on the campaign trail. and spring fever. more record heat, more record shatters. as winter fades, a one of a kind trip down the slopes. "nightly news" begins. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. if you listen to our president and military leaders, there is a

plan for afghanistan. we know how and when we are going to draw down u.s. forces and exit this nation's longest war. but today in the aftermath of that rampage by a u.s. soldier that killed 16 afghan civilians, the president of afghanistan made a surprise demand and indicated he may have his own plans for u.s. forces in his country. it happened while defense secretary leon panetta was there. it was the first of two setbacks today. we have two reports here tonight beginning with our chief foreign correspondent richard engel in our kabul bureau. richard, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. the u.s. exit strategy today was complicated both by its enemy here, the taliban, and an increasingly difficult ally. secretary panetta met with president karzai today extending condolences and reconfirming

washington's commitment to a smooth two-year transition. >> we need to stick to the strategy we laid out for the future. >> reporter: then karzai seemed to throw a wrench in it, issuing a statement demanding that u.s. forces withdraw from villages and pull back to major bases. and hand over all security responsibility by 2013. "we demand the process move quickly and authority be transferred to afghan hands," the statement says. in theory, that suits u.s. interests and goals. if afghans want to patrol their country while americans stay on base, let them. for a decade, afghan forces have been unable to defend the country or pay for a fraction of their own military budget. it's unclear they'll be ready by 2013. then the taliban piped in. the u.s. has been negotiating with them as part of its exit strategy, but today, complaining the u.s. negotiating position has been vague, the taliban suspended those talks.

they're feeling confident. if the u.s. thought it had a two-year glide path out of here, it can forget it. it hasn't been smooth here for a long time. marines urinating on afghan corpses, the koran burning, the massacre of civilian men, women and children, anti-american protests, all indications successfully ending america's longest war won't be easy. a senior u.s. official told us karzai's request to confine u.s. troops to their bases appears to be an attempt to play to a domestic audience, that the military never agreed to it and that it won't happen. brian? >> richard engel starting us off in kabul tonight, thanks. now to that new information about this american soldier accused of killing 16 civilians in afghanistan. our pentagon correspondent jim miklazewski is with us tonight from central command headquarters in tampa, florida. good evening.

>> reporter: good evening, brian. that 30-year-old staff sergeant who is accused of that shooting rampage in afghanistan has now been moved to an american military base in kuwait where he could be formally charged as early as tomorrow. now, according to military officials, this staff sergeant is accused of going on a shooting spree and killing 16 afghan civilians, including nine children. there is no known motive for this shooting incident. we are learning more about this soldier tonight. that he had been injured at least twice on three separate combat tours to iraq, and that he told his fellow soldiers he was actually reluctant to go on this fourth combat tour to afghanistan. it's highly unlikely he'll ever go back to afghanistan to be tried, but that military officials are saying he could very well be shipped back to the united states to face court-martial.

they are saying he could be charged with capital murder, and if convicted, face the death penalty, brian. >> jim miklazewski in tampa tonight, thanks. the lawyer for this accused soldier will speak out in an exclusive interview tomorrow morning on "today." in new york on wall street, stocks continued their upward march today with the s&p 500 closing above the 1400 mark the first time since '08. apple stock broke the 600 mark this morning before falling back a bit. tyler matheson is with us from cnbc tonight. two questions here. what drove the numbers today and what could today mean? >> two things drove the numbers today. first is the apple effect. the fact apple is such a big player in several barometers. it is off the charts, as you mentioned. one day ahead of the release of the fresh ipad. the u.s. economy is doing pretty well. today's data were jobless

claims. those numbers are at four-year lows. that means good news for the u.s. economy and today's numbers indicate that your 401(k), if it wasn't there already, is back to where it was before the financial crisis. the only concern here is rising gasoline prices. we'll get some indication how high they're going when the inflation numbers come out tomorrow. >> tyler matheson from nbc global headquarters. always a pleasure. we turn to presidential politics. while the gop primary season continues to grind on, eating up time and money and effort they would rather devote to the general election campaign, today the democrats were in full fall campaign mode, seemingly, with vice president biden taking on the gop on the economy. our report tonight from nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. >> reporter: with republican candidates hammering him for high gas prices and calling for

more drilling, president obama defends his energy policy in suburban maryland today, and attacked the gop rivals. >> lately we heard a lot of professional politicians, a lot of the folks who are running for certain office, who shall go unnamed. they've been talking down new sources of energy. >> reporter: the president didn't name names but joe biden sure did. >> mitt romney, rick santorum and newt gingrich, these guys have a fundamentally different economic philosophy than we do. >> reporter: assuming the traditional vice presidential role of campaign attack dog, biden bared his teeth before a receptive audience of auto workers in politically-important ohio. >> the guy i work with every day, the president, he didn't flinch. this is a man with steel in his spine. >> reporter: and he slammed the

republican candidates who oppose the auto bailout. >> a million jobs saved, 200,000 new jobs created, and the verdict is in, president obama was right and they were dead wrong. >> reporter: the speeches were held at the exact same time, a ploy for a campaign split screen? the white house deflected that question. >> i would refer you to the campaign. >> reporter: but strategists say the imagery is clear. >> joe biden is doing what vice presidential candidates often do, which is calling the other side out on issue defenses. >> reporter: also today, the campaign released a 17-minute documentary that was put together by oscar-winning director david gugenheim and narrated by tom hanks. it's the obama team's way of saying game on. >> kristen welker in washington at the white house. thanks. the global financial noose is tightening tonight around iran. the world's biggest electronic payment system will take an

extraordinary step this coming saturday cutting off iranian banks from its network, one of the harsh sanctions designed to make it virtually impossible for iran to finance and build a nuclear program. during our conversation with british prime minister david cameron at number 10 downing street in london earlier this week, i asked about the threat of a nuclear iran and about israel's signals it may be planning its own attack on tehran's nuclear facilities. like president obama, the british prime minister is saying not so fast. >> i don't think as we stand today that military action by israel would be justified. i don't think the israelis should take that action now. we told them they shouldn't and said we wouldn't support it if they did. we've been very clear. i'm a friend of israel. israel has a right to exist as a democratic state. it's very, very important it knows it has strong allies like america, like the united kingdom, but i don't support action now because, frankly, we've got more road to run in

putting in place sanctions and putting in place tough measures against the regime and saying to them they need to take a different path. they can have civil nuclear power, if they give up the ambition of having military nuclear power, they can have a future as a country that has more normal relations with the rest of the world. we need to keep up the pressure to encourage them to make the right choice. >> do you believe containment can and will work? >> what i'm arguing for is massive pressure. europe has an oil ban on iranian oil. >> prime minister, can you afford to contemplate the possibility of hosting the world for the olympics here during or after an israeli military action in iran? >> i'm very confident we'll do that come what may. i don't support israeli action at this time. i think there is a lot more we ings can do to put pressure on iran to get them to take a different path. we take nothing off the table. britain is very clear just as america is.

we don't rule out taking action or supporting being a, but that's not where we are right now. right now, turn up the pressure. get iranians to think again. >> is it tougher to deal with when the israelis say this is about us, about our existence? >> i completely understand why the israelis feel as strongly as they do. i feel strongly. i do not want to see an iran with a nuclear weapon. this is, of course, about israel and the middle east because in iranian nuclear weapon would meet a state of a city that wants to wipe israel off the map. countries that don't have nuclear weapons would want to acquire them. this is about our own security. there are risks that iran would have the capabilities to attack further. i'm quite clear this is in our interest that iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon. that's why with allies, we are piling on the pressure. we always work together, always

will. >> there is more from our wide-ranging conversation on our website nbcnightlynews.com. before leaving washington, the camerons topped off their visit with a state dinner at the white house last night which saw the first lady and prime minister's wife samantha wearing similar colors. beside the usual washington suspect there was hollywood glamour in attendance including george clooney who was seated next to michelle obama. and elizabeth mcgovern who plays lady grantham in "downton abbey." a new national campaign to fight smoking. is it too much where shock value is concerned? later, in a winter that hasn't had much snow in the east, a unique run down a mountain. in. not in this economy. we also have zero free time,

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and disturbing because they need to be. our report from nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: for anyone who hasn't gotten the message about the dangers of smoking, the government's new ad campaign is designed to shock and horrify. >> reporter: gruesome testimonials from former stoking living with cancer, heart disease and vascular disease. >> first it was my left leg. after my left leg it was my right leg. >> reporter: 31-year-old brandon carmichael started smoking when he was 15. >> if you're going to start smoking, it can affect you now, not necessarily woe you're 70, 80, 90.

>> reporter: the ad campaign is targeting those who smoke or haven't started. >> ads only work if they're done right. the evidence is clear hard-hitting ads work. >> reporter: it's a bilingual campaign on tv, online and in print, graphically demonstrating the dangers of smoking. a heart surgery scar, a woman bed-ridden from the effects of a stroke. a young boy suffering the effects of asthma from second-hand smoke. even a former smoker with a stoma so he can breathe. today the major tobacco companies were not objecting to the ads, but in california we found skepticism among the target audience. >> a lot of people will think that's not going to happen to me. >> i don't see how it relates to a younger person of my generation. >> reporter: with a quarter of all high school seniors smoking every day and 4,000 teenagers starting to smoke every day, this $54 million ad campaign is a drop in the bucket compared to the $10 billion cigarette companies spend on marketing. tom costello, nbc news, washington. real quick program note here.

we planned to bring you mark potter's reporting on the spillover violence along the mexican border. because there was other news we had to cover, we posted his report on our facebook page and website nbcnightlynews.com and will air it on the broadcast tomorrow night. up next this evening, another march record-breaker and a bizarre and long good-bye for a former governor who is going away for a long time. away for a long time. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china, impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. if you sleep in your contact lenses. lucky for you, air optix brand

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former governor of illinois rod blagojevich is beginning his 14-year sentence on corruption charges tonight in a federal prison in colorado. getting there today was an event from the camera crews and crowds outside his house in chicago to o'hare airport where he signed a few final autographs before departing. then there was the commercial flight on american airlines, handcuffed to denver, where his black suv was followed by news choppers to the prison. a trip that included his last lunch as a free man at freddie's frozen custard and steak burgers

in littleton, colorado. in the world of field hockey, this passes for march madness. kate middleton proved today why she was once the captain of her field hockey team in high school. invoking her new appointment as ambassador for the summer olympics in london, she took to the field, put on a gray team gb team sweatshirt, picked up a stick, got in the game and promptly scored a goal. she is 30 and down played her skill beforehand. members of the british olympic women's field hockey team were duly impressed, nonetheless. across much of the midwest in eastern parts of this country today, the ides of march felt a lot more like summer. in washington they broke another all-time record on the third straight day of 80 plus temperatures. the cherry blossoms are out. a whole lot of people who made reservations to see them at the usual time of year may be out of luck. chicago, which has had its share of snowstorms on this very day in the past, enjoyed a beach-like day on lake michigan

instead. the warm spell in the upper midwest is breaking records, some that have been in place almost a century. more than 5,600 record high temperatures have been set or tied across this country just so far this year. more than 1/5 of those were in the last seven days. it is forecast to be warmer in north dakota this weekend than it is in arizona. up next here tonight from hot to cold, a remarkably talented man. [ hermann ] there's always something that's going to have to be done by a certain date. you always have homework, okay? i don't have homework today. it's what's right here is what is most important to me. it's beautiful. ♪

♪ but does bringing a floor back to life really make us heroes? [ chuckles ] yes. yes, it does. ♪ call 1-800-steemer 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. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions.

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[ laughs ] he's my success story. [ male announcer ] learn how to protect your heart at i am proheart on facebook. you're looking at the weather in california squaw valley. while much of this country is basking in record warmth, skiers are loving the snow which is making for a great spring break for a lot of lucky families on the slopes. which brings us to the the work of an artist whose work you may be familiar with without realizing it. he is one of a kind in ski areas across north america. nbc's kevin tibbles has the story of this monet of the mountains. >> reporter: if you have ever skied or simply stood awestruck

by a mountain's majesty, you may be familiar with the intricate hand-painted panoramas of jim niehues. >> i wanted people to look at the runs and see the different variations of the slopes. >> reporter: skiers the world over can thank him for never getting lost. his paintings are used as trail maps from here in winter park, colorado, to resorts around the world. >> jim's trail maps are as integral to skiing as snow. everyone recognizes his style. >> reporter: for a quarter century, he has been heading up to where the air is thin and the vistas breathtaking. he'll photograph the mountain from the ground and up high before getting down to work. michelangelo got close to heaven painting the ceiling of the sistine chapel. jim niehues does it by painting at the top of the world.

he taught himself to paint as a child after his mother brought him a kit when he was home sick from school. today he is the only american artist doing this kind of work by hand. >> i hope they not only look how they get down, but maybe they'll look and see a little bit of the beauty that's there and stop and admire what they're skiing in. >> reporter: his fans worry what will happen should he ever hang up his brush. >> with jim's maps, each one celebrates the mountains as a piece of art, an organic natural piece of art. i think we lose a little bit of soul when we start only looking at the satellite images. >> reporter: jim niehues, combining a love of nature and art to help countless skiers chart a course down the mountain. kevin tibbles, nbc news, winter park, colorado. >> that's our broadcast on a thursday night from our nbc news washington bureau. thank you for being here with us.

i'm brian williams. we do hope to see you back home in new york tomorrow night. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com