abdullah abdullah is here. he holds the title of chief executive officer of afghanistan. he assumed the post after creating a unity government with. ashraf ghani a year ago. afghan security forces are largely operating on their own after most u.s. troops were withdrawn. some remained to advise and train as the country is facing insurgence by taliban. efforts to retake can does failed despite forces and support from n.a.t.o. airstrikes and special forms. the taliban's biggest military gain since 2001. the group is also facing competition from the islamic state which is challenging it in many parts of the country. the extent of the american presence in afghanistan after next year has yet to be decided. i am pleased to have dr., as m.d., abdullah abdullah back as this table. welcome. >> thank you, charlie. >> rose: is it going from bad to worse in afghanistan? >> i wouldn't call it that way. the recent development in kunduz will be addressed and considered a gain by the taliban but i believe that's temporary gain for the taliban. >> rose: why is it happening, though? >> in the past one year, which afghanistan security forces have shouldered all the responsibility of security and stability from previously, let's say, 140,000 american and international troops on the ground, that transition took place very quickly, and then the military security transition coincided with the political transition. the elections, which was contentious. in the period between 2012 and 2014, the taliban strategy was just to survive and to stay there because they were hoping that, once the troop withdrawal completes itself, then they can come back in a big way and the end of 2014 and beginning 2015, they considered as their victory and final victory. a

(still pic of abdullah abdullah then dissolve into graphic of tweet)afghanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah tweeted the earthquake was the strongest felt in recent decades.(nat sot urdu mazhar aliearthquake survivor)man speaks(track 3) this survivor said, the whole building was shaking. the window glass shook. the earthquake was powerful.it claimed more than 150 lives, and injured at least a thousand more...reducing (nat sot)shoveling rocks(t(tck 4)some families are evaluating ththloss...while others search for loved ones.power and phone lines are down in many areas... making the rescue and recovery effort even more challenging. the white house says it's been in touch with the governments in afghanistan and pakistan... and the u-s is ready to help. weijia jiang, cbs news. 3 the earthquake hit just a few hundred miles from the site of a 2005 earthquake that killed more than 75-thousand people. 3 memory issues affefe plenty of people... but it's not always an ieversible problem.coming up after the brk in tonight's healthwah... what can do to exercise your brain.?3 have you noticed yo

abdullah abdullah tweeted it was the strongest earthquake felt there in recent decades. the epicenter was about 150 miles from kabul and could be felt as far away as india. s/ ron mott/ nbc news/ london, england :47-:57 "pakistan's non combat-army units were also placed on stand by for emergency relief assignments and already aftershocks are being reported. ron mott, nbc news, london." things are calm here.. we're starting the work week with clear skies. meteorologist joins us now...with a first look at the forecast... megan, things are about to change.. ad lib wx quick it's been a beautiful sunny monday morning, but now we're watching as more clouds will stream in from the west today. these clouds are out ahead of both some rain chances for tuesday and then some much cooler air for the end of the week. temperatures will reach the low to mid 60s this afternoon and skies will become mostly cloudy this evening. coming up i'll show you the latest iowa poll shows ben carson leading donald trump by nine points. but those numbers don't seem to faze the outspoken business mogul. "you know we're winning all of these polls. we had one fall in iowa. but i don't believe those polls actually because i see the response from the people in iowa. and i'm going to be there in two days." trump made those comments right before heading to a televised town hall meeting in new hampshire on the today show this morning. during the "pancakes and politics" event, the billionaire talked about gun control, illegal immigration, the economy, and foreign policy issues. while his support in iowa appears to be falling, he's still the g-o-p frontrunner in new hampshire. the iowa frontrunners are the only two big names .. whose attendance is up in the air at a g-o-p event this weekend. ten candidates will be in des moines for saturday's ..."growth and opportunity" event. trump and carson have not confirmed they will attend. the event will focus on how to grow the economy and provide opportunities for all americans.. it's taking place at the varied industries building at the iowa state fair grounds. tickets are 10 dollars. a new billboard is hoping to catch the attention of the candidates as they come to town. the message reads: "candidates, clean energy equals healthy kids" the iowa solar energy trade association is pushing politicians to create more jobs in clean energy. the board is being unveiled today at fleur and mckinley. n-f-l star tim dwight is there right now for the big reveal. our first in the nation caucuses bring big names to des moines... and this year will be no exception. former n-b-c nightly news anchor week before the caucuses... he'll talk to iowans about the importance of the event at the greater des moines partnership's 127 - th annual dinner. brokaw has covered every presidential election since 19-84. organizers say his visit solidifies the role iowa plays in selecting the next president "he's arguably the most well-known, most highly-respected journalist of our time. this is a dinner that will attract about 1,200 central iowa business and community leaders. and what a great time to focus on the iowa caucuses, just one week before the caucuses." the event featuring brokaw is set for january 25 -th at the des moines convention center paul rhoads says mark mangino is out as i-s-u offensive coordinator. rhoads wouldn't elaborate on the full details but says it has to do with the two not being on the same page changes in the department. no word yet on if he's resigned or was fired. rhoads says he plans to tell the team later this afternoon at a 1-30 meeting. we'll soon find out if newton, iowa is the best newton around... for the past two weeks... iowans have been duking it out with people from newton, kansas. they participated in five different challenges... trying to prove their community is the best. the challenges focused on pride, giving, food, reading, and fitness. today, residents will learn which newton gets the bragging rights. last year... iowa came out on top. when you think halloween... black and orange comes to mind. but there is another color becoming popular for the holiday... people in the park view neighborhood spent the weekend painting their pumpkins teal. the "teal pumpkin project" encourages people to place a painted pumpkin outside their front door. it allows kids who have food allergies to know the house is allergy - friendly treats... this helps raise awareness. it's family friendly, and kid friendly, so it gets people out here to talk to them about food allergies and that's its a whole lot more than not being able to eat something, its a whole lifestyle change. experts say one in 13 kids has a food allergy. to find houses in your community participating in the project... go to "food allergy dot org." we're another day closer to central iowa's sugar rush... most beggars nights are friday... but some communities still host trick or treating on halloween. for a full schedule... visit our website... "who tv dot com." and as you celebrate halloween this week... shopping for another holiday is getting underway. why some are hitting stores now for christmas, before the snow hits the ground. and coming up a little later... memory loss is a normal part of aging... so when should you be concerned? find out how to spot the signs that it could be more than old age.... and where you can get help... for free. it may be hard to believe, but and that marks the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. but walk the aisles at the store and you'll see that isn't the case this year. chris clackum explains why. fact is...holiday shopping has already begun...with many retailers making it tough not to. "right now october is a great time to pick up things like fashion. macy's has a great 25 percent off coupon." even online shoppers are getting an early jump...with a new survey indicating almost half of holiday browsing and buying this year will be done on the web. "probably about 99% of my holiday shopping online" so much online shopping is expected...amazon's going on a hiring binge. "we're hiring more than a hundred thousand seasonal employees across the country in order to meet an increase in customer demand.." with the national retail federation projecting shoppers will spend on average 463-dollars on family gifts, a consumer survey by retailmenot-dot-com has much of that spending occurring before thanksgiving. "85 percent are actually expecting retailers to have deals in the stores before black friday." all of which explains why some brick and mortar stores are even thinking about remaining closed on it's only a matter of time until the cold weather settles in. the des moines "parks and recreation department" started it's only a matter of time until the cold weather settles in. the des moines "parks and recreation department" started its "winterizing" process over the weekend. crews are shutting off water... flushing irrigation lines... and wrapping trees black friday this year. it's only a matter of time until it's only a matter of time until the cold weather settles in. the des moines "parks and recreation department" started its "winterizing" process over the weekend. crews are shutting off water... flushing irrigation lines... and wrapping trees at the city's 70 parks. they expect to be done early this week...and say if you're planning to visit a city park, bring your own water because everything will be turned off. ad lib main weather we are starting off with some sun and ad lib main weather we are starting off with some sun and temperatures will reach the low to mid 60s this afternoon. clouds will increase late in the day and stay with us for the next few days. lows will be in the mid 40s tonight. tuesday looks to be soggy with rain and temperatures in the 50s. temperatures will be cooler the rest of the week still ahead on your news at noon... more than 5 million americans over the age of 65 suffer from this disease how a local organization wants to help the aging community catch the welcome bawho is part of wesleylife, an organization that provides services to aging adults to help them stay independent. wesleylife is hosting six free screening sites for memory screening week throughout des moines and surrounding areas. teases are done! behind bars. a man is in leading police on a car chase. why it started, how the chase ended and the charges he's facing. climbing death toll... a massive earthquake devastated areas in south asia. the hardest hit areas...the extent of the damage and why first responders have yet to reach all the victims. a des moines man is behind bars this afternoon... after police say he led them on a car chase that ended in a crash. officers were chasing a stolen vehicle before the driver ran into a light pole... and hit a garage. it happened at the intersection of ovid and 2nd avenue... just before ten last night. the crash sent two people to the hospital. police arrested 22 year old brandon st peter early this morning. he's charged with theft, o-w-i, and interference with official acts. benton county authorities made an arrest this morning in a homicide investigation.. 31 year old david miller is charged with motor vehicle theft. the sheriff's office says he could face more charges. yesterday afternoon, authorities found a woman's body on the 59th street trail.. near shellsburg. a nearby resident the body while recovering his stolen and crashed truck. while looking at the damage... he noticed blood on the truck and say it appears there was a struggle before the woman died. police have not released her name... the woman accused of driving through a crowd at a college homecoming parade in oklahoma made her first appearance in court today. 25 year old adacia chambers is facing four counts of second degree murder and driving under the influence. on saturday, police say she plowed through a crowd during a state university... killing four people and injuring dozens others. her attorney wants a psychiatric evaluation because he believes chambers may suffer from mental illness. a strong earthquake in northern afghanistan shook buildings from kabul to new delhi... cut power and communications in some areas and caused hundreds of deaths. most of the damage happened afghanistan and pakistan. ron mott has more. a powerful seven-point-five magnitude earthquake rocked parts of afghanistan and pakistan this morning, causing widespread causalities and collapsing buildings. the associated press reported the initial death toll in both countries as at least 46. authorities in afghanistan say about a dozen children at an all girls school there died in a stampede as people tried to evacuate the building. the death toll is expected to rise throughout the day as communications were knocked off-line for some time in the aftermath. witnesses say the shaking lasted longer than a minute, triggering mudslides in some areas and avalanches in some snow-capped mountains in that region. afghanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah tweeted it was the strongest earthquake felt there in recent decades. the epicenter was about 150 miles from kabul and could be felt as far away as india. s/ ron mott/ nbc news/ london, england :47-:57 "pakistan's non combat-army units were also placed on stand by for emergency relief assignments and already aftershocks are being reported. ron mott, nbc news, london." it's time now to get a first look at the forecast... being reported. ron mott, nbc news, london." it's time now to get a first look at the forecast... meteorologist joins us now... ad lib wx quick the latest iowa poll shows ben nine points. but those numbers don't seem to faze the outspoken business mogul. "you know we're winning all of these polls. we had one fall in iowa. but i don't believe those polls actually because i see the response from the people in iowa. and i'm going to be there in two days." trump made those comments right before heading to a televised town hall meeting in new hampshire on the today

abdullah: it is always a pleasure talking to you. charlie: abdullah abdullah from afghanistan.ack in a moment. stay with us ♪ ♪ charlie: margrethe vestager is here. she is the european commissioner for competition, she was previously the danish minister of economy. the commission brought antitrust charges against google and the russian energy giant gazprom. the economist wrote amid constant reminders of the weakness from mediterranean migration to the endless greek saga, the spectator -- her show of strength is a reminder that brussels has bite. i am pleased to have her here. are you proving that brussels has bite? margrethe: i don't know, but this is a pleasure to be here. charlie: we like strong women at this table. margrethe: europe, as a state, we build on the state of law, we build on the rule of law, and you can do find business in europe if you play by the book. charlie: google is not playing by the book? margrethe: we have this concern that this very successful company, very, very dominant extremely dominant in europe in , general search, is using this dominance to prev

afghanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah tweeted it was the strongest earthquake felt there in recent decades. the epicenter was about 150 miles from kabul and could be felt as far away as india. (on cam) s/ ron mott/ nbc news/ london, england :47-:57 "pakistan's non combat-army units were also placed on stand by for emergency relief assignments and already again, the death toll is expected to rise as reports begin to pour in from other areas. coming up...a new study suggests the meats we all love to eat might be harmful to our health. and....smoking could get tougher academy of pediatrics gets their way. that's coming up in just a few minutes. "you're watching kwwl. we've schnackenberg. this is the kwwl --------- if you're looking for a medicare plan, we're health alliance. we believe in superheroes. in the slow dance at the end of the night. in being yourself. we believe in simplicity... and in doing good when no one's looking. to us, it just seems right. call now and learn more. you'll talk to a real person, not an automated system. we're part of your community, not a conglo

abdullah: and to go from everywhere. charlie: right. what the you think of the russian president in syria? dr. abdullah: russian presence in syria. charlie: putin said off the record to me that he had no plans to do that. off the record and i believe it. charlie: afghanistan was a terrible lesson of history. been bad for a lot of dr. abdullah: people who tried to conquer it. dr. abdullah:dr. abdullah: partly, it is because of that. there are other constraints that they are having. troops on the ground will not help the situation. the show are said -- bashar that in, and i watched new york. they will continue that policy. charlie: bringing it back to you, one quick question about pakistan. you seem to suggest clearly the pakistanis and the leadership of pakistan knew that osama bin laden was there. they had to know. laden,ullah: osama bin absolutely. charlie: they all denied it. they said they don't know at the highest officials. someone had to know, but they don't know. and you are saying, get serious. dr. abdullah: he was in a military containment near a military compound in a bottle that -- in obama bad. if he knows the chief of al about himdoes he know having a residence near a military containment. that creates questions. charlie: it does. so, they had to know? dr. abdullah: they had to know. charlie: what does that sa

after the fall of kunduz, afghanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah called on washington to review the timeline of its troops withdrawal. abdullah established a unit i government with ashr ashraf ghani last year. >> the fears of the officers on the ground, in afghanistan, as well as our own security leadership. security and military leadership is that maintaining a level of force beyond 2016 is necessary. >> reporter: president rouhani welcomed the u.s. decision, saying it sent a message to the taliban and terrorist groups that they would be defeated. after the collapse of the taliban regime in 2001, the militants retreated to the mountainous region near the border with pakistan and regrouped. meanwhile, the afghan people grew frustrated with the government of former president hamid karzai amid corruption and slow economic development. most afghan troops are poorly trained and have low morale. they are powerless to maintain security across the whole country. the taliban has taken advantage of the weaknesses of the government and the military, conducting terrorist attacks and suicide bombings. it has been on the offense in the no

the chief executive of the country abdullah abdullah has called an emergency meeting and calling on the health ministry to send doctors to hospitals to help with the dead and injured. i think it will be a while before we have a sense of the full extent of this because many of the places affected by this powerful earthquake are very remote. >> thank you. and in speaking of help earlier i spoke with christina northy from the group "care" they have helped displaced people in afghanistan, and they're already responding to the needs of quake survivors. >> yes, it is quite remote, and certainly it is an area affected by natural disasters and earthquakes and landslides. we at care are very concerned by those affected by this earthquake, and those displaced by the current conflict, i think compounding the situation is that the temperatures have dropped quite sharply over the past few days with the on set of winter. while we hope we're not seeing significant numbers affected by this, care is monitoring the situation and we will respond if needed. care has a focus on supporting women and girls. a

afghanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah tweeted it was the earthquake felt there in recent decades. the epicenter was about 150 miles from kabul and could be felt as far away as india. ron mott/ nbc news/ london, england "pakistan's non combat- army units were also placed on stand by for emergency relief assignments and already aftershocks are being reported. ron mott, nbc news, london." >> clouds have moved in, but our temperatures are still quite mild. meterologist ben dorenbach is in next with the forecast. here's the live view from our skycam in spencer, iowa, where it's and degrees jeb bush was a very strong governor, probably the strongest governor in the history he was a young guy and i think there were some folks in the legislature that thought they might be able to run over him. that didn't happen. one tax cut wasn't enough- he had to do more. it wasn't enough to have 15,000 kids with school choice in florida, he wanted to have 100,000 kids. if he didn't like a project, it was going to be vetoed. it didn't matter if you were a republican. it didn't matter if you were his b

afghanistan's chief executive abdullah abdullah tweeted the earthquake was the strongest felt in recent decades. we felt the earthquake, this man in kabul said. we tried to get out of the house. it was very big, the wall was destroyed. the earthquake also cut power and communications in many areas, making the rescue and recovery effort even more challenging. weijia jiang, cbs news. mollie: officials are warning of aftershocks from the earthquake, urging people to stay outside in case buildings crumble. random violence continues inside israel. the israeli army says its forces shot a palestinian who tried to stab an israeli soldier near a holy site in the west bank city of hebron. there's no word on the condition of the palestinian. the soldier was unharmed. also today, a palestinian stabbed and severely wounded an before being shot and killed. and airstrikes have destroyed the facility in northern iraq where a group of hostages were freed last thursday. u.s., iraqi and kurdish forces worked together to free some 70 hostages from the prison which was controlled isis. one u.s. soldier taki

abdullah abdullah ghani and chief executive officer, abdullah abdullah faced angry denunciations in thehan parliament today. >> ( translated ): the leaders of the afghan national unity government are unable to administrate the current situation in the country. the people must stand against them and the people must stone them and kill them in their palaces. >> brangham: all of this came with some 9,800 american troops still in afghanistan, largely in a training role. and, reports surfaced that u.s. commanders will recommend keeping several thousand in afghanistan beyond 2016. >> we're going to continue to monitor the efforts by the afghan government and afghan security forces to retake kunduz and that will factor into a longer term assessment of the conditions on the ground, which will influence longer term policy decisions that the president will have to make. >> brangham: president obama's current plan calls for withdrawing all but about 1,000 u.s. troops by the end of next year. i'm william brangham for the pbs newshour in washington. >> woodruff: there's word that a ship carrying wea

today's announcement came after discussions with both ghani and the afghan chief executive abdullah abdullah. ambassador, good to have you with us. last night we discussed the atlantic council report issued yesterday. you were among the coauthors. you called for the president to keep troops in afghanistan at current levels. so is this new plan enough? >> i think it is good enough. i would have preferred the numbers to be linked to conditions in afghanistan. and i believe that the military commanders believe that the current numbers, 10,000 or so, are sufficient. i'm a little worried about the reduction to 5,500 next year and after the presidents term of office finishes. so i hope there is flexibility but that will be something that will be decided by the next president >> house speaker john boehner said the administration finally admitted the arbitrary political deadlines are self-defeating and have el boledened american enemies. >> i think there's something to be said for that which is we saw the withdrawal from iraq and the very negative implications there of the u.s. withdrawal. and the t

>> well, the chief executive abdullah abdullah called an emergency meeting live on television. we called on businessmen and non-governmental organizations to do everything that they can to help donation, food, blankets. they need blankets. it's very cold out here. people who are afraid to go back in their homes will pass a very cold night here in afghanistan. he also asked the health ministry to send doctors to hospitals. we've seen dozens of injured come in to hospitals around the joint. it is a big geographic spread. they're in the north, the east, they're here in the capital. there is going to be a lot of help needed. >> thank you very much, indeed, with that live update from kabul. >>> kamal hyder has an update for us from the pakistani capital islamabad. >> the powerful earthquake was felt over pakistan all the way up the capital as well as the provincial capital of the province. also in islamabad people panicked. now the death toll has been mounting, hundreds are injured, and the reports are still coming in from remote locations. we also have reports of major landslides u

abdullah abdullah established a unified government with the president a year ago and spoke in new york on wednesday. he called on the u.s. to reconsider the timing of its withdrawal. >> the views of all those army generals and officers on the ground of limited mission in afghanistan as well as our own security leadership, security and military leadership, is that maintaining a level of force beyond 2016 is necessary. >> reporter: people staged a rally in kabul to protest against the taliban. >> translator: up until the last drop of our blood we will not let the dark era of the taliban be re-established in afghanistan. >> reporter: there's a feeling here among the people that other cities could be affected by the taliban, casting doubt on the government's ability to maintain security. nhk world, islamabad. >>> the cure rate for childhood cancer in japan is improving significantly. over 100,000 japanese children have beaten the disease. but many of them suffer from the effects of the harsh treatments and have a tough time getting back into society. a young cancer survivor is working with

the chief executive officer abdullah abdullah has gone on television asking for non-governmental organizations and businessmen to donate what they can, food, blankets, and called on all afghan doctors to go to nearby hospitals, medical facilities to help those who have been injured. >> jennifer glass, thank you. stay safe. >>> kamal hyder in pakistan where 50 people have been confirmed dead. >> the powerful earthquake was knelt over a large area of pakistan all the way up to the provincial capitals will in islamabad people panicked and vacated buildings and homes when the earthquake struck. according to the latest the death toll has been mounting. hundreds are injured, and the reports still coming in from the remote locations. we also have reports of major landslides which has blocked access to many cities in that area. the expectation that the death toll likely to mount even further emergency situations in the hospitals and of course emergency services also trying to put an accurate number on the number of people killed and wounded. >> jamal hyder for us. thank you very much. >>> now to the f

abdullah abdullah is here. he holds the title of chief executive of afghanistan.st. afghan security forces are largely operated on their own after most u.s. troops were withdrawn. some units were remaining to advise and train. on monday, the militant group sees the city of kunduz. efforts to retake it failed despite government reinforces and support the nato airstrikes. it is the taliban's biggest military gainc

have a lot of faith in the so called national unity government of president ashraf ghani and abdullah abdullahals together. >> translator: the situation is good new but we don't trust these two presidents or the chief executive. we are afraid if we borrow money and invest we don't trust the fighting won't happen again. >> reporter: and that means some shops remain closed, many were looted in the fighting and struggling to open without supplies. >> translator: we could borrow up to 5,000 and now they won't get you 200 and that is all because of fighting. >> reporter: the city's biggest hotel said it has not had a reservation since the fighting stopped. outside women wait for handouts, a new ritual here, many simply don't have money for food. the economic effects of the fall of kunduz are felt in kabul as well. this is the cityist biggest appliance market and business is way down and this washing machine is worth $650 and on sale for $200 but there are for buyers. mohamed says his business has dropped by 80%. he says people who have money want to save it in case security gets worse, they are buy

abdullah abdullah to do things differently than karzai that gives you optimism in terms of the future of afghanistan if we continue to partner? general campbell: sir, without a doubt. senator mccain: senator mccaskill. thank you,askill: mr. chairman. thank you, general campbell. thank you to all of those who serve under you for the really hard stuff they do every day. i will be looking forward to the investigation into the tragedy, daish -- doctors without borders hit. it continues to be a major, major challenge. made thissident ghani a focus of his campaign. when he ran to leave the government in afghanistan. but i notice "the new york times" reporting last week that corruption played a role in the taliban's recent success in kundhz, saying the local security forces were extorting money from the locals, which raised sympathy for the taliban. they were being, in fact, hit up by the folks we have been hundreds of millions of dollars to train. that's unacceptable. could you talk about that question mark and what is your assessment of the risk of corruption as it relates to the work where trying to do with afghan national security forces question mark general campbell: --with the afghan national security forces? general campbell: yes, ma'am, think you for the question. president ghani and dr. abdullah tried to get at this from a couple different levels. contracting has caused corruption type issues. he has instituted an agency that looks at every single contract to make sure those are valid, that they can get those corruption out of the contracting. the other areas they have focused very hard is on leadership, trying to pick the right leaders based on their experience, based on their skill sets, and so, like something you refer to back in kundhz, where people are taking money, extorting money. it will take time to get to the that levels to make sure the corruption is not good and if you are correct you will be removed. you'll be held accountable. i have seen instances over the last several months where they have a different cases where interiorhe ministry of and the ministry of defense they are prosecuted folks they are found to be correct. it will take time, ma'am. i know they are both committed to it. they both worked very hard with their inspector general counterparts in both th

the afghan ceo, abdullah abdullah, had a meeting, requesting that the u.s.orced remain at their current level because of the insurgent taliban fighting around the country, and that happened before kunduz city fell to the tall began on the 8th. but knowing that they needed international help. it was not so much about the strength of the taliban, but the short coming of the afghan security forces. that 9,800 u.s. forces in the country now will remain through part of 2016, and then the generals here will decide how they will be drawn down to 5,500 troops in 2017. it's a big shift for the obama administration, not just in numbers, but in terms of where those forces will be stationed. only 1,000 forces are supposed to stay after 2017. basically, the u.s. embassy behind me, instead the forces will stay in bases in afghanistan. here in kabul, north of kabul, in the east of afghanistan, and in kandahar. so the u.s. maintaining a presence in afghanistan and around afghanistan through 2017. the afghan officials welcoming the move, saying that it will help not only wit

abdullah abdullah said that american forces immediate to stay on over the next couple of years, beyond016, so a mixed bag, and the afghan people, many of them very nervous about a u.s. withdrawal, and they're not too critical of the u.s. military. >>> thank you. new reports indicate that gangs in eastern europe have been running a black market in nuclear materials, and they're going after buyers, who are enemies of the west, including isil. according to the associated press, the fbi stopped reported sales of radioactive material. [ yelling ] >> reporter: it was no ordinary target. armed muldova police were taking no chances as they moved in to apprehend a man alleged to have been involved in a nuclear smuggling network. this is what they were looking for. a sampling of material used in dirty bombs. the suspected middle man with a stash sold to isil. it's a case which has exposed muldova as a heart in the trade of nuclear materials, illegally in an impoverished part of eastern europe. in the past years, the muldova police, along with the fbi, has stopped four rings. undercover police po

. >> top afghan leader wants the abdullah abdullah to maintain. >> at the same time the need for maintaining support and sustaining support for afghan forces is more evident. >> the president is ra weaving his options, said his spokesman and the attack on the hospital will be a part of that cancellation. >> of course, incidents on the ground, including high profile incidents, and what they say about the relative strength or weakness about the afghan security forces will have an impact. >> it's a change in policy. they'll talk to president john campbell, and talk to intelligence agencies as well as diplomats before making a final decision on troop deployment. >> a new round of fighting erupted in kunduz overnight. fighters attacked police headquarters. last week they overran and held the city, until government forces launched a counteroffensive. now they are presenting food and other aid into the city. >> jason cone is executive director for doctors without borders. your people go heroic work all over the world. >> the dangerous places i know, this saddened people across the world. what kind

don't have faith in the so-called national unity government of president ashraf began knee and abdullah, abdullaho rivals now ruling together. >> the situation is good now, but we don't trust these two presidents or the chief executive. we are afraid if we borrow money and invest, we don't trust that the fighting won't happen again. >> that means some shops remain closed. many were looted in the fighting. they are struggling to open without enough supplies. >> >> now they won't even give you $200, that's all because of fighting. >> the city's biggest hotel hasn't had a reservation since the fighting stopped. outside, women waited for handouts, a new ritual here. many don't have money for food. >> the economic effects of the fall of kunduz are felt here in kabul, as well. this is a city where the appliance market is way down. this washington is worth $650, it is on sale for $200. there are no buyers. >> muhammed said his business dropped 80%. people save their money in case security gets worse. they are buying only what he needs, no luxuries. he is not buying much, either. >> the fighting sent a m

kunduz don't have faith in the so-called national unity government of president ashraf ghani and abdullah, abdullaho rivals now ruling together. >> the situation is good now, but we don't trust these two presidents or the chief executive. we are afraid if we borrow money and invest, we don't trust that the fighting won't happen again. >> that means some shops remain closed. many were looted in the fighting. they are struggling to open without enough supplies. >> now they won't even give you $200, that's all because of fighting. >> the city's biggest hotel hasn't had a reservation since the fighting stopped. outside, women wait for handouts, a new ritual here. many don't have money for food. >> the economic effects of the fall of kunduz are felt here in kabul, as well. this is a city where the appliance market is way down. this washing machine is worth $650, it is on sale for $200. there are no buyers. >> muhammed said his business dropped 80%. people save their money in case security gets worse. they are buying only what they need, no luxuries. he is not buying much, either. >> the fighting sent a

we understand that this was requested by the chief executive officer of afghanistan abdullah abdullah last month. they understand that the fall of kunduz city was not to show that the taliban was so strong, but really a sign of the shortcomings of their forces and continue to recognize that they are going to need international help. >> obviously the retaking of kunduz or taking of kunduz by the taliban was quite a shock to the u.s. afghan forces and security there. talk us through the security situation at the moment and the power of the taliban. >> >> the taliban announced their withdrawal from kunduz city. they withdrew to the rural areas. they say that they withdrew to prevent civilian casualties and conserve fighters for what they say will be future operations. while that's been happening, the highway one between hand car and kabul has been blocked by the taliban for much of this week. we understand it has been cleared and the hundreds of civilians trapped on that highway has been allowed to move along that highway. we understand the taliban has mined that highway. they did try to

to anticipate the many months it would take to form the unity government, and chief executive abdullah abdullah after disputed elections last year. but it also says that unity government was a major factor in the desix to make what he called an extra effort. because unlike in the arrack where the president asked troops to leave the two afghan leaders have all but begged the u.s. to stay. >> in the afghan government, we have a serious partner who wants our help, and the majority of the afghan people share our goals we have a by lateral security agreement, to guide our coop race. >> the president also somberly noted that while u.s. forces won't be in combat, they will be in danger. and some troops who thought they had seen the last, may face another tour of duty in the war that's killed more than 2200 americans and wounded 20,000. >> and so the bottom line is it will now be up to the next the president, to decide how and when to end america's longest war. jon. >> all right, thank you. u.s. troop levels in afghanistan steadily rose during the past decade before president obama implemented a big dr

abdullah abdullah. it is a fractured administration and that hobbles the ramshackled the afghan security force who is supposed to be doing -- >> the president is approaching the lectern with joe biden, ash carter. the president. >> good morning. last december, more than 13 years after our nation was attacked by al qaeda on 9/11, america's combat mission in afghanistan came to a responsible end. that milestone was achieved thanks to the courage and the skill of our military and intelligence personnel. they served there with skill and valor and they served with 2200 american patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice in afghanistan. i visited our troops in afghanistan last year to thank them on behalf of a grateful nation. i told them they could take great pride in the progress they helped achieve. they struck devastating blows against the al qaeda leadership in the tribal regions, delivered justice to osama bin laden, prevented terrorist attacks and saved american lives. they pushed the taliban back so the afghan people could reclaim their communities, send their daughters to school and improve their lives. our troops trained afghan forces so they could take the lead for their own security, and protect afghans as they voted in historic elections, leading to first democratic transfer of power in their country's history. today american forces no longer patrol afghan villages or valleys. our troops are not engaged in major ground combat against the taliban. those missions now belong to afghans, who are fully responsible for securing their country. but as i've said before, while america's combat mission in afghanistan may be over, our commitment to afghanistan and its people endures. as commander in chief, i will not allow afghanistan to be used as safe haven for terrorists to attack our nation again. our forces, therefore, remain in two narrow but critical missions -- training afghan forces and supporting counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al qaeda. of course, compared to the 100,000 troops we once had in afghanistan, today fewer than 10,000 remain in support of these very focused missions. i meet regularly with my national sxurt team to continually assess honestly the situation on the ground. to determine where our strategy is working and where we may need greater flexibility. i've insisted consistently that our strategy focus on the development of a sustainable afghan capacity and self-sufficiency. when we've needed additional forces to advance that goal or we've needed to make adjustments in terms of our timetables, we've made those adjustments. today want to update the american people on our efforts. since taking the lead for security earlier this year, afghan forces have continued to step up. this has been the first fighting season where afghans have largely been on their own and they're fighting for their country bravely and and tenaciously. afghan forces continue to hold most urban areas. and when the taliban has made gains, as in kunduz, afghan forces backed by coalition support have been able to push them back. this has come at a very heavy price. this year alone, thousands of afghan troops and police have lost their lives, as have many afghan civilians. at the same time, afghan forces are still not as strong as they need to be. they are developing critical capabilities -- intelligence, logistics, aviation, command and control. and meanwhile, the taliban has made gains, particularly in rural areas, and can still launch deadly attacks in cities, like kabul. much of this was predicted. we understood as we transitioned, the taliban would try to exploit some of our movements out of particular areas and that it would take time for afghan security forces to strengthen. pressure from pakistan has resulted more from al qaeda coming into afghanistan. we've seen the emergence of isil. bottom line, key security of the country is still very fragile. in some places, there's risks of deter yags. fortunately, in president ghani and cheek executive abdullah, there's a national unity dpovt that supports relationship with united states. president ghani and i agreed to continue our counterterrorism efforts and he has asked for continued support as afghan forces grow stronger. following consultations with my national security team, as well as international partners and members of congress, president ghani and chief executive ann abdullah, i'm therefore announcing the following steps. which i'm convinced offer the best possibility for lasting progress in afghanistan. first, i've decided to maintain our current posture of 9800 troops in afghanistan through most of next year, 2016. their mission will not change. our troops will continue to pursue those two narrow tasks that i outlined earlier -- training afghan forces and going after al qaeda. but maintaining our current posture through most of next year rather than a more rapid drawdown, will allow us to train and assist afghan forces as they grow stronger. not only during this fighting season

he's sharing power with abdullah abdullah, another western-friendly face. there's still the disputed results of the election. it's not easy, life in kabul. still, there will be 10,000 troops to try to keep the taliban at bay. >> let me bring in peter bergen. as you know, hundreds of billions of u.s. taxpayer dollars already spent over these past 14 years in afghanistan. those afghani troops were supposed to be trained and ready to go a long time ago. they're still not ready, as the president acknowledged. explain to the american people why you believe spending another $15 billion a year to maintain that u.s. troop presence in afghanistan is money well spent. >> well, wolf, in the course of a morning, the morning of september 11th, 2001, the united states was attacked, and we lost $500 billion, the american economy, and of course 3,000 people. obviously, we don't want to see that replay. as nick said, you know, we're seeing isis establishing himself in eastern afghanistan and we are seeing, you know, there was simply no reason for us to repeat the experiment

abdullah abdullah to do things differently than karzai that gives you optimism in terms of the future of afghanistan if we continue to partner? general campbell: sir, without a doubt. senator mccain: senator mccaskill. thank you,askill: mr. chairman. thank you, general campbell. thank you to all of those who serve under you for the really hard stuff they do every day. i will be looking forward to the investigation into the tragedy, daish -- doctors without borders hit. it continues to be a major, major challenge. made thissident ghani a focus of his campaign. when he ran to leave the government in afghanistan. but i notice "the new york times" reporting last week that corruption played a role in the taliban's recent success in kundhz, saying the local security forces were extorting money from the locals, which raised sympathy for the taliban. they were being, in fact, hit up by the folks we have been hundreds of millions of dollars to train. that's unacceptable. could you talk about that question mark and what is your assessment of the risk of corruption as it relates to the work where trying to do with afghan national security forces question mark general campbell: --with the afghan national security forces? general campbell: yes, ma'am, think you for the question. president ghani and dr. abdullah tried to get at this from a couple different levels. contracting has caused corruption type issues. he has instituted an agency that looks at every single contract to make sure those are valid, that they can get those corruption out of the contracting. the other areas they have focused very hard is on leadership, trying to pick the right leaders based on their experience, based on their skill sets, and so, like something you refer to back in kundhz, where people are taking money, extorting money. it will take time to get to the that levels to make sure the corruption is not good and if you are correct you will be removed. you'll be held accountable. i have seen instances over the last several months where they have a different cases where interiorhe ministry of and the ministry of defense they are prosecuted folks they are found to be correct. it will take time, ma'am. i know they are both committed to it. they both worked very hard with their inspector general counterparts in both th

general assembly, the chief executive abdullah abdullah requested the u.s. forces stay here. that was before the fall of kunduz. they admit afghan officials say that the fall of kunduz not only -- not really was about the strength of the taliban, but was about the failures, the weak insists of their own security forces, admitting that they have significant sort comings. we saw in kunduz, the americans had to help with airstrikes, with logistics, with planning on the ground, as that escalated, the taliban of course taking kunduz city on september 28. that's the first time they've taken a major city since they were driven from power in 2001. we're expecting an announcement from the president of afghanistan sometime later today, but the chief executive officer who was in those sideline meetings in new york just a couple of weeks ago welcomed the announcement by the americans that the u.s. forces will stay in their current numbers about 10,000, and that they will be here to help with the current situation and to continue the fight against terrorism, del. >> going forward, what ro

relatively dysfunctional and they've got a new government now with president ghani and his ceo abdullah abdullah they need to move ruthlessly and swiftly to end that culture of corruption, the that moral dysfunction in the higher echelons of the afghan security forces and they need time to do that. that's whahatt maintaining 10, or a number near there of nato forces would hopefully allow ou them to do. risk th of course the other thing is a negative definition. if we all pulled outs to a thou then we risk the taliban taking over probably not the whole of afghanistan but significant chunks, especially with the daesh or is element general campbell mentioned coming in as well and offering a sanctuary for terrorists so that's another reason to maintain forces there. >> well, let's get to calls. >>> you can watch the rest of washington journal on cspan.org. we leave the program now to take you live to the national press club and remarks coming up by baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings-blake. she'll talk about issues facing americans in urban areas. you'll recall riots broke out in baltimore in april f

abdullah abdullah. are they actually sharing power or is that an area of concern, as well? >> national government is hard and i think they have to continue every single day to work at it. the president is the president. there's no doubt i think in his mind or dr. abdullah's mind who the president is but i think, again, on policy matters they work close on that. there's no daylight between them. they work together in the security council and the cabinet meetings. but they know there's no other choice there as they move forward. >> general, one last question following on mr. scott's question earlier. both the chairman and the secretary of defense testified before this committee that using oco funds to fund the base of department of defense is not a satisfactory way to ensure our national security. do you agree with that position? >> sir, what i would agree is i've been fortunate to have the resources and that i need. i've had the right people trained and equipped and that is because they have done it by oco but i think as everybody's mentioned it's hard for any of the services to plan when you go year by year. >> i think it is important for you to understand that's the rational the president has given for voting against the ndaa, the rational myself and ot

abdullah abdullah. there are reports of serious divisions at lower levels. we would be interested in you views of president ghani's commitment to ensuring that the afghan police have confident and noncorrupt leadership and any insights you have to promote and maintain the unity of the afghan unit. we have an increased level of cooperation across the afghanistan/pakistan border. they've driven al qaeda into afghanistan creating opportunities for targeting the extremists. my concern is our ability will are reduced. i would also be interested in our thoughts and the operational authorities you believe will be necessary going forward to target terrorists groups that would hope to capitalize on u.s. and troop reduction to use afghanistan as a safe haven of which to launch attacks. our efforts to promote sert in afghanistan will be damaged if we're not perceived as up holding the highest stan standards. a policy of nonintervention when u.s. troops were aware of sexual abuse by afghan commanders are deeply concerning. i hope you help this committee to get to the truth of this. additionally, u.s. forces must uphold the highest protection of citizens as they rate the collateral damage by the mull tear operations. the united states must do all it can to avoid incidents like the recent tragedy in kunduz. the defense department announced that your head quarter ess will be conducting an investigation of this incident and this committee expects to be kept informed of the investigation. general campbell, i'm interested in hearing from you what additional steps are being taken to ensure that our rules of engagement and protecting civilians from harm and preventing such tragic events in the future. thank you. >> thank you very much, general. >> good morning, chairman mccain, ranking member reed and distinguished members of the committee. i've been honored to lead and represent the men and women for the last 14 months. i'd like to thank the committee of your stead fest support. and due to you leadership and commitment, they're the best trained and equipped force or nation has ever deployed. their outstanding performance bears testimony to your backing and the backing of the american people. thank you very much. i'd like to play tribute to our military familiar les. in many ways our frequent absences from home are harder on them than they are on us. i'd also like to acknowledge and honor the over 2200 servicemen and women who have been killed in afghanistan and the over 20,000 who have been wounded. tragically we lost 14 personnel to include six airmen and four contractors last friday in an aircraft mishap. and we always remember the afghan in our fallen and the loved ones they left behind. we honor their memories by assisting the afghans to build a stable' secure country and by protecting our homeland. 14 years have passed since the 9/11 attacks and we haven't forgotten why we first came to afghanistan and why we remain. since 2001, the exceptional effort of our forces have ensured that another terrorist attack direct at the u.s. homeland has not occurred. eight months have passed since i last appeared before this committee. much has changed since then. the enany and our own coalition have undergone tremendous transitions these changes ensured that this fighting season has been fundamentally different. it can't be compared to previous years. i would like to emphasize how political, military and economic, social transitions are affecting the environment in order to place our campaign in come text. afghanistan is at a critical juncture and so is our campaign. but before i further explain the formidable challenges and the opportunities before us, i'd like to address a few topics that have been in the headlines here lately. first the tragic loss of lives and the strike on a hospital in kunduz. by way of back ground, u.s. special operation forces had been providing training, advice and assistance to afghan national defense forces who had been engaged in a tenacious fight with the taliban. on saturday morning we had close air support at their request. the decision to provide aerial fires was a u.s. decision made within the u.s. chain of command. a hospital was mistakenly struck. we would never intentionally target a protected medical facility. i must allow the investigation to take its course and therefore aim not at liberty to discuss further specifics. i assure you that the investigation will be thorough, objective and transparent. i'd like to remind the committee and the american people that we continue to make extraordinary efforts to protect civilians. no military in history has done more to avoid harming innocence. we've readily assumed greater risks to our own forces in order to protect noncombatants. to prevent any such incidents of this nature, i've directed the force to undergo in-depth training to review or operation authorities and rules of engagement. our records stand in stark con tast to the actions of the taliban. they've repeatedly violated laws of the war. the united nations attributes more than 70% of the noncombatants harmed to the taliban. the sexual exploitation of the children by the afghan security forces. all of this consider this reprehensible. this criminal practice is unacceptable and it's unacceptable to the afghans as well. president ghani reiterated the policies and laws to enforce this with their afghan security forces. we'll do everything within our pow tore defend and protect moral rights. i've ordered 100% training of the force to ensure that they understand our human rights policy which has been in place since at least 2011. this policy requires that our personnel report any suspected human rights violations, committed by the afghan security forces. and this is to include any sexual abuse of children. whenever and wherever our personal observe human rights abuses, they will be conveyed through our chain of command and in turn to the afghan government. perpetrators must be held accountable. with still many weeks left in the traditional fighting season, intense come continues in many parts of the count pry. the afghan security forces have been tested this year but they continue to fight hard. in the wake of the coalition's redeployment, the afghan security forces accepted that this fighting season would be decisive. there was no win or lull. and since february the fighting has been nearly continuous. casualties on both sides have risen and the violence has moved beyond the traditional insurgent strong hold. displaced foreign fighters into eastern and northern afghanistan. the emerge jens of daesh, has further complicated the theater landscape and potentially exp d expanded the conflict. the taliban increased the tempo of their operations fol lougs the allowanced death of their spiritual leader. we're also seeing how our redeployment and transition from combat operations to an advisory role changed the battlefield dynamics. only a few years ago our coalition numbered over 140,000 military personnel. now our forces are fewer than 14,000 of which approximately 10,000 are u.s. servicemen and women. in years past our aircraft provided responsive decisive support. this is no longer the norm but the exception. collectively the afghan security forces are adapting to the changes and in some places they're struggling. within this context the fluidity of the current security situation is not surprising. this fighting season started well for the afghan security forces as they executed successful multi-core operations in provinces and in the southern approaching into kabul. in august and september they reversed almost all of the taliban gains in the northern helm after considerable effort. yet there have been setbacks. and most recently the taliban overran kunduz, kunduz city. the afghan security forces al rallied and they've regained control of most of the city. the afghan security forces inconsistent performance -- they must unitization of their forces, don possess the combat pewer to protect the country. this makes it difficult for the afghan security forces to counter the taliban authority. ultimately the afghan security leaders need to discern better when to fight, when the hold and where to assume risks. despite these shortcomings, they've displayed courage an resilience. the afghan government retains control of kabul, highway 1 and nearly all of the district centers. the afghan security forces are effectively protecting the population centers. it's financial backing are strengthening the resolve and building their systems and processes. the afghan security forces have repeatedly shown that without key enables and competent operational level commanders, they cannot handle the fight alone in this stage of their development. ultimately, i'm convinced the improved leadership and accountability will address most of their deficiencies. it will take time for them to build their human capital. the afghan security forces uneven performance in the fighting season also underscores their shortfalls will persist beyond this year. capability gaps exist in the fix and rotary wing aviation, combined armed, intelligence and maintenance. one of the greatest tactical challenges for the afghan security forces have been overcoming the afghan air force's still extremely limited organic close air capability. the partnership between the coalition and the afghan government remains durable. the difference between the ghani administration and the previous administration is like night and day. at every level, coalition and afghan leaders continue to work together in pursuit of shared objectives. the afghan government, civil leaders and military commanders demonstrate a growing appreciation for the coalition's efforts. president ghani asked nato and the u.s. to provide some flexibility in our planning to account for the fact that his government remains in transition while the threats he is facing are changing. he is asserted a sustained coalition and u.s. presence provides actual and psychological stability to the country as a new government solidifies. he recognizes that his new administration must invest considerable time and effort to address the challenges of systemic corruption. he has acknowledged that while the forces are better equip and trained than ever, much work remains to build their systems and processes and improve leader development. i have offered my chain of command several options for a future in 2016 and beyond. it was envisioned that we would transition to a normalized embassy presence by january 2017. that remains our planning assumption. since that time, much has changed. we have seen the rise of daesh, an increased al qaeda presence in afghanistan and now we have strong partners in president ghani and chief executive abdullah a result, i put forward recommendations to adjust the new environment while addressing our core missions, train, advise and assist the afghan security forces and conduct counterterrorism operations to protect the homeland. as the up surge in insurgence violence shows, afghan is as a decisive point. the president is aware of the tenuous security situation. i also appreciate that he has other global issues to weigh as he considered my recommendations. my role is to provide my best advice based pond my assessment of the conditions on the ground. weigh it against the risks to the force and to the mission. i'm unable to discuss further details on the options as i have provided to the president. in the past, when flexibility has been requested of him, tooks it under serious consideration and made his decision. he provided flexibility this year. the same decision process is being worked through now for 2016 and beyond. in closing, the challenges before us are still significant. a tough fight

the chief executive in afghanistan announced on twitter abdullah abdullah 76 people including women and children have died as a result of the earthquake in afghanistan and another at least 268 wounded, he said, and he fears that the numbers may increase. far more casualties have been confirmed thus far across the border in pakistan where the death toll now stands at 229 killed as a result of this earthquake. and one moreern, one more casualty in kashmir. this was the most powerful earthquake to strike central asia in years. and it was felt across central and southern asia. as the death toll grows and the aftershocks continue, millions of people are on edge across-countries in south and central asia. the 7.5 magnitude quake rocked northern afghanistan and pakistan monday afternoon. toppling building, leveling homes, and sending hundreds of thousands into panic. among the victim, 12 afghan girls who died in a stampede trying to escape their school building. medical workers scramble as the injured are rushed into this hospital in peshawar, pakistan. the moment the quake struck in kabul, ca

abdullah senussi. but if you look behind abdullah senussi... >> there's a dark-skinned man. >> dornstein: there's a dark-skinned man. you pull all the images, and you keep finding a dark-skinned man. >> right. >> dornstein: but i still would like to know more. so, i said, "there's 36 men on trial. is there a charge sheet here?" >> yeah, what are they charged with? >> dornstein: number 28 on the charge sheet. and i translate it, and you can even grab it, and put it into google translate, and it "a'bujilah masoud." and the charge is bomb making. >> my goodness. from a moral standpoint, and from an administration of justice standpoint, i can see no good reason not to pursue this. that's not to say you're not gonna run into a brick wall. >> dornstein: i'm interested in the story that connects la belle, lockerbie... >> so i'm mainly responsible for collecting evidence. >> dornstein: well, that's really what i'm interested in. i made contact with a german lawyer who had extensive files on libyan terror operations. i'm deeply interested in all the nitty gritty of who did what, and there's one person whose name comes up. >> what's his name? >> dornstein: massud abu agela. >> yeah, yeah. we were checking the files, but we haven't found anything on this name. so what i would suggest is that we meet each other. >> dornstein: the lawyer was willing to help me track the bomb expert, abu agela, who, he said, was still wanted for the disco bombing. the lawyer was also interested in the link to lockerbie. in both cases, the key witness would turn out to be the lawyer's client, musbah eter. since my last trip to berlin, i learned the u.s. government had contacted eter. they'd apparently heard about the link i'd found between him, the libyan bomb expert, and lockerbie. >> i believe the law enforcement people, they are motivated and take it for serious. >> dornstein: andreas schulz is musbah eter's lawyer. he was careful not to reveal too many details of the ongoing investigation. >> well, the competent authorities in the u.s. is the f.b.i. for this case. and that means the f.b.i. was here. >> dornstein: about lockerbie? >> recently, yes. but the main problem is time. time is running against the investigation, because these people are at a certain age. but, you know, this is in the hands of the u.s. authorities. if you put all the power and capability the u.s. has, i think that there are always ways to get your hands on culprits of lockerbie. so it's a question of the political will. >> dornstein: since the bombing in 1988, the f.b.i. has maintained lockerbie as an open case. but, to my knowledge, they never found a witness with real firstd information about the plot. that is, until they apparently became aware of my reporting about musbah eter, then requested to meet with him several times at the u.s. embassy in berlin. and it was in these meetings, i later found out, that eter offered new details about lockerbie. eter told the f.b.i. that he had no doubt that lockerbie was carried out by libyan intelligence. he said the operation was led by said rashid, who spoke often about the need to avenge the u.s. bombing of tripoli with at least double the casualties. during the year before lockerbie, eter said, rashid hatched a plan to take down a u.s. plane. he said abdel baset al megrahi was part of these early discussions, and would be a key member of the team that would carry it out. most significantly, eter said he had conversations with the technical expert who he worked with on the disco bombing, abu agela. and that abu agela personally told him that he'd helped carry out lockerbie. abu agela apparently also took responsibility for la belle and the bombing of a french passenger plane that killed 170 people. >> if he's said these things, and there are facts to back up some of the things he says, and it sounds like there are, i don't know why they would not want to bring that to court. if there's somebody alive today that was involved in this, and there's knowledge of that, we should be going after them. we should be going after them. we would have gone after them in 1991, if... especially if we had this kind of information. we would have indicted, certainly would have indicted him. >> dornstein: when it came to abu agela, the original lockerbie investigators did gather important evidence that they were never able to use against him. this evidence centered around the airport in malta, just off the libyan coast, where the bomb was said to have originated. here they found the landing card that showed abu agela had entered malta the week before the bombing, complete with the passport number that matched the c.i.a. and stasi records. they even had abu agela's fingerprints. then they found the passenger list for the flight that abu agela took home to tripoli the day of the bombing, possibly after helping arm the device that was then sent onto flight 103. joining abu agela on that flight was abdel baset al megrahi, who was traveling under a known alias. all of this evidence was gathered years ago, but it took musbah eter's statements in berlin to apparently tie it all together and potentially generate the first new charges in the case in some 25 years. >> the more we go deeper into this, the more we realize we were always on the right track. we were always right about this. >> dornstein: right. >> how does that make you feel like... where are we now? >> dornstein: i don't know. it's gone about as far as i can go. what happened inside that embassy, that's out of my hands and eter's now potentially a witness in a federal case. he's not a guy in my movie any more. >> i think you've pushed as hard as you can push. maybe this is as far as you can go, so... >> dornstein: the whole purpose of finding them was to come face to face, sit there with someone and say, "you know you killed my brother, and he was a real person, and i loved him and other people loved him." >> yeah. >> dornstein: "and you shouldn't have done that." >> yeah. terrorists killed your brother and my friend. i don't know that we can cause them to feel accountable or to feel shame for what it is that they produced. they ended his life and there were maybe 270 other david dornsteins who were aboard that particular flight and we're not going to bring those people back. >> i think about him constantly. i think about what was lost when he was lost and how lucky i was to have known david dornstein. i mean, here are all sorts of ways to pursue meaning from tragedy. and killing david on that plane, the only way i can make sense of it is... i i can't make sense of it >> dornstein: i'm sure there are people in my life who are thinking, "it's not healthy for you to go on chasing libyans, chasing some kind of truth that won't bring your brother back, and doesn't allow you to live your life fully." >> do you go on? that's what you're asking. do i go on? i think only if you can rein it in sufficiently not to allow it to destroy your existing family and your future family and your future happiness, because you can't bring back the people you lost. >> dornstein: right. i've done everything i could... these days, dr. jim swire still maintains his campaign for a new inquiry into the bombing. he still believes that much of the prosecution case against megrahi and the libyans doesn't hold up to scrutiny. i want you to see the things that you might not be aware of that raise questions for me. what i found is that... i walked dr. swire through the trail of papers that led me to the man i believed to be the lockerbie bomb expert. abu agela mas'ud. and i tried to explain how this bomb expert-- abu agela mas'ud-- was tied to the man whose innocence dr. swire has been fighting for over the years. so, megrahi is traveling with this person abu agela mas'ud before the bombing, and it's hard for me to imagine megrahi himself wasn't involved. >> mm-hmm. >> dornstein: this person is a known bomb expert traveling with megrahi the day of lockerbie. >> mmm. >> dornstein: if this story that i'm putting together here were true, it would challenge a lot of what you have come to believe. >> mmm. i don't know what to make of that. but, on the other hand, i'm not the sort of guy who wants to sit around and watch this sort of thing dismissed as not worth pursuing simply because it doesn't match what we think we know. buyou've got to take it to the next step, i'm afraid. great to see you. >> dornstein: thank you. terrific. over the course of the year after this meeting, dr. swire continued to fight against the original verdict in the lockerbie case. and i continued to develop evidence about the libyan bomb expert, abu agela. as i gathered more information, i shared it all with dr. swire and he always responded in a very thoughtful way. in the end, he allowed that abu agela and others in the qaddafi inner circle may have played a role in lockerbie, but he remained wholly committed to one core belief: that his friend abdel baset al megrahi was innocent. megrahi himself was now dead, of course. and so was the likely mastermind of the bombing, said rashid. and abdullah senussi? the former intelligence chief has been on trial in tripoli. and in the summer of 2015, he was finally enced. >> abdullah mohammed senussi. >> in news from libya, the former head of intelligence and eight others have been sentenced to death for committing war crimes during... >> dornstein: abu agela was sentenced as well. he was given ten years for making bombs during the libyan revolution. but thus far, he faces no charges for his possible role in lockerbie. >> i mean, the issue of lockerbie, the biggest victim is the truth. the simple truth. forget about indictments, about who goes to jail, who does what. it's the simple truth of what happened. why. because nobody has a stake in telling you the truth. >> dornstein: the f.b.i. and the justice department say they can't comment publicly about the lockerbie case, which remains an ongoing investigation. and though it's been some 25 years since they last filed charges in the case, they maintain that they've been "working aggressiv

carried out the bombing. >> and the other figure, abdullah senussi, was a more known character, right, as head of intelligence in libya? >> yeah. abdullah senussi is a very well-known figure. he is the brother-in-law of moammar gaddafi. he was the second most powerful man in the country at the time, at the end of the regime. he had been linked to many crimes against libbians themselves, including a massacre at a prison in the 90s that killed 1500 people. he also was linked to a number of foreign attacks, including the bombing of a french passenger plane. he was tried and convicted in cn absentia by the french for bombing a french passenger plane or helping conceive of that. the list of charges against senussi is long. the list of parties who are interested in having senussi tell them the full truth is also long. and he was well known. and the u.s. government may or may not have already spoken to him. he's been in detention in various forms for a number of years, but it's abdelbaset ali mohamed al megrahi who really was the target of what i did and what "frontline" just put out. >> you went back to look at this in part because of the per

abdullah of jordan, that the way to help this lies in the al-aqsa, there can be no doubt about the peace negotiation. what king abdullah says unless the issue is addressed, the rights of access, there can be no attempt to end the current wave of violence. so that is the message that king abdullah will give to kerrry once and again if the two meet in coming days as we understand will happen >>> many thinks. mike hanna in west jerusalem >>> russia's defence ministry says its planes have struck dozens of targets in syria in the last 24 hours. the pictures show the russian strikes on the rebel held area in homs province. activists say the syrian government backed by russian forces have been bombing the strategic found for two weeks. several rebel groups operate under the free syrian army rebel, supported by some western and gulf arab states. the united nations says more than 570 children have been killed in a conflict in yemen. 800 have been wounded. since the fighting intensified in march. >> reporter: like most households, this is the part where you keep your child's clothes. for this father it's a painful reminder of the dead son. he can still smell his scent in the clothes much >> translation: he used to play, jump on the bookshelf and share moments with his brother. he can't

abdullah on saturday and mahmoud abbas. >> in the criss-cross diplomatic initiative jordan's king abdullah met the u.n. secretary-general fresh from talks from the palestinian leaders. on the king's mind, massive demonstrations taking place in jordan, evidence that the effect of the conflict are rippling through the region as a whole. the attacks may be unorganized, but they are having an impact greater than other waves of palestinian resistance in recent years. overnight another killing. soldiers gunning down a man they thought was a palestinian attacker. the body was initially placed in a black bag, transferred to a white one when his identity is combine. in death there's a difference in treatment. >> earlier we focused on democratic candidate hillary clinton about the attack on the u.s. mission in 2012. in the in context we take a look in libya. the country is forn in two. the united nations continues efforts to bring the two warring factions toot. >> the internationally recognised government and libya's parliament headed by minister abdul are based in tobruk in the east. in the west, the new genera

abdullah who carries the title of custodian of two horribly mosques. he took the throne in january. >> we are going to continue with the approach of father, king abdullahziz who built the state and is followed by has son. >> after the death of his half brother, the 79-year-old king began his rein against a backdrop offedas advance of isil and conflict in neighboring yemen. his saudi-led coalition launched its 3w078ing campaign in march. more than six months later, the houthis still control yemen's capital and saudi-led coalition forces remain embroiled with battles with the houthis for control over the whole country. the united nations says more than 2,3 civilians have died so far in the conflict. one saudi-led airstrike in september killed at least 130 wedding guests. it only amended to criticism piling up against the house of saad. courtney keeley, al jazeera. >> pleased to be joined by a middle east analyst and senior fellow for the king faisal research center. >> what do you think one who says he is in the house of the royal family that the king is being asked to step down by many members of the royal family? >> there are rumors that are going arou