they never said 2011 was when they would withdraw from afghanist afghanistan, they always said it was conditioned based. it got shorthanded in the press and the political world. will 2014 do the same? and, of course, the other question, savannah, and i think it's one a lot of people will pose to the president and nato leaders will pose to the president, what makes 2014 any different than 2012, any different than 2013? what make you really think the afghan army will be in so much a better place in 2014 when 12 years later -- you know, that's 12 years after this war started. so, i think the sales job that the president has to do on this is going to be quite tough. >> well, it's a big agenda there in lisbon, portugal, we'll check in with you a little bit later, chuck. thank you. >>> while the president and nato allies talk strategy, the actual fight appears to be intensif intensifying. the u.s. reportedly sending heavy tanks into battle there for the first time. nbc's lester holt is live at bagram airfield in afghanistan this morning. lester, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, g

the time has come to reduce the presence of, you know, boots in afghanist afghanistan, to reduce the intrusiveness into the daily afghan life." most americans would say great, bring them home. >> i think what president karzai is expressing is his concern as the head of state of a sovereign country that he has and that his people have, and certainly we recognize that, in terms of the challenges that are there. >> you know, we're over there helping him and he's in the front page of "the washington post" going, i wish you guys would leave. >> well i think, again, these are concerns that he raised over an extended period of time. each one of them specifically, and as i look at president karzai and look back over the last year, certainly we have taken these concerns into consideration in what we've done. we need to do that. we need as the president has said to listen to him but he also needs to listen to us, and i think that's an important part of this partnership, specifically. president karzai is also, you know, some measure of him from my perspective is what he's actually done, and wha

and the other nato leaders have been talking about what's going to happen for the future of afghanist afghanistanset a target date of 2014 for when the handover of the security operations to the afghans. a lot of people think that's an optimistic plan, public optimism being shown for the plan behind the scenes and a little in front of the cameras as well, pessimism that the plan can happen. we'll let this country, a lot of family members, husbands, wives, moms and dads waiting for their young men and women to come home could get a sense of what this means for the future of u.s. forces in afghanistan. when the president steps out again it could happen at any moment. when he steps out we'll take to you that live press conference. want to in the meantime get a check of other stories making headlines across country. >>> the amazing rescue could end up now on the silver screen, but the chilean miners already getting a taste of hollywood, right now toured universal studios theme park, got a trolley ride and simulated 3-d clash with king kong. some of the miners will be special guests. at the fourth ann

coming up in a few minutes, we'll talk about what this means for american forces in afghanist afghanistan. msnbc military analyst barry mccaffrey is here. we'll go over all that with him. >>> meantime in new zealand at least 27 miners are missing inside a coal mine after a gas explosion. a build up of methane gas may have caused that blast. rescue workers are not allowed in the mine just yet because authorities fear there might be pockets of explosive gas that are still inside that mine. >>> toyota motors is hoping that a federal judge in california will dismiss hundreds of lawsuits that claim sudden acceleration defects were in its vehicles. lawyers for toyota argue there is no proof the sudden acceleration was caused by any electronic defects. it blames the problem on driver error and floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals. the other side is charging that toyota bought back cars with acceleration issues and had owners sign a confidentiality agreement. >>> royal watchers around the world are waiting with baited breath. we could find out as early as today where and when the royal weddin

obama deserves credit for stabilizing the economy and for his handling of the wars in iraq and afghanist afghanistanirst term in office and that the next year will be critical. >> you endorsed the president, mr. obama for president two years in. any second thoughts? >> none whatsoever. when i endorsed then senator obama in 2008, i thought he was the right choice for the country. the country was in deep economic despair. i think the country needed a significant and transformational change. and i thought president obama would provide that for us. the american people are losing some focus on president obama, what he's trying to do. and when you look at the election results as he said, i mean, he got shellacked. i think it was a body blow that he has to reflect on and figure out how to come back. >> powell says the president's biggest problem is a failure to prioritize and effectively communicate his ideas to the american people. >>> winter weather is approaching and causing a mess in the state of colorado. it's a 34-car pile-up. icy and wet roads led to the accident on i-25 between denver and colorado

yes, a measure the afghanist afghanistan, and the portugese press went to the n.a.t.o.o talk to the new eu leaders about new technology and climate change and tooling around in this and they describe as an eight ton diesel fueled behemoth of a limousine and it's for the security and does all sorts of tricks, but the irony. >> the contrast to the local leaders driving around in electric cars and the media was driven in electric buses and an environmentally friendly concept, rolling through the u.n. summit, but we have no choice in the matter. and our president has to be safe. and put the president in an electric car, please. i mean, that would be the worst decision secret service made. >> can't you trick it out and make it-- >> i'm fairly certain, no, environmentally friendly cars typically don't keep the president-- >> and putin-- >> in his car he had a tiger with him and you don't want to mess with that guy. let us know what you think about "the beast" the car. >> german police say there's no sign of an imminent attack despite the terror warnings and stepping up in ber