the supreme leader, ahmadinejad, at odds. how bad was this for ahmadinejad today? >> well, it was embarrassing for him that he tried to turn it into something that was not embarrassing. obviously, with his cracking of the jokes and even saying afterwards that, you know, i could have -- i could have come up with better questions if they'd asked me first. they didn't even ask me very tough questions. i mean, there's a lot of theater about the whole thing. but i think it was embarrassing for him. i certainly, from a domestic political standpoint inside iran, this has been threatened a bunch of times. but every time parliament has backed off the threat of summoning him which could lead to impeachment. certainly i think it weakens him a little built in the eyes of many people, but it also could strengthen him in the eyes of his supporters or people who believe that he is actually better than the hard-liners who are running the country. >> this is a key question, though. because if sanctions are effective, and i know obviously the impact that they have on regular people

one conservative group is led by the current president, ahmadinejad.e has fallen out with the leader of the other faction, iran pose a supreme leader, who has the final say on all matters of state. analysts will be looking for insights from the polling results. as the factions jockey for position in presidential elections next year. >> we can go straight across to tehran. thanks for joining us, martin. we saw in that report that the regime is keen to emphasize high turnout. how important is turnout? >> the turnout of this parliamentary election as one of the most important questions. officially, they speak about a high turnout. you showed it in the report. on the other hand, we saw in the morning some polling stations with only a handful of voters in front. the opposition called the supporters to stay home, close their shops, and not to go to the polling station. the turnout of 50% or less shows a regime that they have no back up in the population. in former times, the regime had a great back up in the population and a lot of supporters. the final resu

ahmadinejad on the spot. the president summoned before parliament for the first time since the 1979 revolution. conservative parliament members called him out on everything from the limping economy, which is a victim of u.s. sanctions, to his public disagreements with the ayatollah who of course is a supreme leader of iran. now, ahmadinejad tries to make jokes and he made no secret of his distain for the event saying, quote, the fact is that i tried not to attend this session, but i guess it was ordained that i should come, so there is nothing i could do about it. i met him once in person. that seems the way she would have delivered it. there's much more going on. president obama watched today as tehran action, and he used some of the strongest language while standing next to the prime minister of america's closest ally. >> they must infer they can't escape or invade the choice before it. meet your obligations or face the consequences. >> while leaving no room for doubt, the president returned to the subject

ahmadinejad is believed to disagree with the leader. candidates in the political group lost again supporters earlier this month. analysts now fear that rejecting compromise with the western israel, tension are likely to grow. nhk world, tehran. >>> north korea and russia have agreed to cooperate to resume the six party talks. met with russian minister. the russian foreign ministry. the north agreed to suspend its enrichment activities and inspectors from the atomic energy agency at last month's meeting with the united states. in return, the u.s. will provide food aid. the russian government has welcomed the north's move. the north korean vice foreign minister will stay in russia until friday. he's expected to meet the new chief negotiator for the six party talks, deputy foreign minister. >>> china's government says it wants to slow down the economy and focus on stability. the national people's congress closed its annual session in beijing on wednesday. the apartment approved budget and policy plans for the coming year. they included a h

but ahmadinejad counted that he had no intention of defying him. he said the lawmakers must have better things to do for the people than summoning him. ahmadinejad is believed to disagree with the hardlined conservative. candidates in the president's political group lost heavily against loyalists in elections earlier this month. analysts now fear that with iranian hard-liners rejecting compromise with the western israel, tensions are likely to grow. nhk world, tehran. >> north korea and russia have agreed to cooperate to resume the six-party talks. the north's vice foreign minister met on wednesday. the russian foreign ministry said the two envoys discussed north korea's nuclear development and confirmed they will work closely to restart the talks. the north agreed to suspend its uranium enrichment activities and accept inspectors from the international atomic energy agency at last month's meeting with the united states. in return the u.s. will provide food aid. the russian government has welcomed the north's move. the two ministers also discussed

high seeming turnout would strengthen him, not president ahmadinejad. elections have always been important to our country, he says, and the more enthusiastically people participate, the better for our country. at the london studios of the bbc persian service, televise to iran, i watched their election program going out live. audience figures have doubled in the last six years. this was their election phone in program with callers ringing in from inside iran itself. many people were analyzed that a former president -- were an elite that a former president had voted when he said he wouldn't. meanwhile, others were trying to jam the program electronically. what is at stake in this election? a biographer of ahmadinejad working for the bbc explained. >> the choice today is between hard-liners and more hard liners, if you like. if you have the more hard- liners' coming in, probably more hard-line iran will emerge. >> the opposition in iran is just watching this election from the sidelines. only three years ago, it looked for a moment as telling you revolution

president ahmadinejad, the man accused of stealing that election, was the loser today. but the winner are are more extreme still. the religious leadership. >> still ahead, the russian strong man putin rallies his supporters as he anticipates a return to the presidency. time for a quick look at some of the newspaper stories making headlines around the world. the picture of french journalist injured covering the uprising in syria giving her account of how she survived. the financial times focuses on the situation in europe, the region's leaders say the euro zone is finally emerging from its two years debt crisis. president obama is again stressed that tehran cannot develop a nuclear bomb telling the iranians he is not bluffing. here in the u.k. says the government is considering a controversial plan to privatize the police. companies could take responsibly for patrolling neighborhoods and detaining suspect. and the daley mail has bad news, claims that they're good night to range interest rates despite the base rate remaining at half of 1%. >> this is bbc news, these are t

i am curious about the growing rift between ahmadinejad and the supreme leader and everything that is an obstacle or opportunity to negotiations. >> i am looking at your questionnaire, but perhaps the question that was not asked is to ask the american public if they believe negotiations will lead iran to its ambitions. >> i am pessimistic on the negotiations but think they need to be tried, but we have been at this for a while, and it goes to the question of ahmadinejad and the supreme leader. interestingly enough, we actually have an agreement negotiated with iran to expand -- to extend its agreement and ultimately disbanded it. ahmadinejad as ran under the idea of the those people were traders, and he wins and restarts the nuclear program, and we have been trying to get to the agreement ever since with no avail. ongoing negotiations seem to be supported by the supreme leader, and every time they seem to make progress, ahmadinejad would make a public speech, and it would all fall apart. now appears ahmadinejad might think it is in his interest to negotiate a deal and the supreme lead

of the supreme leader khamenei and those loyal to mahmoud ahmadinejad. the price of day today goods has gone up. the economy is in trouble. >> i think the economic situation has become a large part of the daily life. be ast see how these will sensational as the previous round. >> this is a national responsibility, including the increase in sanctions and economic issues. this is very important and vital. >> this is why the rest of the world is paying attention, iran's nuclear program worries western governments to but no one expects a change of policy followed in this election. the ayatollah will still have the final word. >> police in greece say a man who lost his job in a plastics factory and had taken two hostages in protests has surrendered after 12 hours. he shot and injured his former boss and one other worker before taking the hostages in the northern city. this has been one of the worst hit in a country where unemployment is running at 21% and rising. the news that has surprised many in azerbaijan. >> many will be competing in the euro vision song

so the battle is expected to be split between this man, mahmoud ahmadinejad and the supreme leader, ayatollahli khamenei. >> for the first time since 2009, iran goes to vote. but not everyone will choose to do so. the opposition reformists are boycotting the polls. they say the government's made it impossible for this election to be fair. others will stay at home. >> i've decided not to participate in this round. i mean, i voted once in the elections in 2009. however, this time i have no interest in participating in the elections. >> this eelection, then, is a straight fight between the rivals within the movements. supporters of the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei are up against the loyal supporters of mahmoud ahmadinejad. in this contest, the ayatollah holds all the cards. and there's a subject that worries most voters. over the last year, the price of day-to-day goods has gone up, and the economy is in trouble. >> i think the economic situation has become a large part of people's daily lives. the elections have lost their color because of high prices. i don't feel the elections will b

on one side, president ahmadinejad and his loyalists. on the other, hard liners who support the supreme leader. they a pose any concession to western nations on iran's nuclear program. the supreme leader says the election is crucial because it comes at a time when the public should unite in the face of stronger pressure from western nations. he appears to be gaining the upper hand. people have been critical of president ahmadinejad because western sanctions are hurt the domestic economy. most prodemocracy reformists are not running in this election. strict regulations by authorities are working to keep them out of politics. the overall results are expected to come out as early as this weekend. iran is expected to take an even tougher stance against western countries if conservative hard liners expand their hold on power. that would make resolving concerns about nuclear ambitions even more of a challenge. >> russian prime minister putin who is widely expected to win sunday's president election says he may be ready to discuss ways to settl

ahmadinejad's allies lost by a large margin. outgoing parliament plans to summon the president soon for a rare hearing. lawmakers will question his handling of iran's economy. the victory by hard-line politicians could increase tensions with the west and israel. conservatives reject any compromise over iran's nuclear development program. >>> disgruntled russian citizens and a defined political opposition are keeping up the pressure on vladimir putin. thousands of people took to the streets in moscow to protest his victory in the country's presidential election. about 20,000 people rallied at a square near the center of the capital. opposition leaders say the vote was rigged. they include grigory yavlinsky, who was prevented fro registering to run in the election. one demonstrator said putin is trying to monopolize power and the country will fall into decline without a change in leadership. organizers have planned more protests for saturday. crowds of putin supporters staged their own rallies. at least 10,000 people gathered clos

on one side, president ahmadinejad and his loyalists. on the other, hard liners who support the supreme leader. they a pose any concession to western nations on iran's nuclear program. the supreme leader says the election is crucial because it comes at a time when the public should unite in the face of stronger pressure from western nations. he appears to be gaining the upper hand. people have been critical of president ahmadinejad because western sanctions are hurt the domestic economy. most prodemocracy reformists are not running in this election. strict regulations by authorities are working to keep them out of politics. the overall results are expected to come out as early as this weekend. iran is expected to take an even tougher stance against western countries if conservative hard liners expand their hold on power. that would make resolving concerns about nuclear ambitions even more of a challenge. >> russian prime minister putin who is widely expected to win sunday's president election says he may be ready to discuss ways to settl

the contest is heating up among ayatollah khamenei and president ahmadinejad. a group supporting the predent is fighting a tough election battle after many candidates are said to be disqualified by the guardian council. the council is a constitutional watch dog under the influence of khamenei. hard-liners of president ahmadinejad are attacking his fiscal measures of reducing substance. iran's economy is over its nuclear program. meanwhile, staged massive anti-government rallies after the presidential election in 2009 are leading to pressure on authorities. iran could take a tougher stance against western nations if conservative hard-liners expand their hold on power in the election. >>> two afghans have killed two u.s. soldiers in afghanistan. the burning of copies of the koran last month has stoked anti-american sentiment. spokespersons for the international security assistance force say afghans working with the americans opened fire at a base in the southern province of kandahar. they say isap forces shot and killed the gunmen. one was believed to be a soldie

and that means a tough time for the leaders' conservative rival, the president mahmoud ahmadinejad. the ayotollah has banned some of the president's favorite candidates from standing in this election. and here's the subject that most worries many voters in iran. over the last year, the price of day-to-day goods has gone up dramatically. >> i think the economic situation has become a large part of people's daily lives. the elections have lost their color because of high prices. >> and no one expect this vote to bring any surprises. ayotollah and his allies rule iran today and they will continue to do so after this election is over. james reynolds, bbc news. >> the president of argentina christina fernandez says he wants to negotiate a deal with britain to allow direct flights between argentina and the forkland islands. she demanded the u.k. discuss the sovereignty of the forklands and excused britain of militarizing the south atlantic. flooding has continued to affect large parts of australia with thousands of people in the state offense new south wales and victoria bracing themselve

did ahmadinejad say that he wanted to wipe israel off the map, or was that something that he did not say or was inaccurate and sort of made up by the right-wing press? and, two, if it is true that he said that, what would be, you know, the president of a country's logic of promulgating that kind of a position when you're dealing already with a hostile world community, and you're trying to deal with a nuclear weapon? i mean, what's the truth behind all that? >> thank you. um, what ahmadinejad said at that conference in persian did not contain the word "israel," did not contain the word "map," did not continue the word "wipe off." however, it's important to keep this in mind. what ahmadinejad was trying to do was to quote khomeini from a statement that he had given back in the early 1980s. it was not the right-wing media who had mistranslated that as wiping israel off the map, it was actually the iranian translators themselves who had mistranslated that back in the 1980s sprk when ahmadinejad repeated it even though he misquoted khomeini, the same iranian translation was spread. and, o

we'll show you mahmoud ahmadinejad getting testy today. and see what -- how that could actually cost him his job and you think this isn't all tied up in a bow with syria? wait until you hear what's happened there. from the journalists of fox news on this wednesday fox report. parker... whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil no and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ sic. and the confidence to win. [ male announcer ] head & shoulders active sport with the high-performance hydrazinc formula, helps lock in scalp moisture for hair that's up to 100% flake-free. head & shoulders active sport for men. wash confidence in. not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my

i would indict ahmadinejad under the genocide convention. i would make sure that their diplomats are rejected and despised throughout the world. i'd also make sure that we have communicated our credible military options. we can't continue to express a point of view that sounds like we're more concerned about israel taking action against iran than we are about iran becoming nuclear, so we have to develop our own military options and communicate them to the world. we also have to coordinate what we're doing with israel and with our friends throughout the region to make sure that this is not something that has to be done without thought and comparison and coordination. as i mentioned in my earlier remarks, i'd also station two aircraft carrier task forces in the region, one in the mediterranean, one in the gulf, as well as other warships and military capacities so iran can see we're at their doorstep and, of course, we want to have crippling sanctions, sanctions alone however, haven't worked too far. it took the president way too long to put in

. >> do you think ahmadinejad is rational? >> answer is yes. >>> southern swing. the republican presidential candidates look for votes in mississippi and alabama. two primaries that could tighten the race. >>> campus shooting. two people are dead after a gunman opens fire at the university of pittsburgh. >> this has never happened in our school and in this area. >> this has never happened in our school and in this area. i'm just like so worried. captioning funded by cbs >>> this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, march 9, 2012. well, good morning everybody. thanks for joining us on this friday. i'm betty nguyen. we begin with a debate over how to handle iran's nuclear ambitions. in washington this week, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was urged by the obama administration to hold off on any military action. netanyahu said yesterday he has no plans to attack iran in the coming days or weeks. the former head of israel's intelligence service meir dagan thinks that's a good idea. he told "60 minutes" correspondent lesley stahl that military action before

we know that chavez and ahmadinejad has been making progress. >> ahmadinejad has made six visits to the region in the last six or seven years. this last trip he took he went to a few country cans, it was largely seen as a diplomatic efforts. and the opinion is that he did not really get the reception or the support that he was looking for. >> we need to be vigilant there. it feels like it's a throw back to the cold war when the soviet union was traveling the the world, looking for alleys, but this is serious and thank you for your leadership in this area. my t i wanted to do two final thing s i want to thk you for your service. god speed and thank you for your service. general jacoby, i want to put on the record the flow of drugs into our country is significant and substantial and worrysome but it is a symptom of the demands of the drugs and we have to deal with dampening the demands down. and i understand that is a challenge that you face. thank you for your service. >> thank you, senator haggan. >> thank you mr. chairman and general fraser and general jacoby, thanks very much for your

mahmoud al ahmadinejad to open s nuclear facilitie facilities to inspectors. tonight we're going to hear from a man who usually knows the most and says the least. he's mire debegan, the former head of israeli intelligence. in a rare interview for "60 minutes," lesley stahl asked him about the question of war. >> reporter: you have said publicly that bombing iran now is the stupidest idea you've ever heard. that's a direct quote. >> an attack on iran before you explore all other approaches is not the right way how to do. >> reporter: the dispute seems to come down, though, to whether you are at the end of everything that you can try or whether you have a lot of time left to try other things, which seems to be your position. >> i never said that it's a lot of time, but i think that -- >> reporter: well, more time. >> more time. >> reporter: for nearly a decade, buying more time was his job. the iranians say degan dispatched assassins, faulty equipment, and computer viruses to sabotage their nuclear program. all the while, he was poring over the most secret dossi

. >>> it's election day in iran and president mahmoud ahmadinejad joined voters to cast his ballot in the parliament think elections. more than 3,000 candidates are running for 290 seats. the election is expected to reinforce the power of iran's supreme leader as nearly all the candidates are conservative. this is the first major voting since 2009 when ahmadinejad's re-election was disputed prompting mass protests. >>> and a runaway police chase. what officers say the driver was doing when sped on the runway. >>> he is 700 pounds and can barely move from the couch. coming up, a bay area man's desperate plea for help. and the weight loss guru who is reaching out to him. >>> plus a good night's sleep. the reason some say it gets better with age ,, [ crickets chirping ] [ traffic passing ] ♪ [ music box: lullaby ] [ man on tv, indistinct ] ♪ [ lullaby continues ] [ baby coos ] [ man announcing ] millions are still exposed to the dangers... of secondhand smoke... and some of them can't do anything about it. ♪ [ continues ] [ gasping ] police chased who crashed his s-u-v through a drive up

and if there's a low turnout, it may mean that ahmadinejad hasn't got that. as i said at the beginning, i think the important rule that we have to watch out is the military, the revolutionary guard, whose allegiance because there's a huge uncertainty and these are the people who control the security of aspects of iran's politics. >> i hope it's not another three years before we talk to you again. not only elections in iran, there's elections in russia. the presidential vote takes place on sunday. prime minister putin expected to return to presidency for a third term. rumors of corruption and voting persists, pressure is mounting to ensure fairness after months of protests that were unthinkable a decade ago. steve liesman has sent us this report from moscow. >> reporter: protesters in the streets, a level of government corruption even the president has said is out of control. but still, despite troubles as deep and severe as its winters, russia's overall economic position looks better than developed european nations teetering on the brink of recession. russia

that mahmoud ahmadinejad wants to wipe israel off the map. i said to him is war inevitable. he said, no. which surprised me and then it occurred to me as though we're still playing good guy, bad guy, israel being the heavy toward iran and united states being the good guy in hopes that diplomacy does work. that is what netanyahu tells me he really wants to use diplomacy >> why wouldn't he? he has been in a war. he has been shot at. his family has been shot at. he spent his whole life in a country that barely exists if it wasn't for harry truman it wouldn't exist. there are people there that still have tattoo us a auschwitz and the entire jewish people were so very close to be anile eight. -- annihilated. they aren't going to march to the gas chambers anymore. i don't want a war. prime minister doesn't want one but the best way to avoid one is to make it incredibly clear that iran is not going to get a nuclear weapon under any circumstances. further, rather than publicly asking israel to stand down and quit talking about military action. what we ought to be doing, israel has r

. >> do you think mahmoud ahmadinejad is rational? >> yes.ur rational but i think he is rational. >>> do you think they rational enough to back down from this? >> no doubt, the iranian regime maybe not exactly rational base on what i call western thinking, but no doubt they are considering all the implications of their actions. >> greta: what do you think of what the israeli intelligence chief is saying? is there time for diplomacy with iran or has it run out, congressman alan west joins us. a surprising statement, isn't it? >> yes, it's very surprising. good evening. glad to be with you. i'm not going to get into the internal political bottles but i do find the fact that he said mahmoud ahmadinejad is rational as well as that bureaucratic political totalitarian ideology which is controlled by the mullahs i don't find that rational either. we have to understand the theory of mutually assured destruction which existed with the soviet union, that does not play when you look at theocracy that iran is. they are banking on the return of this hidde

the 50 he lection boils down to a contest between conservatives supporting and opposing ahmadinejad.e results indicate ahmadinejad may face a more hostile parliament. >>> still ahead on "today in the bay," rush limbaugh's verbal attack on a law student over birth control drawy.e t inenra f here is the chase freedom 5% cash back you get on amazon.com purchases. wow! and your kindle fire. thank you. do you have any bubble wrap? activate your 5% cash back at chase.com/freedom i've seen your stunts online. i can explain... jumping a ramp in a shopping cart. so 2005. wait, what? and only 3 likes? honey, it's embarrassing. carol's son got over 12 million views on that dancing squirrel video. don't you want that? i...i suppose. now go make your dad and me proud. tryomething funny. [ male announcer ] now everyone's up to speed. get high speed internet for $14.95 a month for 12 months with a one year term. at&t. >>> this is "today in the bay." >>> looking live at san francisco which believe it or not is the hot spot in the bay airy. upper 40 degrees right now and it will be warmer around the

ahmadinejad's tour in the western hemisphere. the castro connection. the idea that while iran cannot deliver nuclear missile, the idea that they could have weapons grade uranium and bring that across the southwest border and detonate a dirty bomb in the united states does become a real threat. so with that, i guess mr. braun, being from the dea, what do you see in terms of testimony about them potentially becoming operational and also the ties between these drug cartels and the terrorist organizations? >> well, you know, as i said, congressman, they use that example as proof of his key concern, the intel community's key concern that iran, you know, may have made kind of a monumental decision and may have decided to posture themselves, prepare for an attack on the homeland as things continue to heat up. and he used that example to recruit what, you know, what the qods force operative believed was a member of the ultra violent mexican drug trafficking cartel as his key example to drive home that concern. you know, this is the -- really, it's proof that t

this is the first major voting since the disputed re-election of president ahmadinejad. the balloting for the 290- member parliament is unlikely to change iran's major policies but it could shape the political landscape for a successor to ahmadinejad in 2013. >>> students at an ohio high school return to class today four days after gunfire claimed the lives of three other classmates. the suspected shooter, 17-year- old t. jahi leap was formally charmed in juvenile court yesterday. he could eventually be tried as an adult facing life in prison without parole. two other students were injured in that shooting. >>> a chaotic scene at philadelphia international airport. a suspected drunk driver rammed his jeep through a fence and then drove right onto several runways. several planes had to circle the airport and couldn't land because of that incident. police quickly arrested the driver. he is facing numerous charges. the airport was closed for about a half hour. >>> beware of where you park your car in the district. up next, details on how you can avoid a $30 ticket. >>> plus

>> president ahmadinejad has made six visits to the region in the last six, seven years. this last trip that he took, he visited venezuela, cuba and nicaragua and ecuador. we saw it largely as a diplomatic effort and estimate that we have and throughout the government is that he didn't really get the reception or the support that he was looking for. we need to be vigilant there. it almost feels like it's a throwback to the cold war when the soviet union was traveling the world looking for allies but this is serious and thank you for again, for your leadership in this area. my time's expired. i wanted to do two final things. i want to thank general fraser for your phenomenal service and i know you and general jacoby go way back. you have worked together in a series of commands. senator begich reminded me of your connection to alaska. godspeed and thank you again for your service. general jacoby, i did want to put on the record that the flow of drugs into our country is significant and substantial and worrisome but it's a symptom of the demand that exists in our country. i

the president of iran-- mahmoud ahmadinejad-- faced an unprecedented grilling by his country's lawmakers today. they accused him of mismanaging the economy and of defying ayatollah ali khamenei, the islamic republic's supreme leader. the iranian parliament has the legal authority to ask a president questions, but it had never exercised that power until today. ten questions were read out in a live broadcast. >> thank god for having the chance to carry out one of our key duties as members of parliament, mainly summoning the president for the first time in the islamic republic's history. that will let people know it's a real democracy and not superficial and pretend democracy. >> sreenivasan: ahmadinejad was defiant in the face of the allegations. at times, he answered with sarcastic jokes. and, he denied challenging the authority of ayatollah khameni. >> these false labels cannot be applied to the government. but my life shows that i've always tried to defend the religious position of the supreme leader through my action and through proper right and logical statements. and to show that it

i don't see anything to indication that ahmadinejad wants to did anything but give lots of trouble to. not only to us-- >>> it's a big i. to you. >> greta: it's a big problem. weapons of mass destruction, a nuclear bomb is a big problem for all of us. not just israel. so it seems -- i guess i am trying to figure out, how is it -- how is war not inevitable or military academies not inevitable, and if the increased sanctions effective, we would have to other countries not cheating and violating the sanctions. >> that's one of the problems to get, so far, we haven't gotten all the countries, buying uranium and some large companies haven't. again, they haven't actually -- it's hurt their economy. but it has not stopped their program by one wit. that's a fact. it hurs their economy, but hasn't stopped the program? anything to brighten about that? >> so far thasn't. you know, i think that the only way that very strong sanctions would work if they were coupled with a clear military option that the uraniums would be applied to. that's the acid test. they believe that there is a credible milit

. >> ali, what about the parliamentary setbacks in the electoral setbacks for ahmadinejad. >> he has essentially become a lame duck president. there's two important things we've seen out of this. one thing is before an election, the participantory elections and presidential elections, the supreme leader was always bob the fray in these. but these ones he's been reduced to slugging it out with ahmadinejad which diminished this somewhat. also ahmadinejad has become a lame duck president but he is a guy who isn't known for taking a back seat. a lot of analysts that i've spoken to within iran think we're going to see some sort of reaction from him before his term is up in 2013. >> ali, thank you very much. it's great to see you in new york. >> thank you. >>> and defense secretary leon panetta safely home insisting that u.s. strategy in afghanistan will not change despite causes from the afghan government from president karzai to start negotiate agmedial withdrawal from afghan village dozen u.s. bases. joining me now is elizabeth miller on the trip with secretary panetta. what a trip you