in tonight's "lead focus," we want to assess the strength and role of al qaeda in afghanistan, and we begin with the view from that country from zeina khodr of al jazeera english. >> reporter: tucked deep in the tora bora mountains in eastern afghanistan was one of the military bases of osama bin laden. it was also where the al qaeda leader lived before 2001. >> he was a simple guy just like us. every time he came to visit, he treated us well. when the bombing started, he disappeared and we never saw him again. >> reporter: for years there's been contradictory information about bin laden's whereabouts and even whether he is alive or dead. the question of al qaeda's strength is now at the heart of the debate over whether to send additional u.s. troops to afghanistan. the reasons for invading the country -- to capture or kill bin laden and deny al qaeda sanctuary. that was the mission then, and eight years on it still hasn't been accomplished. taliban propaganda footage. it shows a suicide bomber involved in an attack on the culture ministry in kabul. the bomber shoots the guard before

commanders adt that, and afghan security ofcials say al qaeda has been behind the taliban's growing strength the government saythey often arrest forgn fighters crossing from pakistan. it's from there, aording to afghans, that al qda and the taliban operate and bin lan continues inspire many. the u.s. may be maki some headway in afghanista but the makeup of the enemy and the nare of the battle fight have been chaed. it no longer a fight against one organization, t a broader war against an ideogy that is much greater thaits original urce of inspiration. osambin laden. >> zeina khodrn afghanistan foal jazeera english. >>> across the border, pakistan's powerful mitary expressed whatt called serious concern today about a big new americanid package for pakian. apparent it doesn't like some the strings attached, espeally the fact that the civilian government would ha show that it has control ov the mitary. the bill, which is awaitg presidt obama's signature, would prove $1.5 billion a year for t next fi and pakistani protesters swed their oppositi to the bill by burning anmerican flag, saying it wo

the president considers shifting the focus from the taliban to al qaeda, even after a deadly new taliban attack. our correspondent was there when it happened. continuing coverage of afghanistan, the road ahead. i'm maggie rodriguez. also tonight, the h1n1 flu phase two. not as bad as expected in some places, but in this hospital, it's as bad as can be. is there water on the moon? nasa's about to crash a spacecraft into the lunar surface to find out. and an incredible ancestral journey that leads from slavery in the south to the white house. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with katie couric. >> good evening, katie is off. the taliban struck again today in the heart of afghanistan's capital. a devastating suicide bombing outside india's embassy in kabul. tls the second taliban attack on that building in a year. 17 people were killed today, and at least 76 others were wounded. most of the victims, afbegan civilians on their way to work. we'll have more on the attack in a moment. it came as president obama and his national security team are considering a major shif

there is no more al qaeda in afghanistan.hey are present in what the cia said two years ago is a safe haven. from there they can plan quietly against us if they're not disturbed over in pakistan. i will accept what the general wants to do if the goal is to eradicate that save haven in pakistan by supporting pakistan and doing it from the base. that base is afghanistan. second, there is a very well- defined as a strategy. not with the date that a certain for withdrawal, but with benchmarks of success and failure to ofhow this treasure we're pouring in is getting as results we can see. to leave behind a probability, not a certainty, that al qaeda will not move once they are eradicated back to afghanistan as we ready deploy. put myself five years from now. if we left al qaeda in and sit given to play against us, what would we say if they did strike us again 9/11-dial? with the proper exit strategy, not trying to do nation- building, but leaving certain conditions to support troop increase slightly. host: let's go to phone calls.

the united states enemy, the people who attacked us at 9/11 were al-qaeda. and we can go after al-qaeda in the border areas in afghanistan and pakistan with a counterterrorism strategy. that is, go back to our bases, use search and destroy mission froms those bases and go after al-qaeda and the taliban really isn't our fight. it's the afghan's fight, but it's not our fight. what is wrong with that argument? >> first, i think we must be clearer of that if fact, al-qaeda recognizes the taliban is the legitimate government of afghanistan and that the taliban and the network, the major group that we're fighting in eastern afghanistan have had longstanding ties to al-qaeda and in particular, to osama bin laden. and in fact, we're responsible for inviting him into the country and those ties persist today. so let us not think that just because the taliban sees itself as the gft of afghanistan that it doesn't see that government of afghanistan as part of the overall spectrum of al-qaeda governance throughout the region and indeed throughout the globe. there's just t

this distinction, well, we're going to not worry about al qaeda and we're going to...t focus on al qaeda. >> rose: so-called biden alternative. >> i don't know what the difference is. >> rose: they're not one in the same, though. i'm asking. >> i've metal ban commanders to who say to me, we're all muslims we all have the same cause. it's not that different. >> rose: but the one thing they say is the taliban has no global agenda. >> this taliban commander said he would love to carry on an attack in new yorkç if he coul. told me that new york city specifically we're talking about. >> rose: he was a native afghan? >> native afghan. >> rose: didn't come from somewhere else? >> we smoke in air back, he studied at aç madrassa in pakistan like many of them do and perhaps he had been influenced by al qaeda's ideology. but the idea that this is just a... maybe taliban was a provincial group in the original days of mullah omar in kandahar, but it's not anymore. they have seen the world. they've been fighting international forces for a long time. >> rose: because general jones

remarks to employees at the national counterterrorism center in virginia, president obama cited al qaeda as the pins pal threat to america but made no mention of afghanistan. >> al qaeda is in different corners of the global from pakistan to east africa and southeast asia, from europe and the gulf. we are developing the cooperation to deny a safe haven to any who threaten america and its allies. >> whether al qaeda could again use afghanistan as a safe haven if president obama declines to send 40,000 additional troops there as urged by stanley mcchrystal, the top u.s. commander in the evening john lies at the heart of current debates over the future conduct of the war and the tough decisions the p president must make. >> he has reiterated that he thought it was a decision that needed to be made in a timely fashion and and he intends to do that. >> what does timely mean? >> he didn't say. my interpretation of that is soon, within the context of weeks, not months. >> some analysts argue that even if the taliban were to topple the afghan government, that would not necessarily ensure a safe

the key questions, where is al qaeda? they weren't in afghanistan when we were fighting, are they still there? mike mullen says no. >> the focus is feeding al qaeda and their extremist allies and where the original 911 attacks came from that region and they've now moved to pakistan. chris: question two is the taliban in afghanistan where we're fighting a threat to the u.s.? is controlling the taliban worth the fight? some insist they're not a security threat to the west but general mcchrystal spoke out thursday after the big meeting in washington to argue al qaeda would return if we don't fight the taliban. >> transnational terror threats absolutely remain and i believe the loss of stability in afghanistan brings huge risks to transnational terrorists like al qaeda will operate inside afghanistan again. chris: and question three, can afghanistan be transformed? critics of the war say this country where the british and soviets both failed miserably cannot be tamed. listen to lee hamilton, foreign house affairs committee. >

still, many believe, robin, the real battle against al qaeda is now next door in pakistan. >> so al qaeda may be diminished in afghanistan, but the taliban aear peers to be growing stronger there. why is that? >> that might be on the negative side. defense secretary robert gates saying taliban has the momentum, blaming a shortage of us and coalition troops for the taliban's comeback. the taliban's largest group may be local tribesmen who loosely ashrine line themselves with the taliban because president karzai's officials often pit one tribe against another, adding karzai's government may be damaged by allegations of election fraud, which has not been resolved, and the taliban is surging in that power vacuum at the moment. >> eight years ago today that started. thank you. >>> new this morning, parents who prayed rather than taking their dying daughter to get help will be going to jail. a wisconsin court sentenced the couple to six months in jail and prison.s probation. the girl died of a treatable alled their decision not to get help reckless. >>> did you see what happened in minneapolis

i think we have to remember, this is not just about al qaeda and the taliban. we have two nations out there with nuclear weapons. one of which had the taliban 65 miles from their capital. we have the taliban and others trying to provoke some sort of conflict between these two nations. we also have a taliban that is stretching their influence into central asia. i would say one thing about trainers. i've been a trainer. it's wonderful to have a lot of trainers on ground. who protects the trainers? who ensures the roads they're on aren't going to be full of i.e.d.s because you krnt control them? if you don't have enough forces on the ground you give maneuver space to the enemy, the freedom to attack our outposts that are remote, ineffectively manned. i think you need both. it's not a matter of either/or. >> schieffer: what about that, senator levin? do you think it follows that al qaeda will come back if the taliban comes back? >> i think there's a real possibility. that's what ought to be proceed teched against. and the question is how to maximize the chances of

also messages that define al qaeda as unholy. that al qaeda, they aren't even muslims. has a question. >> howard, you seem to say we can track al qaeda messages on our computers at home? how do we do that >> absolutely. that's not difficult to do but the important thing is how to counter those messages. al qaeda's messages are ubiquitous on the internet. al qaeda in many ways has mon open you litzed the jihadist ideology on line. what we don't have we don't have an ability today to counter those messages. >> don't we have to get al qaeda's mailing list to counter the messages to send ours to the same people? >> absolutely not. what i'm not going after is i'm not going after the hardened militants. when wim talking about al qaeda it's important to understand i'm not talking about just those leaders that are hiding like cowards in caves in western pakistan. i'm talking about those they inspire, the growing franchises in north africa, the arabian peninsula, europe. south asia. even individuals in this country. so i'm going after, i want to prevent young people from joining

the standard you might call the al qaeda standard. that standard is, well, the taliban can take over, that's fine, as long as al qaeda doesn't come back. if the people who want to get out are redefining the war as a taliban victory is acceptable to us -- >> rachel maddow, i asked about the politics and she had none of it, saying this is not a political consideration. they've met with the historias.s >> i think there's a willingness on the democratic side to allow some time. you see these accusations of ditdit ditdithering that it needs to go dpaster and faster. liberals and democrats believe in policy, governments can make constructive decisions about processes in the world that governments can now fix. we're entering year nine. as much as insurgency says you've got to stick with it and protect the population, it doesn't say much about how to wave a counterinsurgency, starting in year nine of a war you' been in this long. >> where's the public? the public is not engaged in fighting in afghanistan indefinitely. the president knows that

tomerge senior administratn officials speaking to reporters emasize thathe focus now on defeating al qaeda in pakistan highlighting rect successes in lling al qaa members there. theyay pose less o secury risk to american ierests. thpresident is reported to be learning towds a smaller build of troops than proposed by coanding general, stanley mccrystal. he will meet ain with his national security team torrow with the fus is expected be trp numbers. ining me is jamie ruben, served inhe state department during the clinton administering. from washington peter baker of the "new yortimes" and mara of abc news. am pleased to have all of th here as we begin thi fourth day of looking at afghastan and pakian as that subject is considered at the top of at is happing in the white hse over these las four or ve days. pete you have been writing about this for the time, tl me where you thi theonversation is, and how they're trying to frame it and howt may be changing from where ey began. >> well, i think that they are trying to relook at what is really in america's national interest here. if you look at a

forces for aong time. >> rose: because general jones has said that they don't see that the threat of al qaeda al qda they seem to me a distinction. >> yeah, well that's great. >> rose: you don't s it? >> i don't see it. >>ose: you think taliban has bought into a mo gbal... more glebl jihadist mind-set? >> these are artificial distinctions. these are distinctions m ade someone who has to createç a powerpoint slide. those are taliban, those are al qaeda. it's not that... you don't have a membershipard. the organizations in north africa that of suicide attacks and wld love to carry on attack elsewhere, al qaeda wannabes, well, if they wannabe, then they kind of are. i don't know how you make these distinctions and the taliban... i guess you could call it the afghan branch of al qaeda but they've been internationized. >> rose: the president has said in the last couple of days... and secretary gates has said the same thing and secretary clinton has saidhe same thing. "we are not having a conversation in washington about leaving afghanistan. we're trying to velop a strategy so we can then make dec

al qaeda's role in afghanistan has faded drastically. james jones saying fewer than 100 core al qaeda fighters remain in afghanistan and they don't have bases there or the ability to launch attacks on the west. now some experts argue here president obama's camp may be underestimating al qaeda's numbers in afghanistan because the group prefers to work in the background. still, though, many believe here, robin, the real battle against al qaeda is now if pakistan next door. >> so al qaeda may be diminishing in afghanistan but the taliban seems to be growing stronger there. some of us may forget there's al qaeda and there's taliban so why is the taliban growing? >> that may be the down side. defense secretary robert gates saying taliban fighters have momentum right now. he blames the shortage much of u.s. and coalition troops over the past seven years for the taliban's comeback. "time" magazine saying the taliban's largest group may be local tribesmen who loosely ally themselves because hamid karzai often pits one against the other and the g

we don't want the taliban to be a host for al qaeda. if, in fact, the real fact is in pakistan, why don't we just make sure that, for example, the pakistanis are stable enough to keep the taliban at bay and then go after al qaeda? >> let me pick up on that with you, liz. there's an anecdote in the latest "newsweek"-week with joe biden on the cover where he makes the point to the president, pakistan is where al qaeda leaders are and the country with nuclear weapons and the argument seems to be you can beat al qaeda, the real threat to the u.s., without winning in afghanistan. >> i think that's just clearly wrong. and i think you've got a situation now somehow where the president made a decision in march about strategy, that he was going to go with counterinsurgency and you've got vice president biden being portrayed as an expert on counterinsurgency. -- counterterrorism. general mcchrystal is the expert on counterterrorism. he knows that can't work alone in pakistan. pakistan, we have to shore up the elements inside pakistan who want to

we're told by general jones, there's less than 100 members of al qaeda left in afghanistan. we should have 100,000 american forces to go after less than 100 members of al qaeda in aft afghanistan. i think we need to re-evaluate our policy. >> that leads to a key question i know that the white house was debating this week. in order to defeat al qaeda, do you need to completely defeat the taliban or can you learn to live with the taliban? >> if you take the haconi network, generally responsible for the bombing of the interior ministry in kabul, i think they're hard-core fanatics. if you look back to taliban control, when it had more in the earlier days. i particularly worry about women in afghanistan. acid in the face of children, girl children who go to school. women who can't work when they're widowed. huddled on the streets, begging. women beaten and shot in stadiums. you know, with all of its violence. i mean, that's one element of the taliban. i think we need to look for those warlords that we can work with. those who want to work for stability, for good solid governments

of course, nobody does a better job of discrediting al qaeda and al qaeda themselves, because they havelled men and children of many faiths in many nations and have no positive future to offer the people world. but even as we target al qaeda and their bankrupt vision, we have to be vigilant in defending our people at home, and that takes intelligence collection and skillful analysis demanding the efficient coordination between federal government and our partners, and that is what we have seen from you in recent years. we have seen your success here in america in the last several weeks. you have stayed vigilant, watched for signs, stitched together intelligence, work across organizations as a team, and with the endeavors in new york, illinois, and texas, you have made us safer. i say to every american, you see the headlines, but here are some of the people who helped write them, will help keep you safe. i say to all of you, you are setting the standard, showing us what focused and integrated counter-terrorism really looked like. callus americans are alive today because you save them, and

it's not going to defeat al qaeda. take the two goals and defeat al qaeda because of the nuclear weapons and the relations with india and islamabad, 60,000 troops taking 50, 60 dead in this country a month and how many wounded and killing afghans as well, it doesn't accomplish the goals. >> why doesn't it defeat al qae qaeda? >> after 2001, they evolved. they became ideological cloud. they exist on the internet. they don't need a safe haven in afghanistan. they have safe havens in six, seven other countries. >> see the entire interview on fareed zakaria gps. >>> hope is dimming for rescuers looking for survivors of a collision between a plane and helicopter. the crash happened overnight thursday off of the coast of san diego after civilian hair traffic controllers turned over communications to military air traffic controllers. >>> in 2004, former vice president dick cheney told a special prosecutor he did not know who leaked the identity of a cia agent to the press. newly released fbi documents showed that cheney repli

what they are looking for is a responsible way to defeat al qaeda. and the president's original commitment back in march was to corrupt and defeat al qaeda and that's the cart of our interest in afghanistan and they are not going to abandon that. >> but that's the change and that's a terrible change. first, taliban would take over and secondly what we're really fighting about here is pakistan. >> pakistan is going better than before. >> threatening the pakistan regime, they have 50 to 100 nuclear weapons, that's the real gain here. and if we need to control al qaeda, that would be -- >> but if we are trying to prevent some sort of solution here that involves us subpoena me meanting drk what sort of solution is that for afghanistan? ultimately we can't win a recounter insurgency. what they say is, good luck if you're a third party in coming in and doing this. and we don't have a reliable partner. >> and that's the point that the president makes. the only way we can win the population is to guarantee security and that means a hell of a lot more troops

suggests that focusing on al qaeda is not enough. the situation in afghanistan is serious and deteriorating. >>> veterans who wanted financial help for school got their money. the government gave them $26 million as an emergency measure. they applied for emergency education aid. but the money hasn't been coming for weeks now. the veterans' department blames it on a backlog of applications. the delay forced veterans to borrow money or force dropping out of school. >>> a monster typhoon is clobbering some people who were hit by another storm last week. typhoon parma land in the philippines here today with 90 mile-per-hour winds. however, the biggest threat is not the wind, but rain. another typhoon deluged some areas last week, including the capital, manila. and today's typhoon is expected to bring up to 20 more inches of rain. the government evacuated tens of thousands of people who were in the typhoon's path. >>> the national guard was call in to help provide security at some dc public schools. guardsmen were stationed at a high scho

the no carnation's top ring counterterrorism feshl told congress al qaeda is on the no carrier ropes. its leadership ring decimated by no car cia drone strikes, but still ri dangerous operating out of safe havens no carrier in pakistan. >> we assess that the al qaeda core is actively no carrier engageded in operational plotting and no car continues recruiting > training and transporting on that no carrier operatives to include ring individuals from western europe and the united no carrier states. >> reporter: in afghanistan ring mcchrystal is fighting al qaeda's ally the no carrier taliban. ring and these maps no carrier ring no carrier charting insurgent violence from ring 2007 to the present clearly show the enemy no carrier is no carri gaining ground. > ring no carrier ring the pentagon is no c rushing over more armored vehicles ring to protect no carrier soldiers from roadside bomb, but ring mcchrystal is asking for tens of thousands more troops. the mix meeting with the president is no carrier ring scheduled for next wednesday. david martin no cbs news no carrier > ring the penta

pakistan next door which is important to the equation and the entire global effort to fight and defeat al qaeda. >> for more, let's go to jik pi jim miklaszewski. was this a surprise attack? >> reporter: absolutely. the forces at that camp, that forward combat post there in the far eastern regions, the rugged moupts continue regions of afghanistan were attacked just after dawn by about 75 to 80 enemy forces. the battle raged on for more than six hours. and the enemy was firing from one concealed protections on on the mountain side that surround that camp. so they had the advantage of holding the high ground. and it took some time for u.s. combat helicopters and artillery to route out the enemy. at one point, the enemy was at ground level, had breached the wire, had entered the camp at a couple locations. part of the camp that was occupied by afghan national security forces wept up in flames, burned to the ground, and as you reported eight americans were killed and two afghan forces were killed. and the tragedy in all this is that as part of a new strategy for that region of withdrawing forces f

he identified al qaeda as the principal threat to america, saying that we are combating that threat. he says this of -- specifically mentioned pakistan, europe, and east africa. he did not mention afghanistan. the president said that we are making real progress in our core mission and we must never lose sight of that goal. shepard: the top commander in afghanistan has been very public about his opinion on what should be done there. it is hard to imagine someone issuing these kinds of leaks under the bush administration. the white house must be lifted. -- livid. >> if they are they are not saying so publicly. we should note that what we are talking about here are recent statements by stanley mcchrystal, the top commander in afghanistan, who since his recommendation was leaked to the washington post last month, last week he gave a strong advocacy on behalf of his own proposals. a think tank in london. robert gates said that he wants civilians and military involved in making profit. >> james rose ann, thank you. fox news cais tracking h1n1. the united states is gearing up for a massive

he said the ultimate goal is to disrupt al qaeda so it can't attack the u.s. or its allies. >>> people in parts of arkansas are drying out after being inundated by dangerous flood waters. take a look at that school bus. the driver and a student got trapped when the bus was swept off of the road and carried downstream by a fast-rising creek. a rescue crew had to ride out in a track hoe and kick in a front window to get them out. in little rock, firefighters were call in to rescue kids at a day care when flood waters rushed in. the water inside the center was reportedly waist high. nine children and two adults had to be rescued. >> it scared me to death when i pulled up and saw all of the rescue personnel here. i didn't know what to think. and then they took me to the ambulance and my little girl was in there. she was safe and sound and looked like she got rescued. >> thankfully, there were no reports of any injuries. >>> police say a florida man mistook his fiancee for an intruder and shot her to death the day before her wedding. they're waiting for forensic re

that he was trained in weapons and explosives in an al qaeda camp and was in direct contact with al qaeda senior leaders. they saw this as their next big attack. he was the man who was going to help carry it out. the great concern is they don't know all of the other people with him. he traveled with others to pakistan to the camps. and they may or may not have them it all scooped up. there are at least a dozen people under 24-hour surveillance right now. many of them about three, four miles from here. steve: thank you very much. >> just so you know. steve: brian, the global war on terror started when we went into afghanistan to rout out the taliban and al qaeda. the taliban is getting a stronghold again. people are saying, ok, if we go out of afghanistan, al qaeda will come back in and we'll be right back in the same spot we were before. >> that's exactly the concern being debated at the white house. the taliban gave al qaeda a safe haven. bin laden was able to operate, they had their camp there's and operated with impunity. once we moved in, they moved across the bored near pakistan. tha

the presence of al qaeda and iraq. can you talk about, giving an update on the current situation there and the strength of insurgent forces and what you have seen as we have started to withdraw? and also on a broader sense, as we get closer to 2011 and once we have completed the withdrawal of all of our forces can you give assessment but the intelligence sources suggest your assessment conclude is the strength of the -- those that might be waiting for us to leave and their ability to carry out attacks to undo everything we have achieved at this point? >> thank you, congressman. first, with losel mosul. probably the most difficult area in the province because mosul is part of the province it is still the most difficult area however, we are making progress. what we have been able to do as with iraqi security forces is bonds ability inside the cities that has allowed us to move out slide in the belts of around mosul and also move towards the border with syria which is made it more difficult for foreign fighters and other

organations in north africahat ar suprting of suicide attackand would love to cay on attack elsewhere, al qaedaare. i don't know how you make these distinctions and the talib... i guess u could call it the afan branch of al qaedabut they've been intnationalized. >> rose: the president has said in the last couple of days... and secretary ges has saidhe same thing and sretary clinton has said the sam thing. "we are no having a conversation inashington about leavg afghanistan. we're tryingo develop a stragy so we can thenake decisionas to how we can best implement that straty and whether it's me troops, whher it's the sameevel of troops, we're not talking about writedown troo. >> think that' directed at pakistan.... >>ose: to say to the kistan... otherwise if they're talking abou leaving they would lose all support, iç assume, in termof the afgns, we better make up the taliban because the americans are lving. >> how do you tell the paktani we've been hammering them "you have to go fighthe talib, you ha to take theç fight t them. by the way, we're leaving." you n't really do tt. >>ose: because th

that's why we need to be there from the standpoint of fighting al qaeda. >> reporter: he thinks thatill require 40 to 45,000 more troops. >> we're losing. we need more forces to reverse momentum that the enemy has acquired. so if you try to hold with the forces that we have now, the situation will continue to deteriorate. >> we need to reverse the current trends and time does matter. >> reporter: the 8th anniversary of the start of the war will come and go this week. but president obama and his add vidzors have not yet figured out how hard afghanistan is worth fighting for. >> osgood: afghanistan, the road ahead. continues this week on the "cbs evening news" and on the early show. >> you're all desperate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor. >> osgood: ahead now on sunday morning, 50 years in the twilight zone. announcer: right now, all over the country, discover card customers are getting 5% cashback bonus at grocery stores. now, more than ever it pays to discover. (rooster crow) ...still tired the next day too? when you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep... remem

very few troops and just with predator drones we can take the fight to al qaeda. i think probably a counterterrorism strategy would include more troops than the people who think it would be easy would expect. >> bill. >> i think mara correctly reflects what the white house thinks in the sense that they think it's an excruciating decision, it's very tough. that's pathetic. this president said it's a war of necessity, a war we have to win. we have to think about it regionally and think of afghanistan together with pakistan and we can't have a stable pakistan unless we hold the line in afghanistan and an unstable pakistan is unbelievably dangerous because they have nuclear weapons. why is this a tough call? we have to win the war. he would love to do it with only special forces. he saw it wasn't enough with iraq. he did the surge. he did general petraeus. general mcchrystal killed zarqawi. our best field commanders think this is necessary. this should not be a difficult call. >> do you think it's possible he could side with vice president biden and decide against gen

the presence of al qaeda and iraq.can you talk about, giving an update on the current situation there and the strength of insurgent forces and what you have seen as we have started to withdraw? and also on a broader sense, as we get closer to 2011 and once we have completed the withdrawal of all of our forces can you give assessment but the intelligence sources suggest your assessment conclude is the strength of the -- those that might be waiting for us to leave and their ability to carry out attacks to undo everything we have achieved at this point? >> thank you, congressman. first, with losel mosul. probably the most difficult area in the province because mosul is part of the province it is still the most difficult area however, we are making progress. what we have been able to do as with iraqi security forces is bonds ability inside the cities that has allowed us to move out slide in the belts of around mosul and also move towards the border with syria which is made it more difficult for foreign fighters and other g

he said the ultimate goal is to disrupt al qaeda, so it can't attack the u.s. or its allies. >>> people in parts of arkansas are drying out after being inundated by dangerous floodwaters. tack a look at the school bus, a driver and student got trapped when the bus was carried downstreet by a fast-rising creek. a rescue crew had to ride out in a trackhoe and kick out a front window. >>> in little rock, firefighters were called to rescue kids. nine children and two adults had to be rescued. >> it scared me to death when i pulled up and saw the rescue personnel here. i didn't know what to think. they took me to the ambulance and my little girl was in there, and she was safe and sound. it looked like she got rescued. >> thankfully there were no reports of any injuries. >>> many people are shockeded that president obama won the nobel peace prize. even the white house was caught off-guard when the nobel committee made that announcement yesterday. as tom foreman reports, the president himself is playing it down. >> reporter: even as he negotiates a new plan for afghan

also, the latest al-qaeda tactic. suicide bombers with explosives in their colons. look at the silent but deadly threat. plus, president obama wants to extend the school day and school year. we will investigate why he hates the chiren. anfinally,s franc mad at the united states. some say it is over the arrest of filmmak and child molester roman polanski. others say who gives a crap, it's france. >> the wall at. >> i'm here with remy spencer. >> comedy jo dee veto, what a delight. i, bill schulz, he stinks of december penetration in pain. and mike baker, former cia operative. if fierce commentary were a cantaloupe i would slice him in half and scoop out his tender flesh every morning. our "new york times" correspondent, good to see you again, pinch. >> greg, a certain cia operative rolled me up into a ball and used me to kill a greenroom caterer because he didn't put skill man skim milks latte. it rhymes with smike, smabek. >> propaganda emerged about an al-qaeda terrorist bragging about his suicide attack. the bomb he is showing to the cameraman, show it. maybe he a

believe that the loss of stability in afghanistan brings huge risks that transnational terrorists like al qaeda will operate from inside afghanistan again. >> mcchrystal is calling for faster training of afghan forces. earlier efforts to speed train stalled. >>> u.n. inspectors will will start to look at eun's nuclear side on the 25th. talks were held in tehran today. inspectors want to make sure the site is used for peaceful purposes. it's been a big concern since iran revealed the nuclear enrichment plant next month. the u.s. and other countries have been accusing iran of secretly developing a nuclear bomb. president obama said that iran was hiding this plant for year. but iran's leader says that's not true. >> translator: based on what is stated in the regulations, we have made announcement one year before the time we had to out of respect for law and the director general of the iaea and nationally the united states must have known about it. i do not know why mr. obama was not aware of it. >> meanwhile, u.n. experts says iran has all the information it needs to design and build a nuclear bom

he also has a new al qaeda connection. in the bottom box, could the dollars days be done? an alleged in the east plot to ditch the dollar in the oil deals. martha: coming up, the way ahead in afghanistan. president obama is set to meet with congressional leaders as he decides when or not he will send more troops to fight the taliban. u.s. forces fanning out to search for those incertitude killed eight american soldiers. that is a live look at the white house briefing room. afghanistan in short to be at the top of the list for robert gibbs, as he walks into the room. the big one right now is will general mcchrystal get the troops he wants to carry out the mission? mike emanuel is standing by. what do we expect in terms of what robert gibbs will tell us about the plan and what he expects from this meeting with congressional leaders? >> we can expect robert gibbs to tee up the president's goals. one would expect that robert gibbs would not want to box and the president on anything, let the meeting happened, and then try to get everybody a reality. there has been so much discu

a key goal was to destroy al qaeda safe haven in afghanistan. today al qaeda's role in afghanistan has faded drastically. so that could be some good news. meanwhile, u.s. national security adviser james jones is saying fewer than 100 core al qaeda fighters remain in afgs a afghanistan and they do not have pace bases there. some experts argue that president obama's camp may be underestimating al qaeda's numbers in afghanistan today. still, many believe the real battle against al qaeda is now in pakistan next door. >>> meanwhile, the taliban is making a comeback in afghanistan. defense secretary robert gates saying taliban fighters have the momentum right now. he blames a shortage of u.s. and coalition troops over many years for the taliban's come back. "time" magazine saying that groups -- the largest group may be local tribesmen who join because president car decide's officials pit one tribe against another. it also adds karzai's credibility may be damaged by allegations of election fraud which have not been resolved as of yet. the taliban is su

trace: remember this name -- al shabab -- could it be the new al qaeda?irectors now on record saying that there would like to launch attacks inside this country. this is significant because americans of similar dissent are traveling in the u.s. to train with a terror group. one american has already blown himself up as a suicide bomber in somalia. right now, the fbi is and instigating a second case involving a seattle man. trace: an israeli soldier held captive three years by hamas, but now, brand new tape that he is alive. >> hamas calls it a victory for the resistance. israel calls a airily. the deal that freed palestinian prisoners and provedhamas produce a bit -- the deal that freed palestinian prisoners. he reaches out to his family and plays for prime minister benjamin netanyahu to win his release. israel got the state in exchange for freeing palestinian prisoners from israeli jails. the whole exchange is seen as good faith gesture. hamas is demanding a total of 1000 prisoners be released, 450 of them are named specifically, including at least 125 pa

protecting the populations, getting control of the cities, fighting al qaeda and all these things. how many are you going to need for exactly how long to do it? chris, a majority of the american people already think -- oppose the war. a majority don't want the troops going in. we have a short timeframe here. if i looked at it, i would say, quite frankly, i don't think we have it within us in terms of the value of what we're going to get for it, the possibility of us winning it and what it's going to cost over that time to really do it. barack obama has got to say, do we start a new strategy now, or do we do it in a year when this one doesn't work? >> okay. thank you, pat. thanks very much, howard, as well. >>> let's go to republican senator saxby chambliss of georgia. member of the armed services and intelligence committee. senator chambliss, this reminds me of 1968 when they said, we can't win that war in vietnam with a half million soldiers, i need 250,000 more. that said to me, we can't win it. this guy is talking more numbers when he's really talking the mission is not working.

go after al qaeda, try to kill them and get rid of them. if they move out, then you move out and tell the taliban if they come back in, look, if you do this, if you give these guys sanctuary, we're coming in and it will be worse. in the meantime, we're going to be bombing you. but to build a country out of that backward area that has never known any kind of democracy as we know it, it's not western, it's islamic. i think their government comes out organically out of the roots of the civilization and we can't re-create vermont in the hindu kush. >> pat buchanan, always a pleasure. >>> a lot of ifs in that answer, buddy. >> it's a tough call. >> thanks, pat. >>> coming up, the president's playing basketball with blue dogs tonight. i think it's time for the president to get into the game on health care myself. new poll numbers show when the president gets involved, support for reform goes up. joan walsh, her take when we come back and other issues on "the ed show." stay with us. people think that honda is always the most fuel efficient choice.

very few troops and somehow with predator drones we can take the fight to al-qaeda. i think probably counterterrorism strategy would include more troops than the people who think it's going to be easy would expect. >> correctly what the white house thinks in the sense they have to make an excruciating decision, i think that is pathetic. it's he said its war we have to win and we have to think of afghanistan with pakistan. we can't have a stable in pakistan unless we hole hold the line in afghanistan. pakistan has nuclear weapons. why is that a tough call? our best commander, general mcchrystal he would love to do it with special forces. that is what he did in iraq. he saw it wasn't enough no iraq. general mcchrystal as many other terrorists in 2005, 2006. it's not enough. general mcchrystal and general petraeus best field commanders think it's necessary. this should not be a difficult call. >> brett: juan, do you think it's possible could side with vice president biden and disregard or decide against general mcchrystal? >> yes, think he could. it would come at some t

obviously, the vice president is concerned about al qaeda, and he feels that al qaeda's presence in pakistan is the main thing we should be concerned about. on the other hand, there are those who feel we need to improve the situation in afghanist afghanistan, not just militarily, but also in terms of developing assistance and nation-building. there are a lot of different goals here, and the president basically has to decide what the goal is. obviously, the prime goal is to prevent the resurgence of al qaeda. >> but do we have a discipline problem right now about the chain of command as far as the message in all of this? >> i don't think so. i think that different people are giving the president advice, and he has to make a decision. i don't think it's necessarily bad that there's a lot of different advice out there, because he should take his time, and make a decision. >> but congressman, time can mean lives there. how soon should the president stand up and say what strategy this country will pursue in afghanistan? >> i think he has at least a few more weeks, if not a month or so. many i mea

in afghanistan where allied service members and civilians from 42 nations work together to defeat al qaeda and the taliban to build a stable and peaceful state. proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile technology threaten the alliance populations and our territories and cyberwarfare will seek to undermine the infrastructure that we take advantage of in our everyday lives. and climate change and energy security and failed and failing states and the resumption is daunting and requires the closest cooperation among allies. some outsiders have declared that nato is outmoded, a cold war relic that cannot adapt to these new challenges. i emphatically disagree and our speaker tonight also emphatically disagrees with that notion. he's arrived at the helm of nato in an extraordinary time. when there's a sense of opportunity and a collective desire for action. he brings to the table the political savvy of a head of government, the economic skills of a financeman and a compassion of a father and shall i say new grandfather. he's hit the ground running, in only two short mont

they are on the way to be a full-fledged al qaeda affiliate.s year, the first case was documented of an american suicide bomber. now, they're working to figure out if a man blew himself up in the somali capital last month. over 800 fighters are training their, and they are being used in simultaneous attacks, hitting two or three targets in a matter of minutes, which is a signature of al qaeda. shepard: you have been reported on this for awhile, but now there's new information about a front man of this operation. >> that is correct. he is known as "the american," but he is really from alabama, and his name is omar hammami. he went to toronto, canada, where he met his somali wife and then he fell into that company. his parents have not spoken to their son in years, but it is clear that he is entrenched with this somali group. shepard: the people of an ancient city try to cope with rivers of blood flowing through their streets. our top story as we go round the world in 80 seconds. italy. heavy rain sent muck flowing through parts of this city. at

if he has a different strategy more in line with biden, which is counterterrorism going after al qaeda, he has to change his mission. thank you general and colonel jacobs. up next, have we heard another mccaca moment? that's up next on "the sideshow." you're watching "hardball" on msnbc. they say imports always get the best mileage. well, do they know this malibu offers an epa estimated 33 mpg highway? they never heard that. which is better than a comparable toyota camry or honda accord? they are stunned. they can't believe it. they need a minute. i had a feeling they would. introducing the 60-day satisfaction guarantee. buy a new chevy and if you don't love it, we'll take it back. there has never been more reasons to look at chevy. home run! (announcer) he's sweet. even with one third less sugar than soda. kool-aid. delivering more smiles per gallon. so my mom decided to give them ours. it's the piano her dad gave her when she was a little girl. she loved it so much. i don't know why she was so happy to give it away. >>> back to "hardball." time for "the sideshow." first, "saturday ni

. >> al qaeda has made a concerted effort to recruit europeans and westerners, understanding they can under the radar in terms of passing through border patrols. >> reporter: the secretary of the department of homeland security said when the zazi question was unfolding, officials considered raising the u.s.hreat level. >> we thought about it and rejected it. we didn't have a specific location, time, threat to justify actually raising the color code. >> reporter: a review panel recently recommended changing the current threat advisory system to three levels instead of five to simplify things >> this brings back the notion of the color code system, even though we haven't herd heard that much about it. now they're talking about simplifying it, making it easier for people to know what that means. >> it sort of loses all of its meaning. it also brings back memories right of a 9/11 of the cia and fbi not cooperating. there was talk the n.y.p.d. and fbi not being cooperative. but robert mueller said that's not true and he's dismissing all that. >> coming up, we'll look back at the devastatin