. >> carl levin of michigan chairs the senate armed services committee. live coverage on at c-span. >> through considerably augmented training and education and recruiting. in all of our efforts, we and president karzai continue to emphasize the importance of exclusivity and transparency on the part of the -- inclusivity and transparency on the part of the afghan leadership, especially integrating local structures into the resources in kabul. needless to say, and innumerable challenges exist in all levels of government and much needs to be done to help the afghan government assume full responsibility to address the needs and concerns of afghan citizens. the national consultative peace jirga held in kabul earlier this month was a constructive step in this effort, providing an opportunity for president karzai to build consensus and address some of the political tensions that fuel insurgency, and to promote reconciliation and local reintegration as means that can contribute to political resolution of some of the issues that exist. the council that he conduct

after the, reaction to the firing from senate armed services committee leaders, john mccain and carl levinand later, defense secretary greagates and admiral mullen exn why they agree with the decision to replace general mcchrystal. >> of course, the lottery is prescribed by law. if demand are basis supply you have to do a lottery. >> i think this is the civil rights issue of today and it is not just about race. it is about class. >> tonight, the market -- the lottery producer madeleine sackler on the family that she hosted for the lottery, and the anti-charter schools and demand. >> mr. chairman, we are pleased to have you here of the g-20 leaders are gathering for the same debate as we are having on capitol hill, which is, what is a hybrid of a love spending -- what is the bright club level of spending in a weak economy. walter, let's start with you. >> house democrats said this week that they are not going to propose a traditional budget resolution. >> we're going to propose a budget resolution, chiefly enter merrilee for, discretionary spending. -- chiefly and primarily for discretionar

carl levin has set a confirmation hearing for general petraeus next tuesday. >> the senators are hereto rebut the last statement. [laughter] good afternoon. senator lieberman and senator gramm and i are here as members of the armed services committee and as individuals who have traveled quite often to the region and have had involvement in the issues of iraq and afghanistan for a number of years. in fact, our involvement goes all the way back to right after the fall of kabulka and bagram air force base and meeting president karzai for the first time. we applaud the decision of the united states to ask general petraeus to serve our nation again. we think there is no one more qualified or eight more outstanding leader then general petraeus to achieve successful conclusion of the afghan conflict. we praise the service of general mcchrystal and thank him for service to our nation and wish him well, every success in the future. we are confident that general petraeus's leadership will of a positive effect on the situation in the region. we still have concerns about the civilian side. in fac

>> well, you know, i was very impressed with carl levin's investigation when he was on the armed services committee into the torture scandal. i felt that was very mpressive. i think dick durbin and some of his recent attempts to try to staunch the flow of money in politics have been interesting. those would be two examples of a couple of people that i think are pretty good. >> we go back to the last clip, you saw the young man neil volz. why did he talk to you, where did he talk to you, and why did bob ney who was a congress who went to prison talk to you? >> those are good questions. neil volz was bob ney's chief of staff. he came to bob -- you know, as he said, very idealistically, which was interesting to me and important for me to hear. they were rightfully trying to institutionalized corruption in washington.3 and bob was a very interesting one in the film because you can see how the corruption sort of gnaws away at them and their relationship, you know, it's like something out of "lord of the rings" where frodo and sam begin to go at each other's throats because of the corruption of

. >> ifill: democrats like carl levin of michigan said some kind of timetable is essential. >> that july 2011 date imparts a necessary sense of urgency to afghan leaders. about the need to take on principal responsibility for their country's security. we saw in iraq the importance of setting dates as a way of spurring action. general petraeus has said that he agrees with the president's policy, setting that july 2011 date, and indeed he told me if he ceases to agree that he would so advise his commander in chief which of course he has a responsibility to do as a military commander. >> ifill: but republican senator lindsey graham said the administration has sent mixed messages. >> the vice president has been quoted as saying about this particular topic, come july, we're going to begin leave in large numbers. you can bet on it. is his view of the policy correct? >> secretary gates has said, i believe in testimony, that he never heard vice president biden say that remark either. for what it's worth. >> well, it's worth a lot because he's saying one thing to one person allegedly and he's say

honi know that the chairman, cao -- carl levin of michigan, and the ranking republican have differentiewpoint on this. carl levin believes the drawdown is necessary to convey to the afghans that they need to start taking over cancer -- security of their country. john mccain, on the other hand, feels like this date does nothing but let the enemy and know that we are leaving and it makes securing the country almost impossible for our troops. host: we are talking to susan ferrechio and looking live at the dirksen office building. they're preparing to question general david patraeus. the numbers are on your screen. we will also bring in some of your comments on our twitter page. general david patraeus' last appearance got some attention because he had a very brief fainting spell blaming dehydration and lack of practice. do you think you will see anything like that this morning? guest: i doubt you will see i think he will make sure he is ready to render any questions. his confirmation is all but assured. last time he told the committee that you need to be careful about deadlines. and he su

. >> senator mccain's counterpart, on the senate armed forces committee, carl levin, announced the confirmation hearing for petraeus to resume in afghanistan. senator levin praised the president's decision to fire general mcchrystal following the staff criticism of the obama administration. this is 20 minutes. >> good afternoon everybody. i support president obama's decision to accept general mcchrystal's resignation. general mcchrystal has made significant contributions to our nation's security during his long and very distinguished career in uniform. we just simply cannot afford distractions of this kind in the middle of a war. it has been clear in the last year days that there is no disagreement over policy between general mcchrystal and the civilian leadership and the administration. that is important. there has been disagreements over personnel and personality, not a disagreement over policy. for many reasons, general petraeus is a solid choice to take over in afghanistan. he provides the strength and he provides continuity. he was the architect of the counterinsurgency strategy. he litera

members of the house senate armed services john mccain, for joe lieberman, lindsey graham, and carl levin who has sent a confirmation hearing no later than next tuesday. this is for the minister if -- this is for the men if -- this is 40 minutes ahead >> we are here as fears of the armed services committee how and if individuals who have travel often to the region and have involvement in the hands of iraq and afghanistan: and to him if our involvement goes all away hah to hough we think if there is no one more qualified than general petreaus to achieve a successful conclusion for the afghan conflict treehouse we think of general mcchrystal for his service to our nation and wish him well in the ffture. we're confident that general petreaus's leadership will have a positive effect on the situation in the region. he still have concerns about the civilian side it might suggest that consideration be given to reuniting the crocker-petreaus team, all of ambassador carper will probably never forgive me for saying that since he is retired rehouse we have concerns about the civilian side of. relati

we will hear from senators john mccain, lindsey graham, joe lieberman, and committee chairman, carl levin, and a senate confirmation hearing for general petraeus will begin no later than next tuesday. this is 40 minutes. >> here to rebut the last speakers. [laughter] good afternoon. we are here as members of the armed services committee and as individuals well-traveled quite often to the region and have had involvements about iraq and afghanistan for a number of years. in fact, our involvement goes all the way back to right after the fall of the airport based in the middle of the night, meeting president karzai for the first time. we applaud the decision of the president of the united states to ask general petraeus to serve again in defense of our nation. we think there is no one more qualified or more outstanding leader than general petraeus to achieve successful conclusion of the afghan conflict. we praise the service of general mcchrystal and thank him for his service to our nation and wish him well, every success in the future. we are confident that general petraeus'leadership will ha

before the mcchrystal meltdown, or funding has been stalled -- carl levin announced in a press briefing yesterday that he will move quickly on confirmation, probably as early as tuesday of next week. next week is going to be a big week for confirmation hearings because 12:30 p.m. on monday, the supreme court pick, elena kagan, also goes before the panel. we will have live coverage. like astaire, south carolina. mary, democrats line. what do you think? caller: i think it is long overdue. i hated to see general petraeus replaced by anyone younger and less experience. i think the respect follows the line, somebody greater than all mankind. then the president and the people will work together with him. he does not say that he has to walk in front of him but at least walk beside him and don't put yourself in front of him. we need to utilize all of these people who need jobs in defense of our country. and we do not need the world. about our dirty laundry and people wanting to boost their -- we do not need the world hearing about our dirty laundry and people wanted to boost their careers. mcch

carl levin and chairs the senate armed services committee. this is about two hours in 20 minutes. >> would like to welcome our witnesses. hillary rodham clinton. secretary gates. steven chu, an admiral michael mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. it is a pleasure to have all of you with us this morning. at the this secretary chu's first appearance at this committee. the new strategic arms reduction treaty before us today is an important treaty. and it will, as admiral mullens said earlier this month, make our country more secure and advance our core national security interests. this treaty is in keeping with a long tradition of bilateral, verifiable, arms control agreements with russia and its predecessor, the soviet union. and it strengthens the u.s. commitment to non-proliferation. the united states senate has previously approved 10 bilateral arms control agreements with russia and before that, the soviet union, with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. only one was opposed by more than six votes. in that case, there were 19 bo