inevitable nation's editor katrina vanden heuvel will join us also look at the afghanistan a general david petraeus leaves behind as he officially hands over command of the war today and we'll tell you about the most important geo location company that you never heard up they've got technology that governments all over the world are trying to buy up we're going to have all of that and more for you tonight including a does it happy hour but first let's take a look at what the mainstream media has decided. well the debt limit talks still holding the country on the brink of a default and with america's longest war coming under a new command there was one story of the mainstream media made sure to cover first this morning we're going to begin with casey anthony a free woman today a whereabouts a secret for the first time in three years casey anthony is no longer behind bars yesterday morning she did this and a lot of people were surprised they didn't sneak around to the back door to see and then the watch right out of the front door at this point she has vanished she's calling her boy. those surroundin

i tell you, there are two nicknames for david petraeus. one is king daftd. the other one is peaches petraeus. >> oh, my goodness. >> that is from his days at west point. one of his fellow cadets would call him peaches petraeus. now that he goes to the cia, who knows. we'll find out what it is. >> all right. definition of a complicated man, as they say. all right. thanks so much. >> sure. >>> all right. no matter how many times you delete messages, keeping up with e-mails can be a huge challenge. so what is more annoying, many of the messages that you need to delete that are spam. here's a question for you. what percentage of e-mail is span? the answer after this. introducing natural instincts with our first color refresher. get healthy looking, ammonia-free color, then let the new refresher boost your healthy look 2 weeks in. it helps restore color pigments, so you can get a freshly colored look once again. natural instincts. it's all good. now get all the healthy looking color of natural instincts in our new vibrant shades. >>> all right. back now to the pho

well after a year in charge general david petraeus has now officially handed over control of the afghan war to daniel john allen but could the rampant violence in just the last few days be a bad sign after the assassination of amin karzai as half brother last week on sunday night john muhammad got another karzai ally and former governor from the south of the country was killed in his home two afghans out of a group of thirty three who had been kidnapped last week or beheaded in western afghanistan allegedly for supporting the afghan government the police chief in kandahar and three other officers were killed by a roadside bomb in the south and today three nato soldiers were killed by a bomb in eastern afghanistan as well as one in the south and yet on his way out general david petraeus continue to cite progress in the country so when is reality going to sink in we're here to discuss this with me is lawrence wilkerson retired u.s. army colonel and former chief of staff to. lawrence thanks so much for being here tonight. this is not necessarily something new course of violence death polit

general david petraeus is on the way home. he had been expected to serve longer but has been recalled to head the cia. the force he is leaving behind is now being quicker than he recommended. the insurgency has shown itself capable of hitting back with the assassinations and spectacular attacks. nato insists that they're winning. i asked the general what the possible grounds for optimism could be. >> what we have seen now is developing into a trend. in fact, this past week, yet again the level of insurgent attacks was lower, over 20% lower than the level of attacks in the same week last year. that makes nine of the last 13 weeks in which this has taken place in which the levels of attacks are lower than the corresponding time last year. that is completely contrary to what the intelligence professionals predicted. >> do you think that the strategic level, the death of bin laden, has created any new political possibilities or check political momentum or is it not possible to see it like that? >> well, this is a very significant

. >>> overseas today general david petraeus spent his last fourth of july as commander of the u.s. forces in afghanistan. he met with american troops in the war zone, and just two weeks before heading home to take on his new job as cia director, he spoke one on one with nbc about america's mission. >> happy fourth of july to all of you. >> reporter: it's his eighth fourth of july in a combat zone, but the last in uniform for general david petraeus. he spent the day visiting some of the thousands of u.s. troops stationed in afghanistan. a farewell tour for a general many consider a rock star who found himself asking these tough as nails troops to just relax. >> the best way to relax is to put your hands in your pockets. that means you right there. go ahead. in fact, i'll put them in my pockets, too, here. >> reporter: credited with helping turn the iraq war around, petraeus was tapped by president obama a year ago to do the same in afghanistan. he admits it hasn't been easy. >> i never felt we could flip afghanistan the way we were able to flip iraq. >> reporter: a tough situation,

david petraeus takes over from him at the c.i.a. >>> the u.s.senate is taking independence day off, but will not be out for an extended fourth of july recess, which normally what they do. senate majority leader, harry reid, announced yesterday they're skipping the planned week-long break to revive talks on reducing the deficit and raising the debt ceiling. >> what we have to do is too important not to be here and try to resolve what needs to be done. we really don't have any time to waste. >> prosecutors in the casey anthony trial can call rebuttal witnesses after the defense rested without putting her on the stand. the jury heard from the woman who claims she had an affair with casey's father. here's what she says george anthony told her about his granddaughter, caylee's, death. >> he had said it was an accident that snowballed out of control. but that i was in shock, and by the time i looked up, his eyes were filled with tears. and i didn't elaborate. >> the trial starts up again around 8:30 eastern. in florida, an autopsy finds pro wrestler,

him today in kabul about the way forward in afghanistan. >> reporter: the last days of general david petraeus's command have been marked by two major events: the president's decision to begin withdrawing u.s. forces and days later an audacious attack on one of kabul's most important hotels. general petraeus told us the assault should not be seen as a setback. do you really think that the afghan security forces are ready if they can't protect a major hotel in the cap all? >> i can tell you that our special forces who were sporp not leading and not doing-- for the afghan forces who saw the crisis response unit said that they responded very courageously. in fact, that they took the loss of life with the wounded in action i think underscores that fact. >> reporter: but the training of afghan forces is uneven at best. witnesses at the hotel told us some afghan police ran away from the suicide assault. time for training afghan forces will soon be running out. president obama plans to withdraw about one-third of u.s. forces in little more than a year. it's no secret that you wanted a slower drawdown t

wave i would say the us hasn't gained anything i think the us is losing ground in spite of what david petraeus and the obama administration say this is a bad situation possibly a catastrophe for the united states. on the way i look at an urban exodus find out why increasing number of greeks going back to the groups and putting the city's. some of the world's other stories now u.s. officials have met representatives of colonel gadhafi government telling them that libyan leader must go a spokesman for the regime said were meeting with step in fixing relations with the u.s. but insists that libyans will decide their own future when one party continues in a key eastern oil town of brega where rebels have declared they have taken the city . egyptian state t.v. a creative idea was to show live coverage of the corruption trial that you served under president mubarak the former minister and your previous head of state television accused of losing the country at least two million dollars right you can write casting right decision to screen the trial was ready to try and quell fresh protests which retur

meanwhile there is a change at the top for nato in afghanistan with general david petraeus leaving to take over as director of the cia he's being replaced by general john allen who will oversee the gradual transfer of responsibility for security from nato troops to local forces but as jason ports there's concern afghan forces are too divided ill equipped and lacking in training to fend off the taliban on their own. there's confusion on the faces of the afghan army soldiers as a firefight unfolds on the other side of the wall lucky for them this is the kabul military training center in the bullets being fired blanks the men here halfway through a ten week program and the officers don't cut the many slack when it's over the be deployed eastern province one of afghanistan's most violent corners. but we must push them hard so they can perform under pressure day by day we're making progress the afghan national army has already come a long way its ranks have swollen to about one hundred seventy thousand troops thanks to fresh waves of recruits attracted by higher wages and extra perks the s

is losing ground it's spite of what david petraeus and the obama administration say this is a bad situation possibly a catastrophe for the united states. the way a look at an urban exodus vanguard one increasing number of weeks getting back to the groups and putting the cities. there are some of the world's other stories now u.s. officials have met representatives of colonel gadhafi government telling them that the libyan leader must go a spokesman for the regime several meeting will step examinations with us but insists that libyans will decide their own future while authority continues to work in eastern oil town of brega where rebels have declared they have taken the city and its. state t.v. a clear idea was to show the live coverage of the corruption trial that you served under president mubarak for my nation minister in your previous head of state television accused of losing the country at least two million dollars right right broadcasting rights decision to screen the shah was afraid to try and quell fresh protests and true turned amid anger over a slew from. the grab for gold has se

david petraeus spoke at the enlistment ceremony. soldiers talked about how they feel about serving their country on this independence day. >> you can feel the honor. it makes it more important to me. >> david petraeus said the focus on troops will move from taliban stronghold to the border of pakistan. he will turn over the forces on july 18. >> congress returns from its holiday break as the clock continues to tick towards the august 2 default deadline. kate amara has more. >> with time running out, there is now talk of a temporary measure. congress comes back to work today. the senate cancelling this week's planned recess. on august 2, the government will run out of money to pay its bills. chances are a deal was not done this week. >> there is a lot of discussion that has to take place before signing on the dotted line. a lot of the senate will be in session. this is for a show as much for anything. >> democrats are pushing for spending reductions along with billions of dollars in new revenue. republicans insist the plan cannot inc

what did david petraeus say about the war he's now leaving?ing general thanked his afghan counterparts who he believes are counting on taking over much of the security of this country in the next coming years, he also reflected back on some of the games that nato led forces have made and some of the eastern provinces which have typically been taliban strong holds. he's likely to still have a heavy hand here in the region. and what can you tell us about the new commander. gener general -- >> reporter: again we had the as a result of some of the assassination attempts we have seen in the last week, randi? >> and speaking of those assassinations, we saw hamid karzai's brother was half killed, now a close advisor to him has been killed. any idea why this advisor might have been targeted, what do we know about him? >> well, the man's name is john mohammed hann and he was a formal province shall governor and sort of close advisor to president hamid karzai and he was gunned down in his home with a member of parliament, he was not only another advisor

. >>> el general david petraeus es el nuevo jefe de la cia. medios de murdok. >>> enseguida: 10 días antes de asumir su cargo ♪ >>> hubo violentos enfrentamientos entre comerciantes informales en cucuta, colombia, debido a los severos controles de la guardia. >>> en ecuador elevaron a 22 la cifra de muertos por el consumo de licor adulterado. momentos de terror vivieron los pasajeros del metro en chile, el asesino salió del tren y luego se suicidó. >>> ollanta humala asumirá la presidencia dentro de 10 días y se prepara recorriendo países amigos, pero cuando regrese se topara con encuestas que sugieren un descenso en su popularidad, maría nos cuenta que un motivo sería el viaje que hizo a rusia uno de sus hermanos. >>> ollanta humala salió a responder por el viaje a rusia, que viajó sin comunicarselo. >>> me cayó como un balde de agua fría, y solicito que se pida información. >>> también aseguró que no hubo negociación ni firma de convenios. >>> la información que recavamos es que no hubo ninguna firma, sería absurdo, a nombre de qué firmaría.

david petraeus is about to become the next cia director and was there to say goodbye and thank you. >> under out that can never thank you enough. >> -- america can never say thank you and not. -- enough. >> nasa says it will be flying its air pollution research flight again tomorrow. the large plane carries nine scientific instruments that measure air quality. if you see that low-flying aircraft, there is no cause for concern. it will take place over the baltimore-washington corridor. >> there is much more ahead. >> a big welcome home for heroes returning home from war. we will take you to their arrival. >> md. special olympians are having a great day. >> there are some scattered storms out to our west. we will see how close they get tonight. it is 87 at the airport. [ female announcer ] keurig brews more than just hot coffee. now you can brew over ice for delicious iced coffee or tea. hot or cold, keurig is the way to brew everyone's favorite cup in under a minute. choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. i am playing with my friends. hey, mrs. d... joseph? sarah! it's mommy's turn now. let's go

i'm ali velshi joining you live from new york. >>> general david petraeus hands over command of afghanistang top commander of nato forces transferred authority to marine lieutenant general john allen. petraeus plans to retire from the army at the end of august before taking over as cia director on september the 6th, the day after labor day. >>> it is monday morning. we're still stuck in debt debate limbo. no breakthroughs over the weekend and the clock continues to tick down to august 2nd, the day the government could start defaulting on its bills. we need to realize, setting all politics aside, our country is on course for a financial disaster. we can't take another $10 trillion in debt that the president has proposed. >> we think that the president has said clearly we should do as much as we can to reduce the deficit. we have to avoid the kind of cast that would result from default. >> instead of focusing on end of days rhetoric let's talk about possible solutions. plans "a" through "d" in no particular order. there's the fall-back plan, built in case congress and the white house can't ma

general david petraeus is about to become the next cia director, and was there to say goodbye and thanks and america can never thank you enough. >> reporter: america's 235th birthday. a day to stand up and be proud, even if you're sitting down. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >>> there's another celebration today at the white house. it's malia's birthday. she turned 13. >> she will celebrate tonight with hundreds of troops and their families as they attend a special barbecue and a u.s. concert on the south lawn. malia's younger sister, sasha, turned 10, last month. >>> vice president joe biden made his mark on the world of twitter today. the vp sent out his first tweet just past 11:30 this morning. it read, vp and doctor b, hope you take time to think about our troops and military families this independence day. happy july 4th from ovp, joining forces. dr. b refers to his wife jill. biden's user name is @vp, all part of an increasing focus on social media. on wednesday, president obama is expected to hold the white house's first twitter town hall. >>> google has temporarily shut down

general, david petraeus is leaving as the taliban targets the afghan's president's inner circle, i guesseneral petraeus is now on route back to the u.s. he transition the with marine general john allen today in afghanistan. he is leaving behind 100,000 u.s. troops. 33,000 of them will be brought home by september of next year. all of them by 2014. >> you have shown initiative, determination, innovativeness and courage. you have been diplomats as well as warriors, states men as well as soldiers. your performance has been, in a word, awesome. >> but just this weekend, another key aid to president harmid karzai was killed, assassinated by the taliban, just days after harmid karzai's own brother was killed by his body guard, shep. >> shepard: yet, nato is transitioning one of the key provinces to the afghan military. >> ironies of irony. the province where the taliban, back in march of 2001, brought down those huge buddha structures saying that they were idols. it was deemed quiet enough to be handed over to the afghan security forces. it is one of seven provinces slated to be handed back to

. >>> general david petraeus handed over command of american and coalition forces in afghanistan to general john allen this. is video of the handover ceremony in kabul today. petraeus steps down after one year in charge of the more than 140,000 international troops in the country. he's retiring from the army to become director of the cia. general allen will oversee the drawdown. u.s. forces that started earlier in the month. and nelson mandela is celebrating his 93rd birthday today and he got a special gift. ♪ happy birthday ♪ >> earlier today, students in south africa sang a special version of "happy birth day" before starting this their is lessons. people are being called on to mark the day with 67 minutes of volunteer work. each minute represents a remember of his public service. >>> well, a mostly sunny monday compared to a mostly cloudy sunday morning we do have some patchy fog there. at least temperatures are coming up ever-so slightly. there is a system working its way to the north and the sea breeze has started to develop out of the west. we haven't lost that -- lost that in the lon

. >>> this was the last day in afghanistan for america's best-known general, david petraeus, who transferred command of u.s. and nato led troops to his replacement, general john allen. a west point graduate with a princeton phd, easily the most celebrated modern day general officer is leaving to run the cia as the u.s. prepares for a gradual drawdown from afghanistan. >>> when we come back here tonight, new research on head injuries and dementia and alzheimer's and a group that the researchers are most concerned about tonight. >>>, and later, they may have come up short in the end, but the u.s. women's world cup team members are still american idols. >>> we're back, as promised, with news that may help solve a mystery. researchers set out to see what happened later in life to those americans who served in vietnam. what they found, presented today at the annual meeting of the alzheimer's association, is that head injuries during that war may be linked to dementia years later. and the findings could mean a frightening scenario, of course, for veterans of our current dual wars. thousands of the

london's police commissioner has also resigned. >>> general david petraeus is coming home.l head up a cia this fall after handing off command of the u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan to lieutenant general john allen. >>> congressman leonard boswell is okay after an armed invasion of his iowa farmhouse. the 77-year-old boswell reportedly struggled with the gunman before his grandson grabbed a shotgun, pointed it at the intruder, who then fled. >>> concert chaos in canada. the stage at the ottawa blues fest giving way last night during a severe storm sending people running for their lives. it happened while cheap trick was performing. no one in the band was injured. >>> a 61-year-old colorado woman is facing sexual abuse charges for allegedly groping a female tsa agent in a phoenix airport. 61-year-old woman refused to be screened and grabbed the agent's breasts with both hands and twisted. >>> playing for a battered country, japan beating u.s. in a thrilling women's world cup final, it came down to penalty kicks and it is japan's ever, first ever, world cup title. >>> caug

yesterday, the senate confirmed general david petraeus to take the job as director of the cia. >>> tempers are flaring on capitol hill over the debt debate. president obama is calling for congress to buckle down and reach an agreement on a higher debt ceiling. the trash talking and finger- pointing has intensified. >> he has played dozens of rounds of golf and had many, many fund-raisers around the country but he has been awol on this issue. >> it seems like leader mikhail is willing to tank the economy for the sake of protecting tax break for oil companies and corporate jets. >> the white house has zeroed in on about $2 trillion in total reductions including budget cuts and tax increases. the senate says it will work through its weeklong tour of the july recess to work an agreement before the august 2 deadline. d.c. is not the only place at a stalemate over the budget. >>> residents and minnesota are dealing with closed state parks and government offices today. 22,000 state workers are furloughed without pay. the state government of minnesota is completely shut down after republican lawma

general david petraeus went out of his way to praise afghan forces in a number of complex and dangerous operations. the afghan forces are growing rapidly. now ahead of schedule to meet the current target of 171,600 afghan army and 134,000 afghan police by the end of october this year. they are deploying in formed units and carrying out their operations. there have been some real successes. afghan national security forces prevented insurgents from reaching their targets and eight days ago when a major hotel was attacked the afghan forces dealt with the situation. this was a sophisticated attack. the afghan forces dealt with it professionally only calling in assistance from a nato helicopter deal with the insurgents on the roof. the afghan forces acquitted themselves extremely well and is growing strength and capability will allow us to hand control of security to afghan forces and draw down -- mr. speaker we remain committed to the objective shared by president hamid karzai that the afghans should assume lead reform stability across the country as a whole by the end of 2015. last month p

this may not be the last holiday that david petraeus spends in a war zone, but it is the last time hebe there as an active duty army general. atia abowie reports. ♪ god bless america >> reporter: 4th of july celebrations in afghanistan are nowhere near the celebrations that we see back home. you won't be seeing hot dogs and beer here. military men and women don't have the luxury of taking a day off when they are in a combat zone. but here at the new kabul compound and the capital of afghanistan, service members are awaiting the arrival of their commander of forces and u.s. forces in the country. this is general david petraeus' sort of farewell tour in afghanistan before he leaves this month to head to washington to take his new post as the cia director. >> again, it will be a real privilege to serve with him, and to work with him as we do all that we can to help the efforts here. >> reporter: reminding ourselves that we are in a war zone, news today in southern afghanistan that a native service member had gone missing. british and afghan officials have confirmed that it was actually a

today the senate confirmed the general david petraeus to take over leon panetta's its spot as cia debt -- director. he is expected to complete in afghanistan before starting in september. he is credited with leading the search that saba's the u.s. war in iraq. -- salvaged the u.s. war in iraq. >> jack young may have a challenger in the upcoming election. the former owner of the center theatre said he wants to be the city's second in command. we have to night's commitment 2011 report and joins us live from city hall. sheldon? >> we are in the process of forming the necessary paperwork but announced his intent to run earlier this afternoon. even though he has been escorted out of city twice in last week and a half he hopes to occupy an office in this building. no visible supporters at his side, he announced his candidacy from north baltimore. >> by tuesday at 930 i will file to run to -- i will file for the privilege of being the next city council president in the great city of baltimore. >> although he did not lay out in a campaign or platform ideas he said he would not take money from

gates and monterrey native leon panetta takes his place as defense secretary tomorrow and general david petraeus was confirmed to take panetta's place as cia director. >>> changing the way you buy alcohol. new restrictions that could be coming to a grocery store near you. >>> tsa employees under fire this week for searching an elderly woman's diaper but today more questions about what the workers do when a man flies across the country with an expired i.d. and without a ticket. >>> a summer vacation that's anything but ordinary. what prince williams says about his overseas trip up next. >>> and live at music in the park where temperatures are heating up here in downtown san jose. much likehe sound, soon, of some hawaiian iaan reggae musi. < >>> a house safe is your food. only 2 percent of the food imported by the united states gets inspect and now that number might shrink due to budget cuts. lawmakers voted the cut more than $200 million from the fda's food safety budget. the cuts come in spite of recent outbreaks of e-coli and salmonella linked to things like bad eggs, spinach and peanuts. they

allen received a flag of the international security assistance force from his predecessor general david petraeus in kabul on monday. petraeus will become director of the u.s. intelligence agency later this year. >> i will continue to support in every way possible the recruiting with, the training, the preparation and equipping and the fielding and the employment of the afghan national security forces. >> the first of the 100,000 u.s. forces stationed in afghanistan have already withdrawn from the country. in some parts of afghanistan, secured authority has been transferred to local governments. the. security situation remains volatile. an aide of hamid karsai was killed and his brother was shot last week. s. >>> next are our series "the road ahead." we face the struggles facing japan's fisheries. japan used to have one of the largest fisheries. it accounted for more than 24% of the nation's production. but the earthquake and tsunami changed everything. the nation's fishery suffered over $15 billion worth of damage. and the amount is still rising. the port once had the largest had the largest sha

american general has taken over as commander of international forces in afghanistan, succeeding david petraeus, who is to be the new head of the cia. general allan said he was under no illusion about the challenges in afghanistan. spanish police say they have broken up a major concern that was laundering money from drug trafficking. they dug up some of the money from under the floor of a madrid mansion. it took them 16 hours of searching. when the cash was counted, it totaled 23 million euros. we have been reporting a lot on rupert murdoch and his son james preparing to take questions from the u.k. parliamentary committee. >> it is what everybody's eyes will be on later on today, tuesday. early on, i spoke to a member of the democracy institute. he was talking to me about the cross-examination the murdoch's will face. >> i can see a surprise we can look forward to. the murdoch's well in the comparative cents be somewhat forthright, comparatively in cycle, more than we would have expected, because their attempts to say as little as possible in recent days and weeks have obviously failed miserab

the commander of nato forces in afghanistan, and general david petraeus, has been holding security talks in pakistan as divisions deepen between washington and islamabad. the u.s. is holding hundreds of millions of dollars in security assistance. pakistan has called for an end to u.s. drone raids that have been taking an increasing civilian toll. >> u.s. drones' fly it around the clock in pakistan, targeting fighters in the mountainous region bordering afghanistan. civilians are often killed in the attacks. pakistan has condemned the ground strikes as a violation of its sovereignty, although some analysts believe they are carried out with the help of pakistan the -- pakistani intelligence. >> we are firmly against all terrorist groups. but we fight in partnership with other law-enforcement agencies. >> washington announced it was holding back a third of the military aid earmarked for pakistan, $100 million. airstrikes are putting more pressure on the already tense relationship between the u.s. and pakistan. >> give the pakistan government the drones. that is the way it should be. [uninte

in connection with the widening scandal. >>> today is the last day in afghanistan for general david petraeus a few hours he'll hand over command of nato troops there to a u.s. marine corps three star general. general petraeus will retire from the army to become director of the cia. >>> 12 days after being acquitted of murder, casey anthony walks out of jail and out of sight. our martin savidge was there for the midnight release. martin, she left right out the front door. that's not exactly what the crowd expected, right? >> reporter: no, it wasn't, fredric fredricka. good afternoon to you. you know, this case has continued to surprise people almost from the get-go. and right up to the verdict, of course, many people were very surprised, disappointed with how it came out. then of course with her release, all of this debate, all the talk about how it was going to be done and the very clandestine nature that we probably wouldn't see her at all, we'd be guessing as to one of six doors she might come out of. one of the reasons why you had the pool camera suicide so we might know in some way she w

that, in fact, he was someone that was operate on an operational basis. >> reporter: general david petraeusr in afghanistan, was also mentioned in the bin laden documents as a potential target to be shot down while he traveled in the war zone. a spokesman for petraeus declined to comment. the focus now for panetta is to keep attacking al qaeda in pakistan, yemen and somalia. >> now is the moment following what happened with bin laden to put maximum pressure on him. because i do believe that if we continue this effort that we can really cripple al qaeda, as a threat to this country. >> the u.s. believes al qaeda remains focused on high-profile attacks and would like nothing better than to bring down a u.s. aircraft. bin laden even wrote about assembling a team of operatives to attack the u.s. homeland. but he was killed by those u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s before any of his plots and plans could go any further. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >>> all right. one game, folks, one game and you're world cup champions. that is the mission of the u.s. women's soccer team tomorrow. but they have to go th

amid the killings, general david petraeus-- commander of u.s.n-- handed over his duties. he is leaving to lead the central intelligence agency. his replacement is u.s. marine corps general john allen. >> it is my intention to maintain the momentum of this campaign, this great campaign on which we have embarked. i will continue to support in every way possible, the recruiting, the training, preparation and equipping and the fielding and the employment of the afghaf oational security forces.ç >> sreenivasan: allen's tenure began just a day after taliban insurgents claimed another high- profile assassination. a close aide to afghan president hamid karzai was killed sunday in a gunbattle at his home in kabul. it followed the murder of karzai's half-brother last week. for more on afghanistan we turn to pam constable, who covers south asia for the "washington post." pam, thanks for being with us. the series of high profile assassinations have picca off important targets as well. one of the former governors of a province. why is it significant? >> wel

. >> general david petraeus hands over command of american and coalition forces in afghanistan to general john allen. transferring responsibility for the nearly ten-year war. general allen saying he will support the campaign to draw down u.s. forces and transition some areas to afghan control but acknowledges that it will not be easy. >> there will be tough days ahead. and i have no illusions about the challenges we will face. challenges we will face together. >> generalá6 petraeus who commanded international forces in afghanistan for one year is retiring from the military, to become the director of the central intelligence agencagenc. >>> an extreme heat wave is spreading across the country. heat advisories and warnings in place from texas to michigan as temperatures and humidity send the heat index soaring into triple digits in areas. the blistering heat is expected to move east. with no end in sight, cities are opening cooling centers and warning residents to be aware of signs of heatstroke. >>> harry potter cast its biggest spell yet on movie sw goers. the eighth andá final part shatt

. >>> general david petraeus handed over forces in afghanistan today to general john allen. petraeus steps down after one year in charge of 140,000 international troops in the country. he's retiring from the army to become director of the cia. he will see the draw down of u.s. forces that started earlier this month. >>> under scoring the continued violence in afghanistan while the hand over ceremony was taking place in kabul. three native troops were killed. nato did not identify the nationalities of the troops killed. most of the troops in the east are american. >>> police near san diego are investigating two deaths at the mansion of a pharmaceutical ceo. six-year-old mack died yesterday almost a week after falling down the stairs of the mansion of his father. two days after the boy's fall, jonas' girlfriend was found dead hanging nude from a balcony with her hands and feet bound. they have not ruled out suicide in the girlfriend's death and have not found a connection between the two. neighbors are concerned. >> it's a surprise absolutely. we think of ourselves as a sleepy

it also coincided with the departure of america's top commander, general david petraeus. he is leaving to become head of the cia. u.s. marine corps general allan will take over control of the forces in afghanistan. the u.s. senate will hold daily sessions including the weekend until legislation is passed to raise the government limit on borrowing. the senate majority leader said it was necessary to prevent the u.s. from defaulting on its debt. talks have taken place between the u.s. government officials and representatives of the libyan leader muammar gaddafi's government. this comes after months of air strikes bombarded in the country. for more on what the talks entailed, i am joined by andrew north. what is the significance of this meeting coming so soon after the u.s. government recognized the rebels as the legitimate governing authority? >> there is a direct link. u.s. officials have been clear to point that out. having said they now recognize it after delaying it for some time, this underlines their message that gaddafi has to go. they say he has to leave power. they

war in afghanistan, general david petraeus agreed. >> al qaeda's senior leadership is lessÑi capableenin targets anywhere. >> reporter: panetta said recent intelligence h ayman al zawahiri is believed holed up in the western tribal regions of pakistan. he also revealed that up to 20 top al qaeda leaders from pakistan, yemen, and somalia were identified from laden's compound and are now on america's target list. topping that list, american-born clericÑi anwar al awlaki, leade of al qaeda in yemen, considered the greatest terrorist threat to the united states, the so-called christmas day bomber, was trained and equipped by al qaeda in yemen. panetta confirmed today that the cia has joined the u.s. military in launching air strikes aimed at taking out the leadership of al qaeda in yemen and warned the u.s. must remain relentless in pursuit of al qaeda. >> i think now is the moment, now is the moment, following what happened with bin laden to put maximum pressure on them because i do believe that if we continue this effort that we can really cripple al qaeda. >> reporter: despite the pro

aspiration and delusion, but reports now indicate he wanted to target president obama and general david petraeus and the ten-year 9/11 anniversary including a possible plot to attack official aircraft, like air force one, marine one and general petraeus's helicopter. as we said, u.s. officials stress that there's no evidence that any of this ever got past the discussion stage with now former associates. >>> in this country, in d.c., the battle over the federal budget slogged through another day today. and the president used home field advantage, that podium in the white house briefing room to press his side of the argument with republicans on the hill and the stakes for the u.s. economy could not be higher with that august 2 deadline looming. our chief white house correspondent chuck todd is among the questioners and is with us from the briefing room. chuck, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. this much we know, this debt ceiling is likely to get raised. but this idea that somehow there was going to be a grand bargain, deficit reduction, entitlements, all tied together with this debt

. >>> general david petraeus officially handing over command of coalition forces in afghanistan. that happens today. general john allen is taking over for petraeus as he moves over to take over cia allen says he plans to maintain current campaign. nato forces are beginning an initial handover of military enforcement to afghan troops, specifically in a central province. there are currently more than 150,000 forces in afghanistan, including 100,000 american soldiers. it comes as taliban says it killed a key adviser to president hamid karzai as well as a member of parliament in kabul this weekend. this just one week after karzai's half brother was gunned down by a member of his own security team. the taliban also took responsibility for that assassination. nato also says an explosion killed three service members in eastern afghanistan. this morning. >>> still ahead today on "way too early," if you still have a knot in your stomach from yesterday's world cup finals match between u.s. and japan, you're certainly not the only one. we'll show you the full heart-breaking highlights if yo