general petraeus was eager to emphasize that when the u.s. drawdown of 33,000 troops is completed in 15 month's time, the afghan forces should have grown by 70,000. the question is whether those numbers will add up to an afghan security force that's ready to take control of this country. >> pelley: mandy, i know you had a chance to talk to general petraeus about his new job as director of c.i.a.. what did he tell you about how he intends to lead the agency? >> reporter: he stressed the c.i.a. would remain focused on routing out al qaeda and he also addressed reports that pakistani intelligence still had links to a major terror network here. he said that it's hardly surprising there's still a connection because they date back to the anti-soviet campaign. he did paint a picture of a pakistani leadership that now takes the threat seriously and he knows all those players well. >> pelley: thank you, mandy. the u.s. coast guard has joined mexico's navy in the search for seven americans and one mexican missing at sea off baja, california. they were

well after a year in charge general david petraeus has now officially handed over control of the afghan war general john allen because of the rampant violence in just the last few days. after the assassination of army of cars or his half brother last week on sunday night john muhammad caught another karzai ally 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 and 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 an eastern afghanistan as well as one in the south and yet on his way out general david petraeus continued 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 colin powell thanks so much for being here tonight. this is not necessarily something new of course of violence and death pol

general pa petraeus has establid a roductive relationship with general kayani. i hope to follow where leverages the role of the isaf commander, we can continue to place the kind of emphasis that we need to with the pakistani govnment and military to continue to pressurize those safe havens. in the end, it's a decision that they will make. but they -- in my ole as the operational comander, i'm going to leverage every possibility that i can for cooperation across the border to build habits of coperation, habits of partnership, and hopefully from there as we continue to evolve our relationship overall with pakistan, this will be a mechanism that can provide a bright spot for additional cooperation later. and i think here is an important opportunity with pakistan. >> thank you, sir. admiral mcraven, you noticed that you said, you know, the -- there's some fraying at the edges potentially with everything that's happening. that's rightly understandable. not like you can all of the sudden press a button and get a special oped guy ready to go. what do you anticipate wit

general pa petraeus has establid a productive relationship with general kayani. i hope to follow where leverages the role of the isaf commander, we can continue to place the kind of emphasis that we need to with the pakistani government and military to continue to pressurize those safe havens. in the end, it's a decision that they will make. but they -- in my role as the operational commander, i'm going to leverage every possibility that i can for cooperation across the border to build habits of cooperation, habits of partnership, and hopefully from there as we continue to evolve our relationship overall with pakistan, this will be a mechanism that can provide a bright spot for additional cooperation later. and i think here is an important opportunity with pakistan. >> thank you, sir. admiral mcraven, you noticed that you said, you know, the -- there's some fraying at the edges potentially with everything that's happening. that's rightly understandable. not like you can all of the sudden press a button and get a special oped guy ready to go. what do you anticipat

seeing the beginning of the turnover to afghan security control in afghanistan and tomorrow general david petraeus scheduled to give up his command to the next general coming in from the united states to command the war. things are moving very rapidly in afghanistan but the security situation certainly remains very tenuous. fred? >> barbara starr in washington, thanks so much. let's go to kabul where we find david. what are you learning about this assassination? >> reporter: >> all right. it looks like we still need to work on audio problems there. we'll try to check back in with david ariosto when we can from kabul. >>> in the meantime, on to london, rebeka brooks was taken into police custody in connection with the phone hacking and police scandal. she's the head of the newspaper and becomes the tenth murdoch employee that has been arrested in this scandal. let's go to this story in london. rebekah brooks will answer questions before parliament about this hacking scandal. how shocking is today's arrest? >> it is pretty shocking. people expected the police to talk to her and she was expected to s

this is the right man for the job because general petraeus was a temporary slot, anyway.pard: the men in charge who were in the opposition to president obama's party today i have heard on the radio and elsewhere saying, well, he is pulling out just as we were having a chance to win, and things were getting better and the strategy was right. what is your observation of this? >>guest: well, general petraeus' surge strategy was to focus resources on one success story at a time and shift the balance but it was never a national strategy. there is much, much bigger problems in afghanistan than what we are trying to solve. kandahar is safer and it it is better but as can see from the asass in addition of karzai's brother's assassination, it is still the same thing. >>shepard: the taliban are still, in large part, with their judicial system on wheels, and still have much in control in many places? >>guest: yes, but the taliban is shifting. they are trying to get back into power but, at the same time, the north has form add new political alliance that will never let the taliban ru

general petraeus will now head the cia. fghanistan, the general managed the arrival of 30,000 extra u.s. forces which we are led to believe helped to stop the momentum of a growing taliban led injure genesee. but the war is far from over. jennifer griffin with the news tonight live from the pentagon. general, david petraeus is leaving as the taliban targets the afghan's president's inner circle, i guess. >> that's right. general 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

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

a milestone for general david petraeus as he hands over command of american forces in afghanistan. neral john allen will assume the top spot as petraeus goes to new role as cia director. he'll maintain the momentum on the current campaign. the major issues surrounding the longest war now. editor and columnist for "the washington post," david ignatius, jack jacobs and mike barnicle as well as the combat veteran of the u.s. army, wes moore. >> david ignatius. david, of course you have returned from afghanistan. chaos continues. of course last week, karzai's half brother killed. the question is, how do we get out of there? are we going to get out of there? how does it affect the 2012 election. >> i have the sense, joe, when i was there that everybody understands that the president's speech is the beginning of the draw down that will end in 2014. u.s. troops are on the way out. the question for me is what can we accomplish in the remaining two and a half years to stabilize the country so it doesn't turn into a mess, the vacuum we saw before where al qaeda took root. big trouble for us c

general petraeus spoke at reenlistment ceremonies. soldiers talked about how they felt protecting their country this independence day. >> you feel the honor, especially when you have a general like general petraeus. it makes it feel a lot more important to me. >> petraeus also said today that the focus of troops will move from caliban strongholds to the border of pakistan. unintended consequences, tonight to new research shows that a diet soda may have the opposite defect. >> to say that there is no evidence to connect casey anthony to kaylee's death ignores all of the evidence. >> tonight you will hear prosecutors last pitch to send the defendant to death row. >> most of the ring is to the south and west of us. find out where the rain is and the forecast coming up just a minute. honey, why aren't you playing with your friends? i am playing with my friends. hey, mrs. d... joseph? sarah! it's mommy's turn now. let's go. [ male announcer ] the average home has over four internet-connected devices. we were gonna storm the castle. i love y

now meanwhile there's a change at the top of the nato in afghanistan with general david petraeus leaving to take over as director of the cia he's being replaced by general john allen hello this see the gradual chance for assad's ability to security from nato troops so local forces because jason what like reports there's concern afghan forces are too divided illiquid and lacking in training to fend off the taliban on their way. there's confusion on the faces of the afghan army soldiers as a firefight unfolds on the other side of the wall looking 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 count the minutes slack when it's over i'll be deployed the eastern congo or 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 high

and i think he was for us supporting the forces in libya and some of those people of general petraeus weren't supportive of germ petraeus and he's not right on these funds. these troops aren't going to use the weapons or resupply them. it's going to be a we. the general mike mullen talked about our debt being our biggest security threat and accordingly we need to adjust our priorities and reduce our deficit. this is the way we can do it and save $4 billion, still give them $8.8 billion. plenty. i would like to see it all cut, but i realize that isn't realistic. but we are pulling out and aren't going to be able to train those troops where they will maintain the funds to pay those troops in the future. most of it is salaries. i have been to afghanistan. you have been to afghanistan. it's beyond third world. it's fourth world. and we are giving them the last of our dollars. if you really, really, really care about reducing the deficit, you have to go for the whale. you got to go to the defense budget and just giving this money to afghanistan is a dereliction of duty. i reserve. the chai

. >>> today is the last day in afghanistan for general david petraeus. in 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. >>> more than 5,000 people have now fled the area where a volcano roared to life just a few days ago. it is in northern indonesia. the mountain sent smoke so high officials are worried about the effect it may have on airline flights. >>> former south african president nelson mandela turns 93 tomorrow. tomorrow also is the second annual nelson mandela international day declared by the united nations to recognize mandela's contributions to the culture of peace and freedom. >>> the president of venezuela is in cuba today. and it's not a matter of state. it's purely personal. president hugo chavez has chosen to receive medical treatment in havana after cancer surgery last month also in cuba. ralitsa vassileva is here. why is chavez saying this is the place i'm going to continue to get my medical treatment? >> he has

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

after 3 years in the military, general petraeus is retiring to take a civilian job as cia director. as for afghanistan, he warns of intense fighting the next 15 months before 33,000 us troops are scheduled to leave the country. >>> in other news of the world tonight from libya there was fierce fighting between rebels and moammar gaddafi forces near the eastern city of port brega. gaddafi forces have placed hundreds ever land mines along the route approaching the town. at least ten rebels were killed fighting today. since last thursday at least 100 have been wounded, many by those land mines. >>> from east africa, calls for help as the world health organization or who, says more than 10 million people are in desperate need of food assistance. who says a drought affecting ethiopia, somalia and kenya is the worst drought to ravage the area in 60 years and a thousand people aday are streaming into refugee camps. save the children says in the effected area in kenna, a quarter of the children are dangerly malnourishished. >>> from india an amazing rescue saved a 4-year-old boy from almost

general petraeus told the number of his people the most important thing for us right now is to hurt them and turn them bowed. and then they will come to the negotiating table to strike a deal. i have the highest respect but the only thing wrong with that idea it is the taliban has the totally different vision of what is going on. they may have in mind save whatever you like mr. president. we are here and we will be here long after you leave. >> you took my next question and have already begun to answer it. let's take it all the way. if there was a central message to be taken out of vietnam, that surely was it. they were on home turf and had nowhere to go if there is a comparison to be drawn sometimes there are strategic reasons to be in afghanistan which don't or did not apply to be a non but focusing on the one central issue maybe he would follow up whenever incomplete answer that he gives. [laughter] there are analogies it definitely and if you look at what is going on like my father said in the first meeting that he is foreign policy team mike foster, not my father. [laughter] thank y

the former nato commander in afghanistan general david petraeus is back on u.s. soil to take charge of the cia is early reputation for preferring a kill and capture strategy over surveillance operations are his military contributor thinks the general's stance could undermine his role as a new u.s. intelligence chief general petraeus has surprised both. his friends and his foes when in the latest spate of he's interviews he made a couple of very controversial claims first he revealed presumably that american media revamped obsession fighting an alternative between counterinsurgency and counterterrorism as it is practiced by of the united states in afghanistan and pakistan if you will a student by the journalists during the interviews the general's claim of basic killing the reason no main difference between the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism or rich raised even more questions that counterterrorism is part of counterinsurgency i find this statement if it's true very in congress and to be have their reality is not only in afghanistan and pakistan we have the

general david petraeus, who will be movinininto panetta's former job as director of the cia, agreed with the assessment that al qaeda is on the run. and reinforced the call to keep pressure on all al qaeda leaders. >> you have to whack all the moles simultaneously. this is a network. you must pressure the terrorist network wherever it is. >> reporter: on the war in afghanistan, general petraeus made a bit of news today. he said for the first time in five years, last year, the number of insurgent attacks in afghanistan actually went down. david? >> david, thank you. >>> at the white house tonight, they are preparing for tomorrow's high-stakes meeting. president obama and leaders from both parties, their own sundayay roundtable, dealing with this looming debt crisis. economists warn in just weeks, the federal government will defaululon its loans, saying the consequences could be devavaating, unless congress agrees to raise the amount of money this country can legally borrow. we turn to christiane amanpour, host of "this week." the two have talked about the trillions of cuts on the table. b

general petraeus handed off the job to general john alan.end of next month it take over as head of the cia on september 6th. >> he has two weeks after being in the theater of war for all of those years to enjoy his family and heads to washington. >>> looks like justin timberlake is also headed to washington. he will be accepting the invitation -- you may remember this youtube video, an invite to the marine corps ball. here is a little clip. >> you want to call out my girl, man-to-man ila? i'm going to call you out and ask you to go to the marine corps ball with me november 12th in washington, d.c. >> well, justin has accepted. while promoting his new film "friend with his benefits," he was asked about going to that ball. here is what he said. >> i don't get asked out. ever. so i was very flattered by that. and i hear that she's like trained in martial arts, so i'm hoping we can tussle at some point. that last part was a joke. >> actually pretty funny, justin. not a bad actor, really. did you see him in "social network"? >> i did. it started

apparently, general petraeus was urging a slow withdrawal to consolidate the gains of the surge. fast you allow the violence to return to afghanistan? there's some indications it's already happening. >> well, the decision in afghanistan was made against a real record of achievement here and from a position of strength. the draw down as you know is not at all precipous. it is a sound, paced withdrawal between now and the end of next summer. when i say that the decision was made from a position of strength, i mean against the goals we laid out, which was done precisely by president obama and those goals were essentially two. one is to dismantle, disrupt and ultimately defeat al qaeda and we are on the way to doing that through the work in the last 2 1/2 years an the second was to prevent the afghan government, the government from a falling so it is a safe haven for al qaeda and or an associated group again and we are on the way to giveing the afghans the capability of doing that. 10,000 troops this year. after the end of this fighting season, 23,000 the next summer. at that point w

and when general david petraeus took command last summer, he stepped them up further. petraeus has doubled the number of kill/capture missions, and issued hundreds of press releases announcing the death or detention of taliban leaders. >> the taliban had the momentum, and when you're faced with a serious, deteriorating situation, you have to do something about it. and the best way to do something about it is to use every tool available to you, and that includes everything from the very soft end of things all the way to the hardest of the hard end, which is, of course, targeted raids. ( explosion ) >> go, go, go, go, go! >> narrator: the kill/capture campaign against the taliban is waged by both special operations forces and conventional troops. but leading and directing the program is a secretive counterterrorism unit within special forces known as joint special operations command, or jsoc. >> let me know when you got a target, five. coming up now. >> narrator: it was jsoc that carried out the operation that killed osama bin laden. >> the joint special operations comma

i've been in contact with both general petraeus and now general allen. based on their military judgments and options they presented i do agree with the decision taken. >> how important is it to the success of the counterinsurgentsy campaign in afghanistan that we maintain the momentum for transition more and more responsibility to the afghan security forces for their country's security? >> well, as it was in iraq and is now in afghanistan, it is the transition at tend of the day that will determine our successful outcome. it does take a great deal of thought, a great deal of deliberation and collaboration to understand the capabilities as they are accrued by security forces of those nations where we task ourselves to build those security forces. >>. >> a recent defense department report called the extremist network quote the most significant threat in eastern afghanistan. and yet they continue to find safe haven across the border in pakistan and the pakistan army has so far refused to conduct major operations to eliminate the sanctuary in the tribal area

i wish he followed general petraeus' recommendation but everybody agrees we'll be out of the combat portion of it by 2014. >> jon: as a country, do you feel like this is proof positive that our whole mentality about fighting the war on terror has been wrong for 10 years? would you say now-- would you-- would you stand and face the camera and say-- and-- and-- button your coat-- and say, oh, my god. i had this so completely wrong, guys. >> no. >> jon: bout butt how can-- >> the whole country has been engaged in this. and i think on the whole doing the right thing. look, a war-- a world in which americans have to fight and have to be, in effect, the kind of world policemen is a difficult world for us. god knows we all hate to see young american men and women go over there and fight and get wounded and die. on the other hand, a world in which we don't do that is a more dangerous world. >> jon: isn't that a false choice because a world where, you know, in terrorism we play chak-a-moles. eight to 10 places, right? if covering two holes on the game costs $10 billion a month and countless american

general petraeus is celebrating his last fourth of july as u.s. commander in afghanistan. he was confirmed the new director of the cia. he will be replaced by john allen. >>> most years gasoline prices peek around the fourth of july holiday and stay add that level in the the end of summer. this year it looks like we are getting a holiday discount. right now the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.50 a gallon. that is down 21-cent from just one month ago. here in the bay area we are averaging $3.80 a gallon. that is down from $4 a gallon at the beginning of june. >>> richmond police are investigating a series of shootings in richmond and north richmond that caused three deaths and three injuries overnight. ktvu kraig debro has been covering the story all morning. >> reporter: good afternoon tori. we have gone to a couple of scenes getting more information this afternoon. they told us their version of events when we returned to the scene. the first of several shootings in richmond last night happened at ohio and 39th at center street rather near ohio. the entire block

>> 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, but he insists not hopeless. >> the situation here is very hard without question. it has gotten progressively more difficult up until somewhere around last year, last fall when we started taking back areas from the taliban that mattered enormously to them. >> reporter: he warns that gains here are fragile, but ever the good soldier he says he supports

he used his winnings, nearly $45,000 to pay off loans from law school. >>> and general david petraeusommand of the afghan war to general john allen. at least five native soldiers and an afghan police chief were killed in separate attacks. >>> and yesterday another top aid to president hamid karzai -- the taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks. petraeus is returning to the u.s. to become the new director of the cia. >>> casey anthony is now free. she walked out of a florida jail yesterday 12 days after a jury acquitted her on murder charges, related to the death of her 2-year-old daughter caylee three years ago. she faces an uphill battle as she tries to return to normal life. one attorney says elaborate plans are in place to keep her safe from the lynch mob mentality. >>> in some parts of the country, there is no relief from the extreme heat, what's being described as a dangerous heat wave, it's moving eastward in the coming week and will encompass most of the eastern seaboard. the east is expect a heat index in the triple digits making it feel like 100 to 110 degrees or even

allen, you also note, of course, that general petraeus and -- in addition to that, admiral mike mullen used the words that what the president chose to do was more aggressive than the options he was presented. has the white house been honest with us about how the decision was made? he is the commanderrer in chief, the president can make the decision do you think it was the right one? >> the commanderrer in chief can make any decision he would like. he should listen to the military commanderrers. i have am confident that the decision made by president obama was not one of the options given to him by the military commanders. he has chosen a different course, 10,000 out by the end of this year. all surge forces out by september. it's undercut the ability to have a second fighting season. all generals say they will stand by the decision. that is their job. it creates unnecessary risk and it has created risk. it has changed the momentum. people wondering what we're up to. the difference between transitioning and withdrawal is huge. it's seen now as a

. >>> general david petraeus celebrated his last fourth of july as top commander in afghanistan. general pet ray also spent the holiday to add rehad been enlistment ceremonies in kandahar and bagram airfield. the vus its made at lost one soldier feel privileged. >> you can feel the honor when you get a general like general petraeus to come down and do it for us. it peak it feel more important to me. it will be nice being able to call home and tell my mom to check it out on tv and tell my family that i got to do this, something that i'll never be able to do again. >> the general says the effort will center on the eastern border with pakistan. >>> it was a fourth of july to remember for the sweet and ballmer children now of bowie children. >> their mom and dad tied the knot. the wedding brought together two war-torn families. bob barnard with that ceremony. >> reporter: beneath the towering air force memorial overlooking the nation's capital, amid the bus loads of tourists on this hazy summer day appears a white stretch limo and in it, two families scarred by war. >> chris actually

it also coincided with the departure of america's top commander, general petraeus, who is leaving to become head of the cia. u.s. marine corps general john allen will take over command of the nato-led forces in afghanistan. the crew of the space shuttle "atlantis" has said a final farewell to colleagues on board the international space station. "atlantis" will undock early on tuesday and is aiming to land back on earth on thursday. its four career members floated through the lock ready for the last trip of the shuttle program. in libya, the struggle continues between pro and taken qaddafi forces with rebels claiming they've retain control of the key oil town of brager. according to a rebel spokesman, the bulk of qaddafi's troops retreated westward. at the same time, rebels in the western city say they're preparing for fresh offensive. outgunned by qaddafi's better equipped forces, they're being forced to find creative ways to arm themselves. gabriel gates has the report. >> uncertainly, they say, is the mother of invention. people here don't like the phrase. they say it appears colone

situation in afghanistan hasn't improved it's become even worse and even seen your officials like general petraeus for example who's commanding the military operation in afghanistan says that the number of armed clashes there increases year after year in fact the number of armed clashes over the past ten years has increased more than a hundred times so have the assigned tasks been achieved. security in afghanistan has only. said that drug production cannot be fought because it damages the security situation in the country so it's a kind of. in this respect to the be worthwhile to note a nato operation in helmand province which produces the most opium poppies the operation was called iraq which translated from persian means together. the operation was presented as a brilliant military success considerable kilometers and hectares of the province were reportedly cleared of insurgents but the production of opium has never stopped that's why i have a peaceful settlement is necessary but we've started talking about this at long last it was highlighted at the london conference on afghanistan in two thous

. >>> general david petraeus is saying good-bye to his troops in afghanistan. he will soon be the new director of the cia. he spoke with mandy clark of cbs news about the president's plan to withdraw 1/3 of u.s. troops over the next year. >> it is no secret that you wanted a slower draw down. do you feel you have enough troops to do the job? >> first, it is probably time to stop second guessing the decision only the president can make. only he has the full range of issues and considerations he has to deal with. that decision has been made and it is now the job of military commanders and troopers to get on with it. >> well, in afghanistan, general petraeus led a re- enlistment ceremony for hundreds of our troops. >>> in just a few hours, the jury in the casey anthony murder trial gets back to work. it spent the 4th of july holiday listening to closing arguments and getting deliberations underway. melissa rainey has more on the tragic murder case that has people captivated. >> after six weeks of testimony, jurors in the casey anthony trial went to the deliberatio

former cia director leon panetta will take over as secretary of defense today, and general petraeus has been confirmed as the new cia director. >>> nbc has suspended one of its political analysts after calling president obama a derogatory name on the air. during the live broadcast of the "morning joe" program, analyst mark halpern called the president the name in response to his press conference on tuesday. halpern immediately apologized, but the news channel suspended him anyway, calling them completely inappropriate and unacceptable. >> i can't explain why i did it. it was inappropriate. it was disrespectful. i've already apologized. i will again to the president and say i'm sorry. i'm sorry to the viewers. it was the kind of thing that i can't really explain, but i take full responsibility for it. it was a mistake. as i said, disrespectful, and i shouldn't have said it. >> no word on how long halpern's suspension will last. he's also an editor at large at "time" magazine. nbc universal is the parent company of msnbc. >>> venezuelan president hugo chavez says he's had cancer surgery i

. >>> 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