rula ghani. mrs. ghani, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. please carry our best wishes back to your husband, president ghani, with whom you know we have a long and deep relationship of the atlantic council and we gave him our distinguished leadership award last year with great pride. i'd like to extend a special welcome to his excellency habib. mr. ambassador, ambassador to afghanistan to the united states and his wife who are joining us for today's conversation. mr. ambassador, with he so greatly value the council's strong, productive relationship with your embassy. we consider this bilateral relationship to be a relationship that has outsized importance in the months and the years ahead and we look forward to working with you on strengthening our bonds. atlantic council board director ambassador khali zal is also here. his general support is a crucial catalyst that enables our afghan programming. any of you who have spent time with zal know that he built an incredible career and has unique challenges -- you unique insights in the challenge

so please join me in welcoming the first lady, rula ghani. [applause] >> thank you, jim, for these very kind words. i have a little trouble remembering the time as first lady. i haven't changed. i've always been what i am, and i'm comfortable with it, and i hope you will be, too. in the name of god the compassionate, the merciful, distinguished members of the audience, i come to you in peace. that's what that means. by inviting me to address the select gathering of thoughtful and influential movers and shakers, men and women him at the atlantic council at its afghanistan writing initiatives are honoring me get and i would like to thank fred kempe, jim cunningham, and zalmay khalilzad for their warm welcome. thank you also to you, members of the audience, for taking the time to come and listen to me. listening is something that i myself do a lot in afghanistan. when i first decided to fully assume the responsibilities of first lady some 18 months ago, i was entering uncharted waters. i had no specific agenda, but that of serving the people, es

officials are really trying to do here is get the afghan politicians, not just ghani and abdull abut the opposition politicians associated with former president karzai to try to work out some kind of an agreement to keep the government going beyond september. that's especially important because in october, aid donors are going to meet in belgium and decide how much aid to give to afghanistan and they're not going to want to give money if it isn't clear an established government is in place to spend the money wisely. >> sreenivasan: secretary keri had a similar trip in baghdad. there the common foe is isis. >> again, he's trying to push iraqi politicians to achieve consensus. there it's trying to craft a cabinet for the iraqi government that enough of the politicians can live with. you need to have in general a functioning, somewhat cohe was government, to prosecute the war against the islamic state ill tants in iraq or against the taliban here in afghanistan. >> sreenivasan: now, when you're on these long plane rides with him and you have access to the secretary, do you ever see his

ghani's bio. you had that in documents. i also want to thank ambassador khalilzad for joining us today. the session is on the record after the remarks. transfer will join her for a q&a. i want to say brief word about rula ghani is a person. my wife, leslie and i were very happy to have known her and her husband when we were in afghanistan and we are very proud to have her as a friend. we first met several years ago at her home in kabul. while she was not dead, she was a particularly public person. she was a gracious and engaging host, a warm and thoughtful person committed to improving afghanistan and supporting her husband's untiring effort in that regard and i mean untiring. when ghani ran for president, it was the first in afghanistan. she was a gracious campaigner. she was attacked and maligned for campaigning in some quarters and sometimes hurt always. she remained committed to supporting the campaign into a better future for our country. as american ambassador is the entrepreneur and the president recognized her at hi

. >> mow hag ghani bar, irish pride and oh, the food. >> when you order a crabcake, you don't get thatere. >> oh, yeah, food with a kick like a cheesesteak with siracha mayo. >> the way the tank si sinks in there with the meat and crispy onions on top wow. >> one of the oldest farm houses in the northeast. >> to the best of my knowledge, 1890. >> 1890. you didn't work there at the time at that time, right. >> 1890. are you running the joint in 1890. >> meet owner brian morton working in this very spot since he was 19. when the bar was name after and owned by jack stokes. the same bar he talked about owning and the same bar where he met his wife mary ellen until she passed shortly after the wedding. >> one day she passes away suddenly. still worked for jack. i didn't know what to do. i had no idea. so sit with jack talk to him one day he gave me the opportunity. wrote a number on piece of paper and he said here you go. we'll make it happen. >> it happened because it needed a new name in honor of this wife. >> she used to say brian, what are you doing? i'd say ommare you don't understand

. >> mow hag ghani bar, irish pride and oh, the food. >> when you order a crabcake, you don't get thatere. >> oh, yeah, food with a kick like a cheesesteak with siracha mayo. >> the way the tank si sinks in there with the meat and crispy onions on top wow. >> one of the oldest farm houses in the northeast. >> to the best of my knowledge, 1890. >> 1890. you didn't work there at the time at that time, right. >> 1890. are you running the joint in 1890. >> meet owner brian morton working in this very spot since he was 19. when the bar was name after and owned by jack stokes. the same bar he talked about owning and the same bar where he met his wife mary ellen until she passed shortly after the wedding. >> one day she passes away suddenly. still worked for jack. i didn't know what to do. i had no idea. so sit with jack talk to him one day he gave me the opportunity. wrote a number on piece of paper and he said here you go. we'll make it happen. >> it happened because it needed a new name in honor of this wife. >> she used to say brian, what are you doing? i'd say ommare you don't understand

question as to the possibility of some sort of reconciliation between the afghani government -- the ghani government and the taliban. but we also work extremely closely through the defense department particularly and afghan security forces in devising better ways to fight against the taliban and to protect the government of national unity in afghanistan. i think we see this fighting season as being a difficult one for the afghan government -- charlie: how difficult? david: i think it is going to be certainly as difficult as last year's was. charlie: they continued steadily gaining. if they continue steadily gaining, they are going to overthrow the government. david: they have been making some inroads and getting pushback. kunduz, for instance. the taliban took kunduz briefly, then the afghan forces pushed back. there is fighting now further south in afghanistan. what the taliban has done over the last year or so is taking districts, taking outposts. they have not taken major population centers. we expect this fighting season more of the same, small-scale gains by the taliban, but the afgh

support here and i think, too, try to find a way to get abdullah abdullah and president ghani to keepy government on track and rekindle public support for it here in afghanistan. >> nick paton walsh giving us the political landscape the secretary of state will be maneuvering while he's there. thank you for your reporting. i'd like to bring back in elise labbot, who is traveling with the secretary of state. elise, nick brought up the issue of security. what can you tell us about security that's under way as the secretary is in kabul? >> reporter: we're go to board the helicopters. i don't know if you can hear me very well. the u.s. secretary needs to show support at times where the afghans know the president has decided to draw down those troops to 5,500. it's certainly not what the afghan government wants to hear, but it is something that will be happening toward the end of the year if the president follows through on his pledges. there are some commanders who think it's too early, that this should be more of a conditioned-based withdrawal. we'll have to see through the fighting seaso

ghani for a very long time, since we were in high school together. in fact, we were going to come to the united states has high school student, we went to the american embassy together and fill in the application for that, your first name, last name and i did not know what the last name meant because it's not just a first name. so, the president, dr. ghani was next to me, so he was a little more worldly than i was at that time because i had just come to kabul and he was a resident of kabul for a long time. .. we have been interacting for a very long time in beirut were both were students. the president met his future wife. with that background, i wanted to start the conversation, we have about 15 minutes or so come and give ample time to the audience but ask a couple of questions if i might. one is that you have been quoted by the inspector general, expressing your view with regard to the development activities or investments that have been made or the monies that have been spent on development projects. concern that the past patter with regard to le

the ground and then he had a series of meetings with government leaders including afghan president ghani and chief executive abdullah abdullah. both political rivals share power in the brokered unit that kerry did two years ago. secretary touted the good things. afghanistan's president has been dogged by continued political divisiveness, corruption, and also violence. in fact, shortly after secretary kerry left kabul today there were two explosions and the sound of gunfire, another example of the violence and instability in afghanistan. likewise, many of the challenges facing afghanistan in that regard are mirrored in iraq as well, where secretary kerry made a surprise visit to baghdad yesterday. again, his message there was one of reassurance and support for iraq's government, its prime minister al abadi and the fight against isis. u.s. troops continued to train not only iraqi military fors but also kurdish peshmerga forces in advance of a major attack on mosul and northern iraq. isis is remaining stronghold. this is likely to be the bloodiest, most intense, significant fight in iraq th

state john kerry visited kabul to help resolve a year-long dispute between afghan president ashraf ghani and other government ministers. while there, kerry reaffirmed american support for afghanistan. and urged the taliban to lay down their weapons. >> we call on the taliban to enter into a peace process. a legitimate process. a real process. that provides equal rights, protection for all afghans. >> despite years of bloodshed and violence, u.s. has stopped short of labelling the taliban a terror organization in hopes of one day negotiating a peace agreement with the group. 15 years on, that's looking less and less likely. brett? >> connor powell, thank you. >>> a syrian opposition coalition is blaming president bashar al assad for airstrikes on rebel-held towns that killed 44 civilians today. the coalition says the attacks justify its decision, to suspend participation in the geneva peace negotiations. russia says extremists have taken control of the opposition and hijacked the talks. president obama talked with russian leader vladimir putin monday about syria. president obama said he t

and while president ghani is a strang partner on women's issues, it is clear that women continue to face grave barriers, especially in regard to their legal rights. last year, for instance, a mob brutally killed a woman falsely accused of burning the koran. this happened in central kabul in broad daylight in the presence of security officials. disturbingly, the afghan supreme court vooe sently vacated the death sentences of four men charged with the murder and reduced the sentences of nine others. this is but one example of ways in which the afghan legal system continues to fail afghan women. how will the u.s. continue to work with afghanistan to bolster the legal rights of afghan women? >> well, thank you for that question. i'm sure i won't do justice to everything -- to every aspect of it or everything that we're doing. with respect to the afghan judiciary, one of the steps that president ghani intended to take was to appoint the first women or women to the afghan supreme court. when i saw him last, i urged him to do that. he said that he was committed to it. he has been unsuccessful.

ashraf ghani addressed his parliament, just a week after a taliban attack in kabul killed 64 people andnded hundreds. >> ( translated ): we don't expect pakistan to bring the taliban into peace talks. we want pakistan to stand by what they pledged in the conduct military operations against taliban bases and leadership, who according to oun intelligence, according to our international allies, and according to pakistani authorities, live in pakistan. >> sreenivasan: pakistan denies that it covertly supportsco militants who attack afghanistan. >> woodruff: long-running violence in mexico, fueled by drug gangs, has claimed another victim. gunmen killed a journalist today in the country's southwest, thee latest in a series of such attacks. and on sunday, an independent panel accused the mexican government of undermining a probe into the deaths of 43un college students. they disappeared in 2014. >> sreenivasan: president obama made a final appeal today for a free trade agreement with europe, as he wrapped up a visit to germany. he and chancellor angela markel toured the world's largest indust

ghani, the new first lady of afghanistan, is very effective. she's a member of our u.s. afghan women's council that met earlier today and sent a message to us. she's helping to build a women's university with women professors so that still when the traditional fathers don't want their daughters to go to university because of going with men or having men professors, that there'd be an option for women. and i think that's a good way that americans could support her, and that is to try to help in that way as she builds this women's university. but, obviously, the most important thing is the security. and our troops can help on that. >> mina, same question to you. are you hopeful? [laughter] and what should we be doing? >> well, i acknowledge mrs. bush, and i agree because without security, security is the number one thing. without security you cannot move forward. everything starts collapsing around you. and we don't want the international community to leave as well. we have started something as the international community, and we have to continue and make it really solidif

will you corporate in president ghani: witnesses and briefings in response to congressional requests? will those witnesses be protected from reprisal for heir testimony or briefings? do you agree to come to this committee? do you agree to provide documents, including copy of electronic forms of communications in a timely manner when requested or to consult with a committee regarding the basis for any good faith delay or can he nible in providing such -- denial in providing such documents? general robinson, we will begin with you. welcome. ms. robinson: thank you, sir. good morning. i am honored to meet with you today as the president's nominee to commander of the united states northern command and north american aerospace defense command. i'd like to thank probe for nominating me, as -- president obama for nominating me as well as the secretaries for the trust they've played -- placed in me. it's my privilege to be sitting next to my dear friend and colleague, an incredible leader. it has been an honor to work with him in the pacific these last 18 months. i also wish to thank my good

one is politically at issue is the government between president ghani and the senior ceo. a lot of problems, a lot of turmoil about the issues its facing in kre meanting reforms and keeping things going and paying basic salaries. that's one key issue. the second one is security. as you said. the taliban hold more territory now more than any time since 2001. we have the fighting season ahead when it warms up and violence on the ground. that's imminent. the idea of the taliban, frankly, being there and holding a lot would be unthinkable just years ago. as of last year according to the top u.s. official, the afghan forces lost 5,500 fighters alone. that's more than nato lost in the entire time they've been here and they're experiencing large levels of injury as well. the opium production here is as high as it was back in 2000. by every metric, really, you look at, this is a conflict that's going very badly indeed and the major goal here is peace talks with the taliban. that's something the taliban has said in the past weeks it's something they're not interested in. so it come