we have -- hamid karzai's visit. we have spoke to survivors.y say they are not receiving enough aid. it's cold at night. they don't have enough food for access to enough water. the aid situation is bleak. president hamid karzai assuring those that survived the landslide that the government will not forget them. many skeptical. >> thank you for that. that's our corporate joining us from badakhshan in afghanistan. >>> now, qatar is presenting a report on the rights of its migrant workers to the human rights council in geneva. they have been criticised for treatment of construction workers and domestic maids. let's look at some concerns. first, there are the conditions inside the workers' camps. activists called them squalid and camp. there's the kav articlea system, sponsored by the employers, making it difficult for people to change jobs or leave the country without an exit permit. they have been criticised for poor safety standards. and there are domestic workers physically and sexually abused by employers. joining us from geneva is jamal. what

this man is the man that confronted hamid karzai. he lost 10 members of his family in the landslide. his home and farm is buried. this tent is the only shelter he has. >> translation: i threw my tushan in front of hamid karzai, because he knows god is a witness. we can't get a betle of water. >> reporter: it's clear the government has a long way to go to convince those desplaced by the larned slide that not only will they receive aid, but in the long term they'll help them rebuild their lives. >>> still to come on al jazeera america. we'll be live in the philippines to see how recovery efforts are going. plus, political reality a pipe dream. mexico the latest country to legal ace marijuana. will it kerb the drug cartels. a >>> it's good to have you with us. these are the top stories - boko haram fighters are accused of killing up to 300 people in nigeria. local senator from borno told al jazeera that the government stormed the area near the border with cameroon. >>> hundreds of syrian opposition fighters left the strategic city of ho

let's go to hoda abdel-hamid right now. let's go, instead to nick spicer, reporting from kiev. >> reporter: there's a high turn out here at this polling station in kiev as there is in polling stations across the capital. lines going outside, voters here see the election as a chance to stablilize the country after almost six months of unrest beginning with street protests, once the government decided not to join an association agreement in europe, leading to the fleeing of the president, the annexation of crimea, tension with russia, unrest in the east. these are all changes that the president will have to face. and polls suggest that the new president will be petero poroshenko, a billionaire chocolatier, serving as economy and foreign minister. he said he wants to stablilize the economy and provide jobs and get closer to europe. >> let's go to hoda abdel-hamid, who is live in the north-west of donetsk. what is the turn out so far in that area, given the threat of violence by pro-russian groups? >> reporter: well, we don't h

hamid karzai promised them more resources. he outlined how the government plans to deal with the disaster. >> three specific things - one, emergency assistance of which there's a lot, fortunately. second, those that wish to have buried love ones tape out of under the soil, and it the opening of the lake create by the landslide and to give them new homes of which we have another sources for. >>> we have this update from badakhshan. >> reporter: president hamid karzai spent about an hour talking to survivors of the landslide and promised to continue to help them with their efforts recover the bodies of loved ones who died, and promised to help rebuild their homes and provide them with food and water until they are settled. >> in a dramatic moment, one of the survivors stood before the president, took off his tur ban and threw it to the ground, which in afghanistan gan culture is hugely symbolic meaning not only has he loft material possession, but lost his dignity before god. hamid karzai promised this man that they would take c

i also think he's not going to meet with hamid karzai and that's a good thing. why? we are tired of supporting leaders who don't like us in countries that don't matter. and afghanistan under the corrupt leadership of hamid karzai has been exactly that. even though there are going to be elections next month and they're probably going to elect a very good guy to run afghanistan next, frankly it's a little too late. >> all right. kt, so what do we know now as we're looking forward to these elections and to figuring out what our role will be moving forward without that agreement in place? >> reporter: well, right now -- you know, again, i say in love and wartiming is everything. well, in war timing is everything. if the election that we're having right now if afghanistan had that election five years ago in 2009 and elected one of these guys, maybe we'd be in a very different place. but we're not there. we have had ten years of incompetent and corrupt leadership like karzai. we don't have an agreement for what happens going forward. and even though an agreement is likely

we were told he will not be meeting with president hamid karzai. this, of course, after the election there amid tensions and problems with the karzai administration. again, the president spending this memorial day weekend in afghanistan. this is the fourth trip that the president had made to afghanistan. he's made three as president, one as senator. the fact he's spent the last three memorial day weekends, sundays, at arlington national cemetery national cemetery. in 2012 he spoke at the vietnam veterans war memorial and spent 2010 back home in chicago, but the president, we have just learned today, in afghanistan, of course, amid the continuing v.a. scandal, the president paying tribute to those who are so honorably and bravely serving on the front lines in afghanistan. much more on this developing story of the president's visit as we continue today. >> and more on the horrific killing spree in isla vista, california near the university of california santa barbara. police trying to piece together the background and mental history of 22-year-old el

hoda ab dull hamid who is reporting there from the east he were part of ukrainedul hamid w reporting there from the east he were part of ukraine. >> let's go to thailand where there is fighting in the capitol. the demonstrators remain defiant, despite the military banning gatherings of more than 5 people. more from bank cock. >> in bangkok, an anticoup started small. >> i want you, the thai public to avoid joining the protests because right now, the usual democratic system cannot operate normally. is the numbers grew and became more aggressive. >> one of the larmest demonstratio demonstrations, something interesting happened. it started with a heavy military presence and transitioned to more police. as you can see on this crowd, chanting for democracy, for elections, for the army to get out. >> i don't want it. >> that's all. get out. we want government. >> that's all. the military government responded to the united states's latest reaction to the coup, cancelling military exercises with thailand. >> understanding the situation in our country, one cannot be applied to

hamid karzai was invited to the base.he afghan leader said he'd only meet obama at his appearance. he'll meet and decide soon how many troops will remain in afghanistan. >> i made it clear that we'll continue to cooperate on two security missions - training and equipping and counterterrorism targets against al qaeda. once afghanistan swears in its new president, i'm hopeful we'll sign a bilateral security agreement that let's us move forward. with the agreement, assuming it is signed, we can plan for a limited military presence in afghanistan behind 2014. after all the sacrifices we make, we want to preserve the gains that you helped to one. >> increased security has been ordered for jewish sites in belgium after two israeli tourists were shot dead. two others were killed after a gunman were attacked in bruceless. andrew potter reports. >> reporter: security camera footage shows the moment a gunman was shot. firing a rifle into the jewish museum. he's on the run. what we see an in the statement is that the camera image sh

this is interesting, because rosul is close to the current president, hamid karzai.ivately did support him. it would appear the union between the candidates mean that hamid karzai, even though he'd no longer be president would have his eyes and ears on the ground in the next government. >> all right. thank you. >>> in cuba, hundreds march through the streets of havana calling for an end to homophobia. people dance in the streets. it was led by the daughter of cuban president raul castro. >>> in the united states michael sam is the first openly gay player to be picked for the national football league. >> reporter: it's taken nearly a century for the game of american football to arrive at this moment. >> with the 249th pick, the 2014 n.f.l. draft. the st. louis rams select michael sam from juste of missouri. shortly after celebrating with family and friends he took to twitter saying: . >> michael sam is the first openly gay player to be drafted in the n.f.l. the league makes about 10 billion a year, driven by major advertising revenues. athletes in the past kept their

let's first go to hoda abdel-hamid who is standing by in the north-west of donetsk. now, hoda abdel-hamid, are you seeing people turning out despite threats of violence from pro-russian groups in this volatile region? >> reporter: it's early, but we have seen people voting, not in the numbers that could have happened if this region was not so tense. just to give you an indication, here in the donetsk region, a third of the district commissions are open, and in the nearby lugansk region two out of 12 are operating today. we won't have a victor. in the places where there are polling stations, like where i am here, people are coming, others are scared. the run-off to the election has been quite bloody, at least 20 died over the past few days. there has been a lot of threats, election commissioners have been abducted. early in the morning some decided not to turn up to work. that's how scared they are. one can't say that the east here is voting. >> give us an idea of the sort of security that is being set up there, for those that do want to vote. >> reporter: well, you d

out going president hamid karzai could, too. he is constitutionally bard and stayed publically neutral in the election but diplomats in kabul said he had received discrete backing from the president in the early stages of the campaign, which means karzi is all but assured an insider in the future government razul said his support for abdullah and now support from the north could be between the current frontrunner and the former world bank economist. >> a sure thing is rare. frankly anything can happen before the final results are in. razul's support for abdullah is about as close as one can get. imtiaz tyab, al jazeera. >> seven policemen have been killed by a land mine in india. it exploded as they searched for maoist fighters. after the blast, there was an exchange of fire between police and the rebels. two other mremz were injured and were taken to hospital. guatemalaans have remembered those massacred during the civil war. last year, the president was found guilty of genocide for his role. his conviction was later overturned

this is the last of hamid karzai's tenure in office. the country had an election. no one got a majority but the runoff election is june 14th and the frowner in that race, abdullah abdullah has pledged to honor this agreement to keep several thousand u.s. troops in the country. now the cloud over this trip, of course, is the veterans administration scandal. a number of v.a. facilities hiding the actual wait times that vets were enduring before they were able to get medical care. the president trying to keep v.a. secretary eric shinseki on the job to fix the problem though there have been calls from a number of republicans and even some democrats for shin sec toe step down. the secretary announced earlier this weekend that vets -- some vets will be allowed to obtain health care at private facilities. the v.a. already spends around $4.8 billion to enable veterans to get care at private facilities. eric? >> wendell, thank you. we all owe a debt of gratitude on this memorial day weekend to each and every one of the service members we see behind brad. we thank them as a

. >> have you met hamid karzai? >> no, i have not had the pleasure. i intentionally not want to meet the president. my mission is to report to the president of the united states and the congress and the people of the united states. i meet with lower officials. >> back in 2012, we had a little bit from a speech he made. let's watch and get your reaction. [video clip] >> the afghan president hamid karzai blamed foreign country for the corruption of government departments. the afghan leader said he hasn't seen any sign of success in tackling corruption but acknowledged the need for reform in his country. corruption in afghanistan is the reality. the part that exist in our administration represents a small portion, its bribery and it's our fault. the biggest part of corruption in our country does not belong to us. it's been imposed on us in order to weaken our government. the scandal surrounding bank -- afghanistan is regularly ranked as one of the world's most corrupt nation. >> how is it possible million euros is about a billion dollars? how is it possi

hamid karzai was barred from seeking a third term in office.ook explores the history of afghanistan "no good men among the living", looks at the campaign, and more than 10 years of u.s.-afghan relations since the u.s. invaded. let's talk more about this book. we appreciate you coming in. the book focuses on three main characters, a taliban commander, a member of hamid karzai deposit and a housewife. why the characters to tell the story? >> a lot of us don't realise this has been the longest war in american history. we know little about what afghans think about the law. when i set out to write the book, i wanted to know what the war feels and looks like from the afghan point of view. i wanted to see how does it look from the point of view of our enemy, from the ally, someone from hamid karzai's government, and someone caught in between, who is a housewife who has to navigate. >> someone that you can connect with. >> what surprised me is there's ways to connect with all three, of course. even the taliban commander, who are at the very excessive g

but hamid karzai is on his way out. and the two candidates that replace him in a june 14th run-off say they'll sign. hanging over the talks with afghanistan? a. a failure to reach a political deal with iraq. in afghanistan the president says the future is now in the hands of its citizens. >> we have to realise that afghanistan is not a perfect place. it is not america's responsibility to make it one. >> the future of afghanistan must be decided by afghans. >> the chief of staff ask the for an investigation to find out how the white house blew the cover of a top c.i.a. official. happening ahead of the trip to bagram by president obama. his name was included on a list given to reporters. the white house realised the mistake, retracted the list. the map had to -- man had to be pulled from his post. >>> for the last three days the isla vista community has been reeling after the murder of six students. a memorial service was held on campus tonight, and joined was in -- jennifer london was in. >> reporter: for that that witne

we'll be live with hoda abdel-hamid who is close to donetsk. first, this report from nick schifrin, from the ukranian capital kiev. >> reporter: a record turn out is expected for a vote, deciding not just the state of ukraine, but the state of relations between russia and the west. 17 candidates are in the running. the ones in the lead want closer ties to the european union, not something that russia wants. these elections were called after viktor yanukovych fled the country and was deposed by parliament, and it is about what ukrainians want. >> translation: this election means a lot. the fate of the country is being decided today. we have never had a more important election. we kicked out viktor yanukovych, and we hope to have justice and peace now. petero poroshenko, a former economy minister was far ahead in the opinion polls and could win outright with 50% of ballots cast on sunday. the challenges the next president faces are enormous, fixing an economy, fighting corruption and closer times with europe. russia annexed crimea and its citizen

i suppose he could, but officials say one of the reasons he is not meeting with hamid karzai is that he wants to stay out of the afghan political situation, but abdullah has promised to implement the agreement. he is a front runner by a fairly wide margin, and i think what the folks here are waiting for is the june 14th runoff election after which i'm sure they would be happy to announce. abdullah has agreed to sign the deal. shannon. >> thank you for sticking around for extended coverage today. let's bring in fox news military analyst general tom macanearny. >> he didn't directly address the v.a. scandal. he did repeatedly say we have a sacred obligation to our wounded war wrorz and to our veterans and we're going to make sure that they're taken care of back home. that sounded like a reference to what the white house certainly cannot ignore. >> absolutely. there's no question about it. this has been a scandal, if you will, that is really, as you mentioned earlier, that it is bipartisan and a concern that we get it fixed correctly. so i think he is trying to lay that over, and it was

the afghan government, the afghan taliban, we just heard, i was in kabul recently and hamid karzai was complaining that america was intervening, trying to present his people with the afghan taliban, the main character in these works was a man called simms who seemed to be detained. i think he was detained by the united arab emirates. he had some sort with afghan officials. i don't know much more than when we were talking but everything seems to point to the fact that it was not the americans. i have to talk to american officials and wasn't america that -- the united arab emirates to detain him whereas people point out that pakistani did ask to meet him when he was in dubai and were aware but at this moment the opposition that they were behind his detention. i know a lot of afghans who are very -- and pakistani us who are concerned about the close relationship between pakistan and the united arab emirates. they're very insecure people who are on the run or people who are worried about arrest. i wouldn't put it past but i don't original note. as for the peace talks i have never thought t

. >> that's h oba hamid reporting. (f) president obama stopped by bagram air field, are exerl harkett reports. >> it's an unexpected visit. president obama touched down at bagram air base. closed door meeting with top commanders and advisors. the troops were entertained by a popular country music singer while they waited. the conflict has lafsed more than a decade. announced he would soon decide just how many u.s. soldiers will remain in a supporting roll, after the planned withdrawal at the end of the year of the bulk of u.s. and nato forces. >> for bulk of you this will be your last tour in afghanistan. and by the end of this year, the transition will be complete and afghans will take full responsibility l and our combat mission will be over. america's war in afghanistan will come to a responsible end. >> reporter: the pentagon has indicated it would like to see approximately 10,000 soldiers in afghanistan after 2015. afghan president hamid karzai has refused to sign such an agreement. >> america's commitment to the

homa hamid reports. >> the trade union building was set on fire after a day of violent flashes betweenro-russian and prounity fighters, the intensity of their smoke sent some jumping for their lives out their windows. dozens of others died suffocating. ukrainian police had been deployed earlier in the day but were unable orestrain either side. the clashes in o odessa underlie the problems that face the interim government. ukrainian forces launched a new offensive in the so-called anti-terror operation in the town of slovyansk here in the east. black sea town of oh december ot started earlier in the morning as ukrainian forces destroyed several pro-russian checkpoints norts of thnorth of the town. claimed by portable surface to airline missiles. proof the interim government says of moscow's involvement on the ground. this man is said to be a ukrainian pilot who survived from one of the helicopters. he is apparently being cared for by proseparatists. >> he was abandoned by his own people. >> ukrainian forces managed to retake this tv transmission antenna. it was seized by moscow supporte

he is a long-time confidante of the current president hamid karzai, served as his foreign minister upuntil 2013. so if he is, indeed, included in future governments of abdullah abdullah, hamid karzai, the outgoing president will have someone within the government to be his eyes and ears on the ground. >>> still ahead we have the sport and the latest from the n.b.a. play-offs as the top guns in the west blow away. portland. >>> the breaking news out of yemen - a huge explosion rocked the military police headquarters. 11 are confirmed dead. it is feared that the death toll could rise earlier. four gunmen were killed as they tried to check a security check point. we go live. tell us about what is happening and why? >> well jane, sources confirmed that this was a suicide bombing attack targetting the headquarters of the military police. it was a huge explosion. 11 were killed, injured, expecting the death toll to rise. there has been no claim of responsibility. this is an area that has been attacked repeatedly in the past by al qaeda. suicide bombing are signature weapons of al qaeda in y

outgoing president hamid karzai could. he is constitutionally barred from a third-term in office and stayed publicly neutral in the election documents said zalmay rassoul received discreet backing from the president meaning hamid karzai is all but assured an insider in the future government. zalmay rassoul, popular among the ethnic pashtuns to the south said support from abdullah abdullah could be a balance maker in the run-off election. a second-round vote is expected to be between the front runner and the world bank economists ghani. >> anything could happen before final votes are in, but support to abdullah abdullah is as close as one can get. >>> a nigerian expert says book could have put land mines in a forest where teams are searching for school girls. the search has largely focussed on a forest, a known boko haram hideout. churches and moskss remembered those kidnapped. we have more from the capital abuja. >> reporter: almost a month after the abduction of the girls, nigerians are praying for their safe release. cat

outgoing president hamid karzai could do. he is barred from a third term in office and stayed publicly neutral in the election. diplomats in kabul said he received distrot backing from the president in the early staples of the campaign, meaning hamid karzai is all but assured an inside are in the government. zalmai rassoul, popular said his support for abdullah abdullah from the north could be a balance maker in the run-off election due next month. a second-round vote is said to be between the front runner and former world bank economist. >> a sure thing is rare. anything can happen before the final results are in. zalmai rassoul's support is as close as one can get. >>> there's more ahead, including details on the train thousands of immigrants use to get to the u.s. border. why it is getting tougher for them to ride "the beast", in a live report from mexico city. >>> a new report highlighting a growing problem. despite laws against if many countries use torture. that's the topic of "the week ahead" - coming is >>> a train fe

that means does he want him to be president instead of hamid karzai? and it means that if he is president,, he was invited, but did he come anyway? >> so you can imagine this. so this explains how many people know about this story. and there was a story many years later in "the wall street journal" about how corrupt he is and getting all these contracts. so of course the tables can turn on somebody like this quickly. >> okay, so clarifying this that that is very much the perception. >> yes, for him, the relationship had some ups and downs, but mostly ups that were extremely valuable. >> correct. and it was very different. the british and the germans had a big base and they had a different approach to development. including channeling the majority of this through the sense of government in order to support the creation of a governing system that is part of this. >> so it was described not that way by just local people but others as well. >> on multiple occasions he asked them to leave as well as rename their team that implied reconstruction, and that wa

hamid karzai turned down on invitation to join president obama at the airfield. jim walsh, a research associate at the mit securities studies programs says it's really no surprise neither president made the extra effort. >> i think president barack obama had his fill. he's not the first american president to feel a lack of relationship. they are having a run off in a month. there'll be a new guy in office. the white house correspondents are saying we don't want to get involved in the elections or interfere in domestic politics, if i had to guess, i'm guessing obama is done with hamid karzai, he's a lame duck going out. he doesn't want to deal with hymn. >> james walsh. mit. >> both candidates in the run-off said they'll sign an agreement to keep the u.s. on the ground. the president's message was important for the african people to hear. >> both afghan candidates who are going to run off on 14 june confirm that they will sign, it will be in the top of the list and the prioritiy to sign the bilateral contract. president obama called the trip a single mission. but

that actually had a total interaction with important results because it was actually the start of hamid karzai's belief that obama was out to get him, which then continued through the election of 2009. it was a completely unintended consequence and one that may not even be understood today. i think similarly these issues of the local politics in afghanistan have been interpreted by people here as having something to do with the war on terror which they might be somehow connected to, but often they are not. i won't go into more details, but being in the government and as an advisor i would try in my imperfect understanding many afghans have criticized how imperfect it is and how effective it is and my relationship with various people, but i try to bridge that gap, but i finally concluded it isn't able to be bridged because there's an asymmetry of power in the world and we have a lot more money into violence at our disposal and therefore we are able to implement our ideas and protect our interests more forcefully if not always work effectively because we don't know more than those with le

. >>> hoda abdel hamid joins us live from donetsk.oda what else can you tell us about this incident? and is it a sign that violence is increasing across the area? >> i think it is a worrying sign about the developments here on the ground in the sense that until recently you had two parties fighting, the ukrainian forces on one side and the pro-russian separatists, now you have the third-party which are these pro-ukrainian groups. they are also armed militias roaming around this area. and what we have seen that happened earlier today is there was this fight between the two, both sides are armed. the prore-russians are better equipped than the pro-ukrainians, but both sides are willing to take on each other. and both of them seem under the control of absolutely nobody. we have heard a lot of these pro-russian groups say they operate alone. they don't take orders from anyone. they deny there is a chain of commanding, and the pro-ukrainian groups say the same thing. they don't say who is backing them, but the government seems to say they

hamid karzai, a thorn in the side of the obama administration for some time on his way out. it is a crucial time for another reason. the united states government and the afghan government appear to be inching closer with hamid karzai's departure with a status of troops agreement. what is their role in 2014 - that is is a long-time promise for president obama to remove american troops, ending their combat roll. president obama saying that the afghan forces - it's turning out better than expected. by no stretch of the imagination is the situation in afghanistan can completely secure. here is more of what the president had to say. >> for many of you this will be your last tour in afghanistan. and by the end of this year the transition will be complete and afghans will take full responsibility for their security and our combat mission will be over. america's war in afghanistan will come to a responsible end. >>> president obama has a previously scheduled speech. we understand from officials that there could be a major announcement about the status of forces. how many, where will

al qaeda is not on their heels and hamid karzai refuses to meet with him. we're a country that has been diminished under his leadership and that's what you can take back from his foreign policy. >> as you heard ben said that this is a turning point for the president. how so? >> well, if we want to talk about a turning point, i think that you can't end the war in afghanistan without talking about obama's legacy in afghanistan and the truth is since 2009, majority of the casualties in afghanistan have happened under barack obama's watch. since the war in afghanistan started, 74% of our troops have been killed since 2009 under his watch so i think that we can't ignore that, especially on memorial day. president obama has a habit going into places where it's libya or egypt, creating a problem and never having an exit strategy. we'll hear about that on wednesday from him but we still don't know what is going to happen, who is going to fill the vacuum. i think president hamid karzai should be worried about his own safety considering the united states is going to

this was an hamid. also there was other flooding.osion and calumet city tunnel system, no injuries but a lot of the debris scattered. >> it blew up two years ago also, and then they put a bigger thing on it, but it never left a crater is a big ad before it. >> in it joliet, the roof of the building collapsed, one person stank at motel hurt by flying the great but percent refused medical treatment. there also reports of how water and other areas, >> strong winds as you and wild fire in texas panhandle, conduct of people left homeless. fires started yesterday afternoon and has already destroyed 100 homes. fire is threatening an entire town at cause of fire is not known. >> a major snowstorm dumped more than 1 ft. of snow in colorado. it caused power outages in several areas. more snow is expected today. it >> chicago black hawks and headed back to minnesota with a chance to close at the series after they defeated minnesota while the two-one. the chicago blackhawks remained undefeated at home. >> loss angeles clippers owner apologizing

one will have to wait until sunday to see what will happen. >> hoda abdel-hamid live in donetsk. thank you. >>> the european union promised to send aid to serbia following flooding there. the country will need more than a billion dollars to rebuild its damned infrastructure. we meet a family suddenly left homeless. >> reporter: in a shelter in belgrade this man is waiting. he lost everything in the floods, except his family. they are among 35,000 people with nowhere to live. it will cost him thousands of dollars to rebuild his home. that is money he davis cup have. >> literally everything, our entire lives, has been destroyed. it is the same for all of us here. we have been reduced to nothing. the only thing we can cling to is that we save our families and our children. >> it will cost more than a billion dollars to help the families. this is a country already in a deep financial crisis. the scars of the n.a.t.o. bombing are visible in belgrade, 15 years after the war. the economy minister belongs to a new government elected in march. he says this is another setback. >> it's not

all this plans is contingent on a bilateral security agreement one that hamid karzai has refused to sign. but with afghan set to elect a new president in a runoff vote next month president obama has said he's increasingly confident that afghanistan's next lead her put pen to paper and allow america to refocus its resources. >> in addition to bringing our troops home, this new chapter in american foreign policy will allow us to redirect some of the resources saved by ending these wars to respond more nimbly to the changing threat of terrorism. i think americans have learned that it's harder to end wars than it is to begin them. and this is how wars end in the 21st century. >> joining me now is deputy national security adviser. tony, thanks for joining me today. let's start with the number, 9,800. is it enough to beat back the taliban resurgence we've seen in the last two years. >> alex let's put it in context. we're turning the page on a decade of war. when the president came to office we had about 170,000 americans in harm's way in rairk and afghanistan. he vowed to end both wars respons

all this, brooke, is contingent on the new afghan president, hamid karzai saying he's got a bilateral security agreement. but the two men who were vying to become the next president of afghanistan have said publicly that they will sign that security agreement. that is why the president is feeling comfortable coming out today and making this announcement. >> jim acosta, we won't get too far from you. 40 minutes from now in the rose garden we'll be watching it live. >>> a day of mourning all across the state of california. not just in the communities of islea vista and santa barbara. but university of california campuses northward to the bay area, they were sorority sisters, roommates and a visiting friend and college student shopping at the deli, just grabbing a sandwich. these six innocent young people caught in the middle of a young man's deadly plot of revenge. classes are canceled today at ucsb, set to resume tomorrow, as students prepare for exams, and graduation. a memorial service will take place on campus at 4:00 local time. and at ucla, the so-called sister campus of uc santa

apparently we also learned at fox he spoke to hamid karzai earlier this morning.president now coming out to give america his assessment of afghanistan. he's speaking at west point as well tomorrow. we'll have full analysis in the moments right before he speaks. >>> in the meantime, a quick look at today's other headlines. the supreme court ruling in favor of death row inmates with mental disabilities. the decision forcing states to look beyond low i.q. scores when considering whether a person can be executed. >>> investigators dismissing both foul play and arson in a massive warehouse fire in georgia that happened over the weekend. the inferno could be seen for miles and even shut down roads. luckily nobody was hurt. >>> a manhunt for a killer under way in central florida. police searching for the man they believe shot and killed three people. i believe we just announced on fox that they had been able to apprehend him because they had been warning he was armed, mentally ill and dangerous. he is now officially in custody. >>> developing now, a political flashback o

there will be a runoff election to succeed hamid karzai, who couldn't run again, next month. it will take time in afghanistan to get those votes counted, some weeks to announce a new president. so, we are not looking at a change in the presidency perhaps until late sunday, but the key issue has not agagone away. the u.s. would like to see afghanistan sign a security agree e. karzai refused to do so so far, a security agreement that will permit some number of u.s. troops to stay in afghanistan, help train the afghans, still work on going after al qaeda and key taliban terrorist bus mainly to train the afghans to look after their own security. if they can't get that agreement, all u.s. troops, all u.s. combat troops have to be out of afghanistan by the end of this year. so one of the key decisions that president obama has to make is this, the assumption is a new president in will sign, the candidates said they will. then the president of the united states has to decide how many troops does he want to leave there? the ranges that you hear are anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000. but t

for months hamid karzai has been outspoken against. do you think the upcoming election will change the fate of that agreement? >> there is hope that the new president in afghanistan will not have the political baggage that karzai has with the administration and the united states and with the elections behind them and no worry about the public backlash at the polls that they will feel free to sign this deal with the united states. >> and do you think if this agreement isn't signed that afghan forces can survive on their own at this point? are they independent enough? >> well, without this deal it is very difficult to have american troops on the ground because american troops require immunity on their law for actions that they take in combat and they need that protection. if they don't have that, it is very difficult to have american troops on the ground participating in any kind of security operations. but even with the u.s. troops on the ground, it remains to be seen whether the afghan forces can actually take on the taliban in the lio

hamid karzai, the outgoing president was always iffy on signing something like that, and the united statesct, said, well, maybe we have a zero option of having no residual forces at all, and the new candidates for afghanistan president seem to be more open to signing an agreement, and that is why the president wants to keep some residual forces slightly below 10,000. >> and transition ing ing to th first lady also making headlines today in what many publications have referred to as unusual move that she is fighting back and defending the initiative to get the healthier lunches in schools. >> well, we have not seen this type of activity from the first lady when it comes to hand-to-hand political combat since the 2012 political re-election fight, tamron, so it is sig nnificant and of course, the first lady's signature domestic goal on child nutrition, and nutrition standards to counter childhood obesity, and the con ser va republicans are against this, because they see it as a big intrusion by the federal government, and so that the classic type of fight of the democrats versus the republica

president obama called afghan leader hamid karzai sunday to express his condolences and offer continued support. the landslide is believed to have buried some 300 homes, claiming up to a third, a third of that village. >>> all right, it is back to court today for the former olympic sprinter oscar pistorius. a long break now over as the defense argues why pistorius is not guilty of murder. we're live in pretoria, next. my name is jenny, and i quit smoking with chantix. before chantix, i tried to quit probably about five times. it was different than the other times i tried to quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. it's a non-nicotine pill. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. that helped me quit smoking. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking, or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix, and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental-health problems, which

hamid karzai was not allowed to run for a third term.r a week until european union elections, candidates from the five biggest took part in a debate on thursday. major topics included eu policy on refugees, the crisis in ukraine, and economic stagnation in country such as greece. it's the first time debates were held ahead of eu elections as part of efforts to make the process more democratic. india, the world's largest democracy, side huge political shift on friday with a landslide election win for the opposition hindu nationalist. his top candidate is set to govern with an absolute majority in parliament. >> to live up to the responsibility you have given me, i shall devote every part of me, every second to serving our 1.25 billion people. >> the governing congress party ndhi dynastye ga suffered its worst defeat since 1947. the victory has been hailed by investors with a search on the stock market. supporters hope that mota's experience as governor will help to revitalize the cooling economy and the rest of the country. pioneer settle

. >> hoda abdel hamid joining us live from ukraine.nk you very much. >> again, three more people dying gen today. >>> the united states is imposing sanctions against boko haram. they are declaring that group a terrorist group. they can seize the assets of members and close off any avenues of funding. boko haram is accused of killing hundreds of people in he correct months. >>> there are also new developments in the case of l.a. clippers owner donald sterling. sterling has been banned for life from the nba, but his wife could end up being a different story. ross this has a lot of people in the nba scratching their heads. >> a surprising development no doubt. donald sterling has agreed to allow his wife, shelley sterling to negotiate the for-sale of the l.a. clippers. and it's surprising because he hired a lawyer in hopes of keeping the clipper team in the family, and so did shelley. the league formally filed charges against donald on monday to terminate his ownership of the clippers. and they have a vote where the other owners could vot

hoda abdel hamid is in donetsk. >> reporter: it was certainly the most aggressive offensive carried outy the ukrainians ever since they said that they would carry out an anti terror operation in slaviansk. now they didn't get inside this -- the town, but they managed to capture some of those check points that were manned by the pro-russians. they also took over the tv antenna that had been used to air only russian channels, so certainly on that sense there is a -- a -- a win for them. they put a sort of a loose blockade around the town, but the challenges ahead are extremely complicated, and they have to make sure that as they carry out their anti-terror operation, maybe probably in a more aggressive way, they minimize casualties. you were asking about how many casualties there are today. that's very difficult to figure out. we hear different numbers from both sides. but we can confirm that there have been casualties. on the ukrainian side there were two hoerpts that were downed. one poll lot was killed the other was taken away. the prorussians also said they have suffered many casualti

. >> so far hamid karzai has not signed a security agreement needed to keep a limited new ber of u.s. troops in afghanistan. by the end of 2016 fewer than 1,000 troops will remain in afghanistan. more than 2,100 have been killed since the invasion led in 2001. >>> well, coming up on thrjs secretary of state john kerry will discuss the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan and the syrian civil war. the state department is recommending that all americans leave libya immediately. the department says the security situation in libya remains unpredictable and unstable. several groups have called for attacks against americans. the "uss baton" carrying 1,000 americans has moved into the mediterranean. the school was closed yesterday as the six victims of friday's deadly rampage were remembered in an emotional service, but the sadness of their deaths was mixed with anger and calls for tougher gun laws. one victim's father told lawmakers, i don't care about your sympathy. do something. bigad shaban has our report. >> reporter: the roughly hour long service included musical tributes to the victims an

the reluctance of hamid karzai to sign an agreement, they were looking for some good news, and this is it. >> contributor to al jazeera america. thank you so much for your time. just to recap, sgt. bowe bergdahl, almost five years he would in afghanistan, he is coming home after an agreement worked out between the united states and the premiere of qatar. >>> the state department said that an u.s. citizen carried out a suicide-bombing in syria in the province of idlib. they identified the driver as a florida native. his photo appears in an online video purporting to show the bombing. it's believed to be the first time that an american has carried out this type of attack in syria. >>> territorial claims are destabilizing the region of china. a china general said if you make chinese the enemy china will become the enemy of the u.s. >> using blunt language in dealing with china and what he sees possible destablation of the region when china is dealing with these territorial disputes. he thinks what they're doing is something that can impact the international community. >> china has said th

hamid we just heard the reports on the attack in joes. was there more than one attack?> there was an attack yesterday and on monday. but the most recent was the one in alagorno, where 17 people have been killed according to authorities there. and locals have also confirmed that there was an attack last night, and the attackers came from the bushes. they took their [ inaudible ] and set their homes ablaze, and when they were escaping the fire, they killed 17 people. >> in the abscess of the military, and i'm supposing the military wasn't there to help, are local vigilantes trying to fight boko haram? >> well, there are reports of vigilantes all over fighting boko haram and in neighboring states as well, but they don't have the fire power to tackle the boko haram fighters. these are people with sophisticated weapons, apc's like [ inaudible ] carrier, and big guns that they cannot match. so basically when the military is not around. the villagers are left to deal with boko haram who have superior fire power, they have explosives, grenades and [ inaudible ], so theville age

hamid karzai has backed away from a deal to keep a limited number of troops in afghanistan after the end of the year to act as trainers and to conduct counter terrorism missions. president obama will not meet with him today. there's a runoff election on june 14. abdullah abdullah says he will approve the deal. the president said he was in the neighborhood, he thought he would drop by, actually they sneaked him out of the white house about midnight. he thanked the troops for their sacrifice, he said we'll know soon if some soldiers will stay behind to preserve the gaines others fought for. >> i'm going to have to mike some decisions in conjunction with the folks on the ground about how we manage to transmission, not just through the end of this year, but post 20423. we'll make the announcements fairly shortly. but i felt it was important that i check in face to face directly before those decisions were finally made. >> this is the president's fourth trip to afghanistan since taking office. the last one in 2012, came exactly a year after osama bin laden was killed. >> i want t go back

president hamid karzai ordered emergency relief immediately to reach the poor village. u.n. representatives say roads to the village were opened, passage was not suitable for heavy machinery. >>> syria's government is set to regain control offer homs after a possible ceasefire to allow hundreds of trapped fighters to leave. civilians were allowed out of the quarters. armed groups remain. a 48 hour ceasefire agreement was reached on friday to let fighters leave the old quarters and surrounding areas - a last remaining stronghold in the city. homs is the third-largest city and has been called the capital of the revolution. it was one of the first cities to rise up in 2011. much fell to opposition forces. the government laid siege to areas once home to tens of thousands of people. by the start of 2014, only the old city was still held by armed groups. if the deal holds, it will fall into government control. >>> al-qaeda leader has reportedly ordered the group's syrian branch to stop fighting rival rebel groups. the al nusra fronted has about in conflict with the islamic state o

president obama called afghan leader hamid karzai sunday to express his condolences and offer continued american support. that landslide is believed to have buried some 300 homes, claiming up to a third of that village. >>> happening right now in oklahoma, a giant, wind-driven wildfire racing through rural farmland north of oklahoma city. this fire growing rapidly overnight. officials estimate it's almost 4 miles long and about a mile wide. it has led to one death, a man who officials say refused to evacuate. so far, the fire has burned through at least 20 homes. ranchers are moving quickly this morning to move their herds away from the blaze. state officials are calling for extra help now to try to put this thing out. >>> all right, let's talk more about the conditions there and the conditions for the rest of us in the country. indra petersons joins us right now. >> hi, indra. >> good morning. what's really scary is this fire started off as a controlled burn, and unfortunately, got completely out of hand. we're talking about temperatures in the region yesterday soaring to 98 degrees. t

hamid karzai has refused to sign an agreement. both candidates indicated an agreement can be worked out allowing us poreses to say. >> there are roughly 32,000 u.s. soldiers in afghanistan the president says it's his goal. the number of forces is not clear, a decision the white house promises would be made soon. . >> columbians go back to the polls on uni-15 pore a president until run-off election which many see as a referendum. neither of the two leading can't dads scored 50% needed for an outright win. oscar zuluaga said he'd freeze talks with f.a.r.c. juan manuel santos calls the election a battle twip the past and the -- between the past and the future. >>> increased security for belgium sites. two others were killed after a gunman attacked a museum in brussels, a nation-wide manhunt is under way. security camera footage shows the moment the gunmen struck, surveyoring an assault rifle into the jewish museum in brussels before making off on foot. >> what we can say is the camera images showed us that he was alone, probably, he

hamid karzai has refused to sign the agreement. but both candidates in a runoff election to replace karzai said they would approve the plan. >>> a fire in mariposa county is growing quickly and forcing the evacuation of about a hundred homes. it's burning near lake mcclure, east of turlock. it's burned about 900 acres with 27% containment. mad tori evacuation orders were issued for the homes. steeps are working in rugged terrain to put out hot spots and build lines. >>> a twister such touched -- touched down in north dakota last night. take a look at that. nine people were injured. the tornado was so powerful, it destroyed eight trailer homes. thunderstorms are moving through the area but the weather service says the threat of more tornadoes is low. >>> outside our doors this afternoon, the sun is shining but it doesn't feel the same as yesterday. it's a lot cooler. giving you a live look there over the bay, the bay bridge and to the east where we have mostly sunny skies. but boy, anywhere from 3 to 6 to 10 degrees below what we ha

that actually had a total interaction with important results because it was actually the start of hamid karzai's belief that obama was out to get him, which then continued through the election of 2009. it was a completely unintended consequence and one that may not even be understood today. i think similarly these issues of the local politics in afghanistan have been interpreted by people here as having something to do with the war on terror which they might be somehow connected to, but often they are not. i won't go into more details, but being in the government and as an advisor i would try in my imperfect understanding many afghans have criticized how imperfect it is and how effective it is and my relationship with various people, but i try to bridge that gap, but i finally concluded it isn't able to be bridged because there's an asymmetry of power in the world and we have a lot more money into violence at our disposal and therefore we are able to implement our ideas and protect our interests more forcefully if not always work effectively because we don't know more than those with le