is that the obama administration should grow up and face the facts -- it has no alternative to hamid karzaiso it should support him rather than undermining him. karzai is a pashtun, the dominant ethnic group group and he seems willing to work with washington. he's had troops in his country for eight years. he has significant support in the country. certainly more support than any other political figure in the country at this point. and finally, there is no path to replacing him short of a military coup or something equally destabilizing. so, karzai may be corrupt, inefficient and weird, but does anyone really think that his alternative would be a jeffersonian democrat who was also popular with the pashtuns, effective and honest? this is afghanistan. a country wrecked by 25 years of war, with one of the lowest levels of income and literacy in the world. what it needs right now is government. good government f we're lucky. democratic government ideally, but first government. in an ideal world we might be able to have it all. in the one we have, it's a choice between karzai and something that

but now hamid karzai has use someday unwelcome rhetoric.re criticism of his policies might drive him to join the taliban. did he really mean that and what if he did? j, zblunset j,. >>> sunset in sri lanka, one of the images in today's hot shots. nor come. [ female announcer ] switch to swiffer sweeper, and you'll dump your old broom. but don't worry, he'll find someone else. ♪ who's that lady? ♪ who's that lady? ♪ sexy lady ♪ who's that lady? [ female announcer ] swiffer sweeper's electrostatic dry cloths attract and lock dirt, dust, and hair on contact to clean 50% more than a broom. it's a difference you can feel. swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning. ♪ who need assistance getting around their homes. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little or no cost to you. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happ

he met with hamid karzai, and he also spoke to american troops, saying that the u.s. would stay until the job was done. >> we did not choose this war. this was not an act of america wanting to expand its influence, of us wanting to meddle in somebody else's business. we were attacked viciously on 9/11. >> so, martha, you were along on this trip, the big surprise. you knew it was coming. what did the president get out of it? does he get more ownership of the war there? >> well, he owns this war, and he's owned this war for a long time. but i think going there, he had to go there. he had to go there at some point. he's wanted to go there since the beginning of his presidency. i think they've had some trips planned up until now and they just couldn't do it because of logistics and timing. and they even said because of the weather they couldn't get over there. but i think getting there on the ground and talking to karzai and not having such a successful trip with karzai, if you all notice this week, he left. he pushed him a little bit on corruption, and then karzai comes

>>> welcome back. 3 the president of afghanistan, hamid karzai, escalated a war of words with the u.sead of a major military offensive against the taliban coming this summer. he accused us of perpetrating voter fraud in the last elections and on saturday karzai told members of the afghan parliament, "if you and the international community pressure me more i swear i'm going to join the taliban." how can we work with a leader who threatens to join the forces we're trying to defeat? peter galbray, envoy to afghanistan. karzai took direct aim at him and accused him of trying to orchestrate fraud over there. he was dismissed last year over clashing with his superiors. also joining me, mr. ignatius. let me go to peter, first of all. what's going on with karzai? is he a drug user, as far as you understand? >> well, he's clearly not -- not entirely normal, and that was an observation that was also made by dr. abdullah abdullah who's a physician and his principle opponent. this is fairly well known among diplomats in kabul. these kinds of tirades he's produced are not rational. it can't be rat

the question hears to be did hamid karzai threaten to join the taliban? what impact will his apparent and possibly growing feud with the white house mean for the future of the war and american troops. then this comment made on another network from somebody who reports to be in the know suggesting that hamid karzai might have a substance problem regarding the substances of the greatest cash crops in afghanistan. that's long been a rumor. it's not new to any journalists as a rumor, but a fact? we're not there yet. context and perspective in 2 1/2 minutes. ♪ let's take a look at the stats. mini has more than double the fir and whole grain... making him a great contender in this bout... against mid-morning nger. honey nut cheerios is coming in a little short. you've got more whole grain in your little finger! let's get ready for breakfaaaaaaaaaast! ( ding, cheering, ringing ) keeping you full and focused with more than double the fiber and whole grain... in every tasty bite -- frrrrrrosted mini-wheeeeats! didn't know i had it in me. a tornado hits, air life d

hamid karzai has escalated a war of words with the u.s. he accused us of perpetrating voter fraud in the last elections elections and on saturday, he told mens of the afghan parliament quote -- how can we work with a leader who threatens to join the forces we're trying to defeat? karzai recently took direct aim at gal braet and accused him of trying to orchestrate fraud over there. he was dismissed last year over clashing with his superiors. first of all, what is going on with karzai? is he a drug user? >> he is clearly not sbeentirel normal and that was an observation made by a physician and his principal opponent. this is fairly well-known among diplomats in kabul. these kinds of tirades he's produced are not rational. it can't be rational for him to say he's going to join the enemy of the united states. or to accuse the u.n. of fraud that he himself committed. now, there are reports in the palace that he uses drugs. hashish. i don't know the accuracy of that, but i have some confidence in the sources. >> let me ask you about our situati

but far from the front lines, afghan president hamid karzai launched an offensive of his own-- a charmcalls the plan reintegration. >> reintegration is this idea that many of the foot soldiers and the mid-level commanders can be prized away from the insurgency if they are received sufficient guarantees of security and offers of a livelihood. >> reporter: there are some signs it's working. one radical group has already said it would be willing to lay down its arms if conditions were right. >> the main point on this is how to stop the war, how to start the peace process, and how to prepare the international community for an honorable departure from afghanistan. >> reporter: an honorable departure is what u.s. soldiers are fighting for and commanders say the only way to achieve it is to make it clear they will only leave once the government has the country under control. and there's another way to get the taliban to give up the fight-- cash, lots of it. mike... michael says many will take that offer. >> they are prepared to do a deal. >> reporter: but there are some taliban fighters who w

we're going to be more sympathetic toward hamid karzai. he's the guy we have to deal with. this was a significant change. >> it was a shift as of right this minute, right? we've been pretty hard on him. he is the guy that was elected, and he is our man. we created karzai. hets's been under siege from everyone. bauchl pretty much came out swinging during his campaign. he's had every european parliamentarians coming after him. naturally he is going to react. this is the testosterone access of the world. you don't insult him in public and evenings peblth him to sit back and take it. >> secretary gates made a point of saying that's the level of cooperation that's important and exists, this is our commander on the ground leading our forces, and you've got karzai -- >> it's hard on our troops as well. let's throw that in. this happened in vietnam. i heard a vietnam vet a couple days ago saying our morale was very badly hurt when we felt like we were fighting for a loser. if the united states is not supporting karzai, then how do we expect our troops to feel enthusiastic about the

precarious the political situation is, so it's a very delicate balancing act. >> and more comments from hamid karzaihe white house is not at all happy about karzai taking these shots at us when we are escalating a war, surging troops and putting american lives on the line for him. >> down the road, this is -- one of the white house's worst nightmares because you know, president made that really difficult decision to -- for a surge in afghanistan to send more troops and make a bigger u.s. commitment and yet on behalf of the government whose leader is openly dissing the united states. if there are not turnarounds in afghanistan down the road, the president's going to have to make more difficult decisions. >> thank you so much. logon to newsweek.com for more. and tomorrow, have intelligence reforms made the country any safer? we'll talk to congresswoman jane harmon, joins us at 1:00. >>> and developing now on msnbc, tiger woods set to speak just minutes from now from augusta, georgia. it's the first press conference since the sex scandal put his career on hold. >>> and we're just minutes away from wood

hamid karzai made the comment during a meeting with local leaders. it came as the president karzai accused of united states of interfering in afghan affairs and warns the taliban will become a legitimate movement if western pressure continues. the comment was dismissed as an exaggeration. the white house is calling the comment troubling but went on to say that the u.s. will continue to work with the afghan government. president obama plans to meet with karzai next month at the white house. >> a watershed case in school bullying. a court set to charge a group of students accused of tormenting this teenage girl until she killed herself. the trial she doesn't light on other incidents. jonathan hunt with a closer look at one of those heartbreaking stories as "studio b" continues from new york and tampa in 90 seconds. early morning launch from cape canaveral. one of the few scheduled to be remaining for the space shuttle program. only three scheduled launches after today. space shuttle discovery is set to dock with the international space station and then

what is hamid karzai thinking. he raised eyebrows when he blamed the west for election problems in his country. what may have pushed u.s. officials over the edge was his threat to join the taliban. >> we certainly would evaluate whatever continued or further remarks president karzai makes as to whether that's constructive to have such a meeting. >> reporter: it would be an extraordinary snub to disinvite karzai from the white house. president obama was there just over a week ago and clearly was trying to press karzai to do more to root out corruption. some think it may have been too much pressure. >> if you go right in his face publicly, you tend not to get good response and frankly we should know that by now. >> reporter: it leaves the u.s. military in afghanistan in an awkward position. they need karzai, especially now. when a new taliban spring offensive could be on the horizon. >> i would say that the remarks he's made, i can't imagine that anybody in this country found them anything other than troubling. >> re

press secretary robert gates said -- robert gibbs said that hamid karzai's recent comments are untrue and troublesome. he was scheduled to visit the white house may 12. gibbs said his comments will be monitored to see whether the meeting will take place. >>> an arrest in washington state. federal agents have arrested charles wilson for making death threats against a u.s. senator. he voted in favor of health-care reform. wilson had allegedly been leading harassing messages for months. escalated to death threats after the health care vote. >>> a man accused of threatening erick kanter has been sent to a hospital. he was arrested after posting a threatening video on youtube. prosecutors say he has multiple personality disorder and believes he is the son of the guyenoch. he is being -- son of the goddess enoch. >>> a water main break in tysons corner is continuing to cause problems. construction crews accidentally broke the line about 4:30 this morning. we are live with more on the traffic problems and when things could get back to normal. >> this is a doozy. it could not have happened in

. >> a state department spokesperson said that hamid karzai should it choose his words carefully when making statements about his relationship to the united states. this was after he threatened to join the taliban if he continued to receive pressure from officials. >> we have finished the holiday week, and now the place is packed. good afternoon. welcome to opening day. it is a great day to be a baseball fan. it is a great day to be a red sox fan in particular, given what happened last night. the president will be over at national park here in washington later. baseball season is underway. it is a great sports week if you are a baseball fan or a hockey fan. we have several things to talk about before taking your questions. secretary clinton and the nigerian secretary will inaugurate a binational commission tomorrow afternoon. at the department of state. . this is designed to expand mutual cooperation across a range of shared interests including government transparency endpoint integrity -- transparency and integrity. there will be a number of working groups formed as a result of this

and an afghan government spokesman insisted president hamid karzai is committed to fighting terror. he denied karzai had threatened to join the taliban unless the u.s. and others stop pressing him for reforms. the "newshour" is always online. kwame holman, in our newsroom, previews what's there. kwame? >> holman: on our story about guinea worm, fred has a blog post about his reporting trip. we have a q and a with john merrow on the next steps for the new contract for washington, d.c. teachers. on kyrgyzstan, we interview a globalpost reporter about the root causes of the unrest and the potential impact on the u.s. military base there. plus on "art beat," actor and comedian harry shearer talks about the video project he calls "non-talking heads" capturing tv journalists and others in the silent moments before the camera goes on. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. jeff? >> brown: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm jeffrey brown. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. major funding for

and a return in 2002 which was the beginning of the hamid karzai government. the process involved where he was assuming the leadership of the country and in future years i did and in bed and followed up when the country started to devolve into the violence we are seeing now and most recently, this is and in the book i covered the election in august. >> where did you stay when you were there? >> we stayed in a house that was rented by the newspaper chain and after that i began staying in a hotel. >> what was it like? >> it used to be a place where you could exchange money and the hotel owner recognized that he could make more money turning it into a hotel. all rooms were glass so in winter you froze because there is no central heating and nothing but glass between you and your sleeping bag and it was a very eclectic group. all sorts of people from lost souls to journalists to people working in eight organizations. >> when did you get a book contract? >> that was in september of 2008. it was serendipity. i had written a lot of these chapters as individual essays

and afghan president hamid karzai spoke to secretary of state clinton by phone. an aide said karzai was misunderstood yesterday when he blamed election fraud on foreigners. the newshour is always online. kwame holman, in our newsroom, previews what's there. kwame. >> holman: mark and david continue their conversation. then, it's not just florida having trouble paying jobless benefits. we talked to a reporter from pro publica about other states' stretched for funds. a look at the shifting political situation in sudan, as the country prepares for its first multi-party elections in 24 years. and on "art beat," a conversation with actor alfred molina about playing artist mark rothko on broadway, and a scene from the play "red." all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> lehrer: and again to our honor roll of american service personnel killed in the iraq and afghanistan conflicts. we add them as their deaths are made official and photographs become available. here, in silence, are eight more. >> brown: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm jeffrey br

making nice in prague, the last few months has seen a steadily deteriorating relationship with hamid karzaiattern is familiar. criticism from karzai pushed back from the president or the secretary of state or the national security advisor mutual claims of misunderstanding, rinse and repeat. doyle just returned from kandahar, the start of a summer offensive. that play provide a clue to the karzai buzzal or is it a puzzle? >> it is a puzzle but it is so familiar it should be less of one. the impending offensive in kandahar is part of it. karzai is an after gadge politician and he's emotional. a little history. he ran for releeks last year, saying he was the one afghan national leader who would stand up to the foreigners. that's a paradoxical claim, because it is the foreigner's aide and troops that are keeping him in power. that was the pitch he made. and as you'll recall from last year, the obama administration didn't want him to win the election. they spent part of the year hoping they would find someone else to win it. and politicians keep grudges. and now, car stcomply is under a lot of p

he has face add huge amount of international flack but ham i had karzai has -- hamid karzai has turned the tables. he has accused masterminding widespread fraud during last year's disputed election. and he's singled out one man a. former deputy head of the u.n. mission in afghanistan, peter galbraith, as the focal point of the fraud. >> president karzai has always maintained he was unfairly targeted by the international community during last year's disputed elections. a million ballots, most for president karzai, were disqualified. today, president karzai acknowledged the scale of the problem. >> there was fraud in the presidential and provincial election. no doubt there was massive fraud. this wasn't fraud by afghans. but the fraud of foreigners. >> so why has this election crisis flared up again? the president's outburst also reflects his frustration with the afghan parliament. its lower house has just reject add recent presidential decree giving him the power to appoint all five commissioners on a key election watchdog. in the last election, three members were u.n. appointees. the p

. >> reporter: in a statement afghan president hamid karzai called the incident in his home province unjustifiable. yesterday karzai cautioned tribal leaders against reacting strongly to civilian deaths. leave this fight to me, he said. this is my job. today's events are likely to complicate planning for a summertime military offensive aimed at driving the taliban out of kandahar where their movement began and where afghan support is crucial for u.s. efforts. john yang, nbc news, kabul. >>> tonight our justice correspondent pete williams is confirming that naji planned to enter the u.s. subway system with an accomplice, both carrying bombs in backpacks. planning to enter at grand central and times square subway stops and choose whether to bomb the one, two, three or six trains. nbc news has also learned a fourth suspect in the plot was arrested in afghanistan and expected to be extradited to this country. >>> the vatican made another move to try to get ahead of the child abuse scandal. an acknowledgement that priests who commit such acts should be accountable under the law. the story

it's not like we're walking in cold, but with the taliban preparing the way they are and hamid karzai they doesn't want the u.s. to enter fear? i wonder what support there is there from that government as we send even more troops in for this particular challenging mission. what are your thoughts? >>> well, karzai has no -- has no other plan. he has to support this operation in kandahar simply because he knows that the center of resistance for the taliban in his whole country now is -- is located in kandahar. that's really the heartland of the insurgency, so the operation has to go forward whether it's in enthusiastically approved by karzai or not. as you suggest in what you said, this operation because of the sensitivity of the region, is going to go down in a much slower, more methodical fashion than what we saw, say, back in february in marjah. it's going to begin with a rollout of a campaign. the u.s. forces are going to establish a series of joint security areas. as you suggest, the c coalition forces will sugar a serie conduf shuras and slowly by surely like an ink blot, they'll

. >>> the white housis getting tough with afghan president hamid karzai over his controversial comments. we'll tell you what the u.s. is threatening. stay with us. we are coming back after the break.  >>> two of the most powerful men in the world make history tomorrow. president obama leaves for prague today to sign a landmark nuclear treaty with the president of russia. both sides reached a deal which would limit the nuclear weapons stockpiles. >>> the u.s. senate has to ratify the arms treaty. it is not sitting well with two republicans. under the new policy, the united states promises not to use nuclear weapons against countries that don't have those weapons. senators john mccain and john kyle of arizona say the country should be able to use nuclear arms to retaliate against a chemical or biological attack. >>> the white house is playing hard ball with the president of afghanistan. president hamid scar disci is scheduled for an upcoming visit to the nation's capital but controversial commts may gate him uninvited. he accused the u.n. of interfering in last ye

also today, afghan president hamid karzai blamed officials from the u.n. and the european union for wide-spread fraud and last year's presidential election. the catholic church has come out swinging against allegations it tried to cover up crimes committed by priests against children. correspondent greg burke looks at the modern holy war from rome. >> reporter: the holiest week of the year on the christian calendar is a very intense one for po pope benedict xvi. he's under fire for mishandling two sex abuse cases, one when he was archdiocese in germany and the other was top aid to pope john paul ii at the vatican now. the church is firing back at the critics. american cardinal laveda, long-time aide to the pope and official is challenging reports in the "new york times." in an article, he accused the times of being unfair to the pope and getting the facts wrong, writing, "i asked the times to reconsider its attack mode about pope benedict xvi and give the world a more balanced view of the leader it can and should count onon. the 'times' is standing by the

there we see our good bud, bud, buddy hamid karzai in embrace with the adorable mahmoud ahmadinejad.it's sha share turn to save their country. cut defense spending and bring troops home from iraq and afghanistan." this is what you talked about yesterday. $160 billion, billion with a "b." $700 billion defense budget. as chris said, there has to be a lot of things in there we can ratchet down. >> glenn: give me the bridge to nowhere ad. >> this is a tv spot, give you a taste for what you could do with the program like what you've talked about this week. [ beeping ] [ key stroking ] >> we need bridges because we need to get from one private area to another private area. >> the government spends $70 billion of your money each year on infrastructure aid for state projects. often resulting in waste, fraud, bureaucracy and bridges to nowhere. wake up, america. >> you remember the bridge to nowhere? we're going the have to i think do a much better job planning how we spend our money. >> it's your money. back the cato budget. >> glenn: okay. here is the thing. you know, the problem is these k

statement, the worst parts was the back breaking trip to and from afghanistan to be followed by hamid karzai saying all that stuff i said to the president is bologna and we're not going to clean up our act. he seems to have gotten a walk to the woodshed and told, listen, we have an all of lot invested in afghanistan, we need you towing our line. whether he does, we'll see. >> shepard: the most important thing coming up is hoops tomorrow. >> i have west virginia. both my teams on the other side are out. i have to root for butler. west virginia and butler and what the heck, butler wins the national championship. how great would that be. >> shepard: it wouldn't because i want bob huggens to win. go mountaineers. >> we're all the way to the championship game. >> i like huggie. i went down there for a game. man they have good fans, great support and they're fired up. >> butler is impressive. i have to say and i know this is the end of our relationship. i like duke and coach k. i have always like that program. they seem to be good and graduate a lot of players. what's to hate about duke? >> shepar

. >>> moving on to other news, in afghanistan president hamid karzai issued an especially harsh criticismf the u.s. over the weekend. in a private meeting with members of parliament he even implied he might have to join the taliban if the u.s. does not stop "meddling." during an easter sunday meeting in kandahar, karzai continued distancing himself from the west. he told tribal elders they will be consulted before u.s. and nato troops move into insurgent areas. >>> wall street today gets its first chance to react to the positive job growth numbers that were released last friday. whilthat report may have been a step in the right direction, the obama administration officials aren't talking about a rapid economic turnaround. david kerley reports. >> reporter: it may have been the biggest increase in three years, adding 162,000 jobs. but that doesn't mean happy times are here again. >> this is not a recovery yet. people are right now very scared, understandably, of getting their jobs back. >> reporter: just ask cheryl. at a new job for a month but she does not feel secure. >> economy-wise, pa

general saying there is a real problem with the way the united states is diplomatically handling hamid karzaill an ally in afghanistan? >> certainly, the criticism the general raised has been heard in many quarters. the feeling that the administration, particularly vice president biden, holbrooke and national security adviser, jim jones, have said very critical things about president karzai in public. other members of the administration such as secretary clinton have been more -- though in private conversations, they have really pushed him to crack down on corruption, to be a leader, to work to bring afghanistan together. and they haven't seen many results. the question is, how do you handle them. >> and he's a problem. he was coming under fire during the election for electoral fraud. now, he's blaming that on the united states for that. he's even made comments that if the united states and other allies don't shape up, he might go to the taliban. we need someone to be in afghanistan, a troubled region. >> right. karzai has the ultimate trump card, which is that there is no one else. the obama

we heard from liz cheney, who was here yesterday and calls the administration's response to hamid karzai childish and dangerous. it's been a lot of sharp rhetoric. there is a lot of hope here at this point that in 2010 and 2012 that republicans can take advantage of things. >> candy crowley, thanks. >>> wall street had something to cheer. minutes before the closing bell the dow industrials broke through the 11,000 mark. they closed three points shy. the dow hasn't been that high since september 2008. the magic wall to see what's ahead on the program. when we come back, we'll continue to focus on the president's big supreme court choice, including looking at this question here, who's right? when sarah palin and newt gingrich offer different opinions whether the republicans should be the party of yes and the party of no, what's the republican challenge in the court fight? that's our pulse tonight. wall-to-wall, where's the middle? as the president prepares to make his second pick to the high court, we'll look at how our country is so divided at the moment. in our clash, we'll call this one

you read "the new york times" today president obama goes and wags his finger at hamid karzai and says we are very disappointed with you or something. [laughter] who are you? of [laughter] [applause] it's a kind of real politic which i think some of us should stay out of, you know, and keep the bar at what we think of as a moral position which is all nuclear weapons are a course and of course will lead us to the edge of the press this unless we get rid of them. but the bargaining has a lot to do with what country has what kind of power. now in india the government is buying sort of discarded nuclear reactors from here and other places and allowing them to sign indemnities said that if there is gyroball there will be a lively. [laughter] >> we will do to more questions so we can conclude this part and after the questions, arunhati, we will have a last portion of reading. so this line, we will do this gentleman and then you and those of you in line with questions afterwards in the line for books can chat with her a little bit. thank you. >> hello. i thought after the last couple of quest

plot which is sure to complicate our already strained relations with the government of president hamid karzai. he is already feeling xenophobic and feeling already as if the united states are forcing him to crack down on drug smuggling and corruption. and now comes word that one of his key aides the target of a bizarre plot by medical workers, an asass nation plot. the group based in milan, italy denies involvement in any alleged plot. we will follow up on this and i will tell you as the program progresses of the wonderful work being done by the marines in the third battalion. now, let's go to kimberly in new york. the news on everything from tiger woods to the tea party express. kimberly, back to you in new york. >> thanks, geraldo. we begin with a tea party express victory lap around the great state of michigan. this started with the campaign to oust an obama care congressman and ended with a resignation celebration. >> congressman bart stupak, you have betrayed our constitution. you sold us out on the healthcare vote and now it is time for you to pay the political price. >> i inform the de

america's designated driver there, hamid karzai, is proving increasingly unstable behind the wheel. the united states put karzai in power and our soldiers have been fighting and dying on his behalf ever since. despite widespread corruption in his government. now he's making threats against the western coalition that is shedding blood and treasure on his behalf. even more disturbing, for the moment, are the civilian deaths from nighttime raids and aerial bombings by american and other nato troops. just this week, we learned of an apparent cover-up following a special forces raid in february that killed five civilians, including three women, two of whom were pregnant. it's believed bullets were gouged from the women's bodies to conceal evidence of american involvement. this slaughter of innocents has led the pro-american "economist" magazine to question whether our entire effort in afghanistan "has been nothing but a meaningless exercise of misguided violence." with me is a man with first-hand experience of war. andrew bacevich served 23 years, some of them in vietnam, before retiring

president obama goes and wags his finger at hamid karzai and says we are very disappointed with you here who are you, you know? it's a kind of realpolitik which i think some of us should stay out of, you know, and keep the bar at what we think of as a moral position, which is that all nuclear weapons are a curse, you know. and, of course, will lead us to the edge unless we get rid of them. but the bargaining has a lot to do with, you know, what country has what kinds of power. now in india, the government is buying sort of discarded nuclear reactors from here and other places, and allowing them to sign indemnities so that if there is, there'll be a limited liability, you know. >> we will do two more questions so that we can conclude this part, and then after the questions will have a last little portion. so i think for those of you in the line will do this gentleman and then you. those of you who are in line with questions afterwards, and the line of books can chat with there. thank you and. >> i thought that after the last couple of question i would did to the kinds of asking you someth

moving beyond that question, here you have the former vice president's daughter siding with hamid karzai said he could envision joining the taliban over president obama. whose side do you think karzai is on? >> there's a mild rebuke with mr. gates, he rebuked his own administration saying we have to be careful how we talk about this guy. i don't need to be careful. and i will answer your question. i think it's fair to ask whose side he's on. particularly since he said he'll join the other side if we don't fix elections which we did not do in his country. he's the one shortly after president obama flies to visit him, president obama invites president of iran to give a fiery speech from iran and some munitions coming that are having devastating effect as roadside bombs. it's fair to ask. >> we don't have an alternative apparently. karzai, one re-election by fraud, i think that's established. he and his brother are corrupt. i think that's pretty well established. he's weird in many respects. many world leaders are. but who -- we're not going to depose him like we have in south vietnam. >> w

. >>> afghan president hamid karzai is upping his anti-western rhetoric, despite the fact that the unitedlions of dollars into his country. just yesterday karzai threatened to join the taliban. the taliban. if the afghan parliament doesn't support his effort to resist u.s. and u.n. control. the threat comes alongside reports that the taliban is dominating some areas of afghanistan, despite a concerted effort by united states marines to win over the local population. meanwhile, the american-led military command in kabul says it has admitted to killing two pregnant women and a teenage girl during a nato raid back in february. for more let me bring in robert greenwald, founder of brave new film, the production company behind the documentary series "rethink afghanistan." mr. greenwald, does any of this news come as a surprise to you? i mean, you know, mr. karzai, for lack of a better term, seems to be a turncoat on the united states. >> well, mr. karzai is a corrupt leader who is detested by most of the population in afghanistan. i'm surprised that he went so far as to say he would join the t

in afghanistan, president hamid karzai postponed a national peace conference until after his visit toxt month. a spokesman said karzai wants to firm up support for his overtures to the taliban. also today, nato acknowledged four men killed by its troops monday night were civilians. initially, two were described as "known insurgents." juan antonio samaranch, who ran the international olympic committee for 21 years, has died in spain. the cause was heart failure. samaranch presided over the i.o.c. from 1980 to 2001. it was an era marked by political boycotts and opening the games to professional athletes. his tenure was tarnished by a corruption scandal over giving the 2002 winter games to salt lake city, utah. juan antonio samaranch was 89 years old. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of the program with a preview of what you'll find tonight on the newshour's web site. but for now, back to jeff. >> brown: the fallout continues from iceland's volcano, as airlines struggle to get hundreds of thousands of passengers back home. ray suarez, still in london, fi

we talk with people who speak english, who are educated in the west, the hamid karzai and they're often brilliant cons. they know just what to say. democracy, human rights, okeechobee, remember me was? is a guy who chimed the hardheaded bush administration. i have my record of sand in 2003 he was a con man who can be trusted. you didn't have to be a genius to see it. you have to buy a couple persian rugs in your life. he was a con. and now he is iran's same man in iraq. very tight with revolutionary goers. just like someone blake matter judo urges because they speak english and they will want assuming they died for us. his family essentially had slaves, was a futile landholding family. an incredibly correct, incredibly corrupt, but she knew what to say. we didn't probe beyond that. and then you go to religion in afghanistan. i keep hearing from people trying to rationalize the problem away. we don't want to deal with religion as a force of human affairs. so go say, al qaeda is just using the religion as a tool. while then, we don't have wise to also affect this? is iran? the taliban, th

. >>> and the white house is now reconsidering a visit with afghan president hamid karzai.ring of testy and even threatening statements. white house press secretary robert gibbs told reporters they will evaluate karzai's remarks and decide whether it's constructive to have the meeting scheduled for may 12th zblfshlgts the latest on that deadly mine explosion in west virginia. it happened almost 24 hours ago. 25 people are known dead and four are missing as i speak. meanwhile, the cause of the explosion is still under investigation. let's go to nbc's jay gray. he's near the site of the mine where the desperate rescue operation is in progress. jay, we know there was a delay. what do we know as far as an effort to get closer to where those trapped miners might be? >> reporter: hey, tamron. yeah, the work still continues this afternoon. the governor making it clear that this is still a rescue effort. he wants to make sure that as long as those four miners are unidentified, that they're going to continue to do whatever they can to get to them. they've had trouble with the drills

send, by the way, to the folks in afghanistan as well where i'm very troubled by the comments of hamid karzain the last several days. >> we'll get to that. i want to talk about the terror threat and bring in secretary chertoff about these new screening rules that just came about on friday where individuals coming from other countries are going to be evaluated a little differently. "the new york times" summarized how the intelligence will be used to identify people who need additional screenings. the intelligence based security system is deviced to raise flags about travel lersz who names don't appear on a no-fly watch list, but whose travel patterns or personal traits create suspicions. the system is intended to pick up fragments of information, family name, nationality, age or even partial passport number and match them against intelligence reports to sound alarm bells before a passenger boards a plane. secretary chertoff, i should point out in full disclosure, you now work for companies in the homeland security area that are producing some of the technology that may be brought to bare. that

disturbing questions about whether the obama administration can work with afghanistan's leader hamid karzai. in recent days karzai threatened to join the taliban, even though his spokesman denies the report. sources tells nbc news karzai has been behaving in an erratic unstable way in recent weeks. that prompted this question during tuesday's briefing. >> is karzai our ally. >> karzai is the democratically elected leader of afghanistan. >> that's not my question. is he our ally, an ally of the united states? >> there are times in which the actions he takes are constructive to governance. i would say the remarks he's made, i can't imagine that anybody in this country found them anything other than troubling. >> richard engel is nbc's chief foreign correspondent, he joins us live from kabul, afghanistan. a lot are wondering why these, as gibbs puts it, troubling comments from karzai. >> reporter: it's an amazing change of tone if you listen to statements out of the white house, this obama administration towards karzai. no embrace. very different from what we heard from president bush who had

did you catch the hamid karzai saying, if foreigners don't stop meddling in afghanistan he's going to? isn't he being defended day and night by american soldiers? earlier today on msnbc the former deputy u.n. envoy to afghanistan questioned karzai's mental stability. what makes me think we're going back to the regime in vietnam. that's not a nice place to go. >>> also, that mining tragedy in west virginia is a tragic notice of the failure of some mining companies to keep their workers safe. last year, the operator of the mine was assessed $900,000 in penalties for hundreds of safety violations. was this mine disaster, the one right now avoidable? >>> plus, an impressive gesture

crowds chanted, "death to america," and called for the downfall of afghan president hamid karzai. karzai himself condemned the shooting as a violation of nato's promise to safeguard civilians. in pakistan, local officials reported 41 insurgents and two soldiers were killed when the militants attacked two checkpoints. it happened in the northwest tribal region of orakzai, where an offensive began last month to root out taliban fighters. the u.n. reported today more than 200,000 pakistanis have fled the region to escape the fighting. the political crisis in thailand deepened further today. the election commission ordered the ruling party be dissolved for allegedly misusing campaign donations. and the coffins of 21 anti- government protesters were paraded through the streets of bangkok. they died saturday in violent clashes with soldiers. the prime minister has refused to resign, but today, the army chief appeared to support calls for his resignation. >> if the issue can't be resolved through political means, i understand that the dissolution of parliament has to come. some people ha

officials raised new concerns today about afghan president hamid karzai. on saturday, karzai told afghan lawmakers he might join the taliban rather than submit to foreign pressure to reform his government. it's unclear whether karzai was serious, but in washington today, state department spokesman p.j. crowley said this. >> that particular comment is a bit of a head scratcher. beyond that, you know, we were troubled by some of his comments last week. we think we've addressed them. i can't explain, you know, what he said about the taliban. he is the elected leader of afghanistan. we're working closely with he and his government. >> holman: at the white house, press secretary robert gibbs said a may 12 meeting between karzai and president obama is still on schedule. in iraq, gunmen killed a shiite family of six outside baghdad. the victims included four children. the attack followed an especially violent weekend in baghdad. on sunday, three suicide car bombings killed more than 40 iraqis near several foreign embassies. iraqi officials said militants are tryi