her husband assumed the presidency in september, replacing hamid karzai. she talks about the role of women in afghanistan, growing up as a lebanese christian, and issues affecting the country. this is one hour. >> good evening, everyone. we are here on an ash wednesday so i have not misapplied my makeup. thank you for braving the cold weather here in washington. more called will come while we are here but i hope you will be warmed by the great conversation that we put together for you tonight. i want to thank the city for providing support. we are broadcasting this live via webcast. it is my pleasure to introduce our two speakers. most importantly, the first lady of afghanistan, rula ghani, here for the first time. she is from lebanon. she met her husband at the american university in beirut. she is quite accomplished as having earned her master's degree from columbia university and of course she is worked extensively on women's and children's issues in afghanistan. i'm sure she will be sharing those experiences with us here tonight. providing the moderati

president hamid karzai in 2001 at a press conference in the palace -- 2009. in 2009 i went out with "the new york times" to a central afghan provincial capital to see what was going on in part of the province that is 80% controlled by the taliban. in the picture it is not very clear here but over in the left you have a brand new ford pickup truck that the united states had given them. these are british-designed invented barriers which are collapsable burlap or mesh-like eight with wire. open them up. fill them up with dirt and very much pretty instant barricades. the afghan flag. the chinese russian rooftop to a pickup truck. a broken chair. a traffic cone tipped over. dirty socks. interesting gutter here and two very innocent but scared out of their mind afghan national policemen inviting me in for breakfast. the takeaway from this, this is a brand new ford pickup truck. has no gasoline. the gasoline that leaves kabul in 18 wheel truck would be diverted, the gasoline would be unloaded and sold on the black market. so they had no gasoline for their brand new

was much talk in town on what the contrast was here between that visit and our relationship with hamid karzai before. and in fact also continue remarks about how fortunate the united states is to have these two 34e7bmen, yes two men because in many ways they seem to complement one another if given the opportunity. let me ask in this light how at this point in time can we best assure that these men are going to succeed? anyone? >> i'll make one comment but my colleagues know this subject betterbetas well or better than i do. first of all, they have to succeed if afghanistan is to have a future. together they have a mandate. 70 mers of afghans who voted voted for one of the two of them. we're not quite sure which one but we all know they voted for one of the two of them. so they have a heck of a manneddate together. neither one of them despite what each believes have a mandate if they separate. i believe their personal relations are good. i believe they want to make this work. my colleagues can speak to this as well. there are a lot of tensions in this relationship. and that's inevitable. and t

relationships with than the president of afghanistan hamid karzai. secretary kerry is working diligently to bring a number of diplomatic efforts across the finish line on matters of great importance to the american security and prosperity and global security and prosperity. should celebrate his leadership even if it takes a terrible toll on his health. i'm pleased that he's chosen to speak at the atlantic council and be with us to speak to the importance of trade to american national security. please join me in welcoming john kerry. [applause] >> general jones, i thank you very much for that very generous introduction and more importantly, i thank you for your extraordinary years of service to our country you held so many important positions and working your way up from a young lieutenant in vietnam all the way to national security advisor in many places in between we all admire you and the world appreciate the extraordinary contribution and that we thank you very much. [applause] >> i feel great, folks. and it can take a terrible toll on the family.

. >> i negotiated with hamid karzai. >> i shared an office with steve carrell. >> i held high level talks> today i'm challenging senator obama to a bowl off. right here in pennsylvania. >> oh! >> then of course the piece de resistance -- okay. yeah. >> it's all about authenticity and i think we can say that from all of the candidates throwing their hat in the ring we like it when marco rubio can talk about his 90s music and sirius xm channel and we can see hillary clinton making fun of herself in pants suits. >> all of that aside, a little fun too helps. >> they are human beings. coming up, hillary clinton facing off a round table of iowa voters for the first time since officially announcing her candidacy for presidency. one day after putting his hat in the ring marco rubio talks about his candidacy and yep, that taste in music and don't forget to log on to pulse.msnbc pulse.msnbc.com. is he or isn't he the gop equivalent to barack obama in 2008? >> a stowaway in alaska airlines seeaway, how did he get trapped when the plane took off? american express for travel and entertainment worldwid