. >> ifill: then, we have a newsmaker interview with richard holbrooke, the u.s. special representative for afghanistan and pakistan about the firing of general stanley mcchrystal and about the war. >> brown: kwame holman takes us through day three of the confirmation hearing for supreme court nominee elena kagan and judy woodruff gets analysis from marcia coyle of the "national law journal." >> ifill: tom bearden reports from florida on scientists going deep underwater to explore the damage caused by the gushing oil well. >> the whole idea about oil impacting known delicate ecosystems is really a new one. toxicity studies done in the lab do not come close to replicating the impact this might have. >> brown: and poet benjamin saenz talks of living and writing amid the violence of the u.s./mexico border. >> this is the place that really defines me, because it is such a difficult terrain to negotiate. it's not a comfortable place to live and if you want to be a writer, you don't want to live in a comfortable place. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour."

this is five minuues. >> richard holbrooke is in kabul today. he has meetings with afghan officials as part of his regular travel to the region from the i think he met with the president earlier today. they talked about parliamentary elections. i know. i know. if they do. >> all three of those? >> yes. >> the present karzai meeting. >> [inaudible] >> that was a separate meeting of the security council. susan was in that meeting. >> richard holbrooke was in the same room? >> indeed. >> can you talk about the atmosphere there? >> my understanding is that prior to the meeting general mcchrystal reached out back to the embassadors to offer his apologies for the article. >> why do think the comment had been so widely discussed? >> i think our focus is on the ongoing strategy. all members of the national security team feel that general mcchrystal has made a save the vacant mistake. he will be coming back to washington to attend a pre scheduled a meeting with the president on afghan and pakistani policy. he will talk to the president directly. >> the s

my sources in the pentagon tell me there's problems with ambassador holbrooke. that's not news. i think playing it out in front of the press is very bad and i'm general mcchrystal and survived, i would fire my staff involved in saying all those outlandish things. >> larry: they're the ones most quoted. one of the bombshells is of the one on one meeting with president obama. it was a ten-minute photo-op says an adviser to mcchrystal. obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. here's the guy who's gown to run his bleeping war. doesn't seem very engaged. the boss was pretty disapontded. john, what do you make of what the colonel said, though? this has happened before. patton is an example of insubordination but a great officer. >> i disagree with that. standards are standards. it doesn't matter a four-star general or a platoon sergeant. we don't undermine the chain of command at any level so for the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan, the nato general, general mcchrystal to speak to the press today, the staff to talk to the press this way, that's an example of h

but this weekend ambassador holbrook said talking to the network was out of the question. shahzad, while not directly linked to the network, is adduce accused of training with the pakistani taliban. he may now face life in prison. joining us now is the reporter from public radio in new york city. she was inside the courtroom this afternoon. and steve coll is president of the new america foundation. he's written extensively about the taliban, pakistan and afghanistan. to you first, was the plea of guilty a surprise? >> i don't know if you can call anything a surprise in this case. remember they had shahzad without even appearing in court the first two weeks after his arrest which is quite unconventional in these types of cases even in terror cases. nobody was really saying anything was a surprise at this point. >> woodruff: what exactly did he plead guilty to? >> he pleaded guilty to all ten federal counts against him, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction , attempt to commit terrorism, transcending national boundaries, attempted use or use of a firearm du

that is why ambassador holbrooke is there this week. that is why ambassador eikenberry works on a daily basis with general mcchrystal and his team. everyone is focused on their respective asset -- aspects of implementing the strategy in doing the best we can in marjah, kandahar, and other places to help them improve their capacity. and any time in a significant team of heavyweights, you will have personality and we do not want this to distract us from our focus on the mission. >> you said that they were focused on the civilian and military, but your strategy is to work hand in glove. can they do that? you think he is weakening our hand? >> from the department standpoint, here we have assembled an integrated policy team focused on the civilian component of the afghan strategy. ambassador holbrooke has immediately available to him a range of military officials, international officials, state department, usaid, advisors from outside the government. this is what characterizes the teamwork. we're not going to get distracted by this one artic

and ambassador eikenberry, the vice president, the national security adviser, ambassador richard holbrook publicly and to allow his staff to do that, it just shows the lack of good order and discipline within his unit or within his command in afghanistan. if i had behaviored that way or colonel shaver behaved that way and undermined a brigade commander in front of our troops, we would be reprimanded. this kind of insubordination from people inside the military will not be tolerated. and it was personal attacks to make it worse. >> colonel, what's your side? >> i agree with the captain's assessment of the situation, but there's some, i think, mitigating issues we have to look at, realistically. general patton survived saying pretty outlandish things to the press as well. presence is there for good officers to continue. i don't want to defend mccrystal's bad actions. what i'm here to say is that the president has to consider what's best for his strategy. let me be painfully clear here. our center is not for -- break break if you're going to go with the strategy the way it is, you probably h

frustration about the support he was receiving from the white house, about the civilian leadership, in holbrookekenberry, and about this looming deadline that's sort of hanging around the necks of our troops of july 2011, but whether or not this policy can succeed when we're telling our enemy when we're going to leave the battlefield. basically, mcchrystal had to wait four months to meet with the president. when he did, it was a scolding session in europe on air force one. as the author said, it had been -- obama has only visited afghanistan once since the war started. for something as important as afghanistan. i think that's the frustration mcchrystal expressed that needs to be addressed by the president. >> larry: michael, the president said today they were in agreement on policy. >> yeah, yes, i think -- i mean, one of the things -- one of the sort of, in my view, positive things about this article is that it gave us a chance to sort of discuss the afghanistan policy. i think there are some serious, serious problems with it. one of the main ones being the relationship between the military and

do you think the president should consider replacing both ambassador eikenberry and holbrooke?> i don't they get will be helpful for me to speculate on the kind of change. one change per day is enough. >> what about the civilian leadership being dysfunctional? >> i don't think it is dysfunctional. there has been some disagreement. that is pretty well known even before the article. between general mcchrystal and the ambassador, ambassador eikenberry. that disagreement was well known before then. now, there will be a different matter in the field and i don't know what the relationship will bait. i hope it will b much stronger. now that general petraeus is still taking over. i have to hope that the friction that did exist between general mcchrystal and eikenberry will now be dissipated with a new commander. >> general petraeus was a field commander and there was criticism by your fellow democrats in the senate. it was suggested that he had been cooking the books on the statistics in iraq. do you think he has overcome all that? how far is the support of general petraeus among senat

not only are we doing that there, president karzai and i had a conversation with ambassador holbrooke as well on the fact that in some cases we're investing in afghanistan's human capital, helping in the trial, educate sprirksd skills to people. they return to their inherrntly governmental function and then we compete with the afghan government in some case take them away and put them under contract to us as you name it, a doctor who is now an interpreter, a great governmental official who now becomes, again, who knows, human dream team. so that is a conflict. and it's something that afghanistan has to address in terms they need some rules and regulations and policies and we've got to be sensitive. i don't know if you heard or mention that the task force that we have formed -- >> general caldwell. >> -- this is one with the rear admiral who you will remember at the time she was a one star joint contracting command iraq commander. she is now a two star and is going to go out and lead a task force that will compliment what the contracting command in afghanistan is doing to really get in

mean, this guy took on the president, the vice president, the national security advisor, ambassador holbrook, ambassador ikeen berry, everybody up and down the line. it doesn't show a lot of judgment. >> lehrer: is just going to be the key word, mark, when it's all said and done? >> i think so not only mcchrystal's judgment but the president's judgment in how he deals with it. some of mcchrystal's allies have said this guy has been in a tough job not only for the past year in afghanistan but before that at the pentagon and before that as head of special operations. i mean he has been in an intense pressure cooker for a long period of time. you know, maybe he just needs to take a little breather. >> lehrer: give him a break? >> at least keep reporters away. >> lehrer: okay. mark thompson, generals both, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> ifill: still to come on the newshour, overseeing the financial rescue program. drilling in deep water off shore. and tracking cell phone users. but first the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our news room. >> sreenivasan: president obama t

afghanistan later in the program and tomorrow night we'll have a news maker interview with richard holbrook, the obama administration's special representative on afghanistan and pakistan. >> brown: now to the fallout from that surprising new spy story. the f.b.i.'s arrest of russian agents living and working for years inside the united states. traveling in israel today, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov voiced anger and bee rild... bewilderment. >> we have not had an explanation of what this is all about. i hope we will receive one. what i can say now is the timing of this announcement was most elegant. >> brown: back in moscow, the foreign ministry confirmed that the ten suspects arrested in the u.s. as part of an alleged spy ring are russian citizens. in a statement the ministry said these actions are unfounded and pursue unseemly goals. monday the u.s. justice department said the suspects acted as unregistered agents of the russian government. and today an 11th arrest. this one at the airport in larnaca cyprus of a man accused of delivering money to the suspects. >> he presented bef

he calls holbrooke a wounded animal. he talls about general jones as a clown.i should say, they said that. it's not clear that this is coming from general mcchrystal's mouth. he has been poorly served by his aides in this instance. he will be in a room today with a lot of the people that he and his team have really disparaged. host: what happens today? who will he meet with first? guest: i think he will first meet with president obama. and not sure of the order. they will have both of those meetings. host: the white house guidance for today's meetings only includes the 11:30 a.m. meeting with his national security team on afghanistan and pakistan. it does not include these one- on-one meetings. why is that? guest: i suspect it will come after tte other meeting. i think president obama will want to hear. he will be facing a lot of questions. president obama meticulously encourages people to be forthright with their opinions and then makes decisions. i suspect that he would want to hear general mcchrystal's answers toothese questions. why a "rolling stone" report

all of these members of the team, including president karzai, as well as with ambassador richard holbrooke, the special representative for afghanistan and pakistan. we are firmly united in seeking to forge unity of effort. as i noted in my testimony before this committee two weeks ago, i was part of a process that formulated the president's strategy for afghanistan and i support and agreed with his new policies. during its development, i offered my fourth ride military advice and i have assured the president that i would do the same as we conduct assessments over the course of the months ahead. he in turn assured me that he expects and wants me to provide that character of advice. as i also explained to this committee two weeks ago, i specifically agreed with the message is of greater commitment and greater urgency that the president expressed his address at west point last september when he announced the new policy. the greater commitment was explained in terms of the additional 30,000 u.s. forces, the troubling of the u.s. civilians, and the funding for an additional 100,000 afghan secur

all of these members of the team, including president karzai, as well as with ambassador richard holbrooke, the special representative for afghanistan and pakistan. we are firmly united in seeking to forge unity of effort. as i noted in my testimony before this committee two weeks ago, i was part of a process that formulated the president's strategy for afghanistan and i support and agreed with his new policies. during its development, i offered my fourth ride military advice and i have assured the president that i would do the same as we conduct assessments over the course of the months ahead. he in turn assured me that he expects and wants me to provide that character of advice. as i also explained to this committee two weeks ago, i specifically agreed with the message is of greater commitment and greater urgency that the president expressed his address at west point last september when he announced the new policy. the greater commitment was explained in terms of the additional 30,000 u.s. forces, the troubling of the u.s. civilians, and the funding for an additional 100,000 afghan secur

and all of them were involved in our civil military review of concept drill that ambassador holbrooke and i coasted in kabul now about two months or so ago. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> i'm going to take a minute to clarify some of the numbers that senator collins listed because there's been some confusion about it and it's a critical number when it comes to the trainers, the omelets, the pomlets. this is a critical mission to get them to take responsibility for their own security. i'm going to take a minute to go through those numbers. you said there's a shortfall of 450, what you call institutional trainers essentially. these are what i kind of call the basic training. but that's 450 shortfall. there's also, i believe, not included in that number is a pledged number, which is not yet been forthcoming. is that correct? what is that number? >> i have 574 pledged, 235 pending meaning, you know, we're still -- they are still getting confirmation in capitals. >> is that on top of the 450? >> yes. that would be in addition to. >> that's a -- >> but i think -- >> right. but i

and all of them were involved in our civil military review of concept drill that ambassador holbrookend i coasted in kabul now about two months or so ago. >> thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> i'm going to take a minute to clarify some of the numbers that senator collins listed because there's been some confusion about it and is a critical number when it comes to the trainers, the omelets, the pomlets. this is a critical mission to get them to take responsibility for their own security. i'm going to take a mute to go throh those numbers. you said there's a shortfall of 450, what you call institutional trainers essentially. these are what i kind of call the basic training. but that's 450 shortfall. there's also, i believe, not included in that number is a pledged number, which is not yet been forthcoming. is that correct? what is that number? >> i have 574 edged, 235 pending meaning, you know, we're still -- they are still getting confirmation in capitals. >> is that on top of the 450? >> yes. that would be in addition to. >> that's a -- >> but think -- >> right. but i think we - a

richard holbrooke arrived yesterday to assess progress in the key phase in the campaign against the taliban. we will go to fairfax, va., with trevor on the independent line. caller: hello, are you there? i was going to say that is pretty disturbing news. it is probably part of the way that you have to conduct war as a nation to get things done. but i would appreciate it if the government would tell me the truth of why we are over there, rather than just telling us their case in the taliban or osama bin laden. i could except the facts of were much more readily. that is pretty much all that i have to say. -- i could accept the facts under the circumstances. host: craig, democrat from las vegas, nevada. caller: yes, i would like to see the people of the u.s. step forward. what we tell the senators, until you pass unemployment extensions, we cut your pay. you get no pay. let them live on $200 per week in food stamps. let them do that for about one month, and then they will know how we feel. instead of wasting $900 apiece. start doing stuff for our people and forget the rest of the world. get ou

days with all members of this team, including president cars by, -- president karzai, and richard holbrooke. we are all united. as i noted in my testimony before this committee, i was part of the process that helped formulate a strategy. i support the president's new policy. i have offered advice, and i assure the president i will do the same as the conduct assessments over the must be over the months ahead. -- over the months ahead. i specifically agreed with the messages of greater commitment and greater urgency that the president expressed in his address at west point in december, when he announced the new policy. the greater commitment was explained in terms of the additional 30,000 u.s. forces, and the funding for an additional 12000 afghan security -- 100,000 afghan security members. this includes the 2011 responsible drawdown. it would be based on conditions of the ground. it is important to note the president's reminder that the july, 2011, will mark the beginning of a process, not a date when the u.s. heads for the exit and turns out the lights. as he explained, we will need to pro

. >> when you say it is time to start over, does that mean it is time for eikenberry to go, and holbrook? anyone else? >> i will leave that up to the president. it is my advice that you want someone supportive -and makes the right decision. from my observations, not just from the "rolling stone" article, there is a lot of tension on the civilian side that makes it hard to move forward in a coherent fashion. when it comes to why the president had to act, the statements of the general not only were outside the norm, they really did put in question military subordination to civilian control. how you think "rowlands doane" is a good group to follow your around -- how you think "rolaine stone" is a good group to follow you around for a month is a questionable judgment. [laughter] i understand you are warriors and you have been shot at and you are brave, but you have let yourselves and your country down. the attitude any disrespect is unacceptable. this is a low point, in my view, for the armed forces in a very long time and i'm glad the president made this decision and some other officers nee

there's a meeting happening next week and madrid, and richard holbrooke will leave it the u.s. they intend to focus on the meeting as a legion to the -- as it leads into the kabul conference. george mitchell will be up delegation to the conference tomorrow through friday, meeting what the secretary as we speak, and he will depart later on this afternoon and expects to have meetings with palestinian and israeli leaders over the next couple of days. i think we released as secretary statement on the of -- iraqi election results. this decrease said said that with the election results officially certified, the leaders did to move forward to form an inclusive and representative government that will work on behalf of the iraqi people. with that. >> i was wondering if you could give us flavor on what the conversation but during the secretary and a turkish foreign minister was? he had strong things to say today. and his boss has had strong things to say as well. is it safe to assume -- he said he wanted the united states to condemn this act. neither the secretary nor the spokesman at th

richard holbrooke arrived yesterday to assess progress in phase in the campaign against the taliban. we will go to fairfax, va., with the independent line. caller: hello, are you there? i was going to say that is prrtty disturbing news. ii is probably part of the way that you have to conduct waa as a nation to get things done. but i would appreciite it if the government would tell me the there,why we are over rather than just telling us their case in the taliban or osama bin laden. i could exct the facts of were much moreereadily. that is pretty much all that i have to say. -- i could accept the facts%- under the circumstances. host: craig, democrat from las gas,evada. caller: yes, iiwould like to see the people of the u.s. step forward. what we tell the senators, until you pass unemployment extensions, we cut your pay. you get no pay. let them live on $20 per week in food stamps. let them d that for about one month, and then they will know how we feel. instead of wasting $900 apiecc. start doing stuff for our people tteforget the rest of world. get out of these wars and quit wasting

holbrooke in afghanistan? there is a report that there were coordinated suicide attacks. >> i think this comes under the category of first reports. -understanding is that they were airborne. while there were airborne --- understanding is that they were airborne. while they were airborne, it did not affect the airplane itself. >> there were some questions over whether a series of bombings ii the near the area immediately afterwards were connected with his arrival. >> not to my knowledge. >> [unintelligible] >> not afghanistan. >> the reports [unintelligible] are you aware that this is happening? does it have anything to do with policy disagreements with the the united states? >> i am not aware. i do not know the basis for his decision to leave his post. any comments from tehran? >> inspector should be free to report on what they received during the course of their duties. it is worrisome that iran has taken the step which is symptomatic of its longstanding practice of intimidating inspectors in which iran has e

holbrook's office has been at the forefront of promoting this. they identify projects like this. they make them known to other parts of the fall -- foreign policy apparatus. we are looking at building at a similar platform in the condo. this is so the congolese army can be paid. then they can have have a greater impact protecting women who are getting oppressed in the condo. go. nobody raised their hand in afghanistan and said to do this. it was an innovation that arose out of necessity. when the kenyan program was started, they did not noted it could be used for this in a place like afghanistan. their cell phone towers were not threatened. let me leave you with one final point and we'll go to questions and answers. from a state standpoint, state craft is as much about building connections as doing negotiations for the u.s. government has one set of tools. we are probably the greatest matchmaker in the world. we need 21st century tools and we are not shy about saying we are not the experts on innovation. people in private sector companies are experts. several organizations are ex

afghanistan in particular, there is a specific strategy that has been developed with ambassador holbrooke, ambassador of eikenberry, and many others. host: the u.n. member states have had a decade and a half long effort, working together to eliminate or significantly reduce illicit drug production. they did not meet their 2008 objective, and now the same objective by 2019 talk about the international cooperation and where we see the effects of it. guest: the united nations office of drugs and crime release their 2010 report yesterday, and the cooperation was very good because we see this as a global issue. as i said, i have been to mexico three times -- columbia, afghanistan, russia, etc. this is not just an american issue, not just a neighborhood issue. clearly in some of the most impoverished countries, people are becoming addicted to drugs. that is because traffickers are pretty smart people. they decided to pay their employees in product rather than paying their employees in some currency. so that extra product ends up editing people, even in very poor countries. >> what are some of t

. >> richard holbrooke is and kabul today. he had meetings with u.s.nd afghan officials as part is his regular travels in the region