and jay carney saying they are debating whether or not to release the two leader's scores.f the president wins, will you release it, and if he loses you won't release it, and jay looked at me and said, yeah, exactly. >> i think it might leak out if they don't release it, as everything does in washington. >>> and then what about libya. sunday is the deadline, and if they are playing golf on saturday, and libya has to come up, right? >> reporter: we don't know how much depth they will get into with something like that. the issue that has divided them will come up as will the debt talks. and i asked jay carney about the image of all this, and the president plays golf and john boehner plays golf, and leaders of both parties, and the fact is, it's seen as a rich man's sport. there are a lot of people out of work. is the president concerned about that image, about palling around on the golf course. and he ducked that part about the unemployed, and he said if the president wants to reach t out, we'll see whether or not there's a major break through on the golf course. i tend to do

asked when that would begin and what the troops withdrawal would look like, here is press secretary jay carney had to say just a short while ago. >> the president has yet to make a decision on the numbers. we had always said it would be real. there were skep tireptices who that the july 2011 date for a drawdown was not real. it will begin then. the president is going make his decision as he has said all along based on conditions on the ground. not whether or not there will be a drawdown or the beginning of a drawdown but the size and scope and pace of the drawdown. >> reporter: now, initially it had been thought that 3,000 to 5,000 troops should be withdrawn. we'll have to see if those figures still hold, but all of this comes amidst reports that there are calls to actually hasten the troop drowndoawdown part because the war is expensive, in part because osama bin laden has been killed, and there's long been a push to see h hamid karzai take the lead in that region. president obama will be meeting with president karzai this week by video conference to discuss the troop drawdown and as you hear

earlier today at a white house news briefing, press secretary jay carney said that deficit reductionen the administration and congress are making progress, but ultimately, the ceiling will have to be raised. >> we also believe quite strongly that we have to raise the debt ceiling. there is no option to doing that. and that that will happen. because the economic impacts of not voting to raise the debt ceiling would be calamitous. >> woodruff: we now head to the other end of pennsylvania avenue where we are joined by leading members from each party to tell us what's behind tonight's vote. representative peter roskam of illinois is the chief deputy republican whip and sits on the house ways and means committee. and assistant democratic leader james clyburn of south carolina. he is a member of the bipartisan deficit group led by vice president biden. gentlemen, thank you both for being with us. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you. >> woodruff: congressman ros kum, do you first. almost all the congress watchers we've been talking to say this is a purely symbolic vote with no real sub

white house press secretary jay carney said president obama did not watch this debate, but carney told reporters on air force one this week he did, and said he, quote, was struck by the fact that over the course of two hours, the phrase middle-class and the word education did not pass anyone's lips that i heard. he says education is still a priority for this president. bill bennett, cnn political contributor, former education secretary, where is education on the agenda for republicans? >> well, there are a lot of ideas. i've spoken to many of them about education. maybe cnn and john king and everybody realized that the president doesn't have a lot to do it. that's not how schools become good. we know it's local action to connect up education, however, christine, with the economic issues, we have estimated a lot of studies have estimated that if you replace the bottom 5% of performing teachers, teachers who perform at the bottom 5%, you could increase the gdp by about a trillion dollars a year. over 10 or 15 years. that's a significant number. so, there are connections. i'm sure the iss

twenty percent in the last year was displeased with the outcome of the meeting white house spokesman jay carney insisted the current supply did not match the demand and so the country could be looking to tap into his strategic reserves others have sought to assure that in reality the stalemate news little and that opec members are already putting more oil on the market than their greek quotas prescribed everybody is cheating and everybody knows that don't listen to what they say but watch what they do. so should their lives dismissed altogether the world has already watched opec whether war between toolkits member countries iran and iraq as well as the invasion of kuwait in one thousand nine hundred ninety eight and one thought meeting is scarcely enough to dispense half century old organization or is it seen december when the twelve members need to prove they can still serve its purported function of ensuring a stable oil market russia china life across our team. ok dominic if i can go to you first in london is opec in crisis because ever since we can't keep hearing there's no crisis in opec t

it doesn't change the character isn't it hypocritical though how come nobody looks at what jay carney today said in the white house press person when they say that this means that it isn't as legitimate and ask why it is then that the us is not part of the international criminal court . well that's a really good question but if the u.s. were part of the international criminal court they'd have to sort of come to grips with the fact that many of their client states through the enthusiastic we learn support to commit the same crimes because he has been committing we were was the i.c.c. in yemen when saleh who was enthusiastically supported by us was committing all sorts of atrocities to take care of the who rebel and rebellion in the north where was the i.c.c. in bahrain for example when it was opening fire on innocent nonviolent protesters. so you know the u.s. is inherently contradictory in their stances in the us they can't lend legitimacy to organization that wants to keep people in check i think you say where is the i.c.c. as well as in syria in fact congressman dennis kucinich is

>> i asked jay carney about that as well. i asked, does it mean you can now go back to jobs?g on job. it's also true that this has been a distraction for the democratic party, and they are breathing a sigh of relief, whether they want to admit it or not. >> sure, that's what dana bash, though met with some sadness as well. ed henry, thank you. >> good to see you. >>> let me share this piece of video. take a look. so this is not the hockey, right? we showed that to you in downtown vancouver, last hour. this is greece, serious, serious, demonstrations there in athens. the company is in deep, deep debt crisis mode. they are protesting against the government austerity measures. i want to bring? alison kosik. alison, bottom line here, what is the main fear with regard to this crisis in greece? >> the main fear here is that the dead crisis in greece will wind up having a ripple effect right here to the u.s. this worry is ever-present for the u.s. markets. you know, if greece doesn't get its debt issues under control. citizens are rioting, because they're not happy with the austerit

need each other. >> reporter: white house spokesman jay carney had that chance to call them that, but kept using the word partner. he did say the government has been helpful in going after some militant targets and the u.s. is working to improve the relationship. >> the administration -- a scenario where you have tough love, where you have to start looking at the aid to pakistan in order to bring that friendship back to the middle. >> i think, dan, we are very clear-eyed about this. and we pursue this relationship and value it and state its importance precisely because it is in the national security interests of the united states of america to have this relationship. >> now, the white house has been very careful to not openly criticize pakistan, even as questions were being asked about what the government knew about bin laden's whereabouts. going forward, how can this relationship be mended? well, experts say first of all, the u.s. needs to continue to make the case to the pakistanis that when it comes to going after terrorism, especially inside their own country that this relationshi

white house press secretary jay carney says the president is still finalizing his decision but cnn iseporting that the president will announce 30,000 troops will leave afghanistan by the end of 2012. there are about 100,000 u.s. troops in that country. state senate could tackle the controversial issue of the death penalty. as one bay area lawmaker is creating legislation to try to abolish it. calling it an expensive failure. senator loni hancock says the death penalty does not deter crime and is costing the state willions. a new report that will be released says it cost 184 now more than to keep killers in prison for life. it would help bring closure to some but some victims advocates disagree. >> there is a guy that kidnapped, raped and murdered my 12-year-old daughter who was sentenced to death per the laws of california. and now there are people that are creating legislation the 0 spare his life. it's absolutely unbelievable. >> mark klass. the death penalty in california has been in effect since 1978. 13 people have been executed, 700 are on death row. switching gears, 6:48. they

jay carney says the report is totally wrong. >>> now, if you shop online, most banks say they'll protect your credit card information. what happens when hackers get hold of it? customers of one u.s. major bank are about to find out. thousands of managers and i.t. types are gathering at new york for a look at what's touting to be the next being thing in computing. we'll have plenty more on the show. those stories ahead on "world business today." let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare s

jay carney today saying he may even add a fourth one next week. it looks like they're trying to intensify all of this. it ties right back to the social security story, because they're looking for $4 trillion in spending cuts and deficit reduction to tie to a lifting of the debt ceiling. the bottom line is groups like aarp are trying to say, long-term, maybe we'll make some cuts, but don't cut social security in the short-term to come up with that $4 trillion in cuts. that's ultimately what they're worried about, is that the politicians in both parties will go into social security in the short-term to come up with the numbers to lift this debt -- >> there's so much of that money, that debt is -- that long-term debt involves what we call the entitlement, social security, medicare, and medicaid. that's where so much of the -- >> big, big programs affecting millions of our viewers. >> ed, thanks very, very much. good clarification. >>> meanwhile, there's a new battlefront rapidly shaping up between democrats and republicans. one that could resonate wi

we're told earlier today by jay carney that the president will be going there to meet with troops atey said the president was still finalizing his decision as to when he would be delivering this plan forward in afghanistan, but no more specifics as to exactly what time or where exactly it will happen other than it will happen on wednesday. wolf? >> ft. drum, the home of the u.s. army's first mountain division. thanks very much for that. let's bring in our cnn national security analyst peter bergen. you and i have been talking about this withdrawal. right now to set the stage, there are 100,000 troops in afghanistan, another 40,000 nato troops. it's costing, what, about $10 billion a month to keep the u.s. troops there. how many troops do you expect will start pulling out in the coming weeks? will it be 5,000, 10,000, 15,000 of that 100,000? >> reporter: you know, i think before osama bin laden's death the figures that i was hearing were 3,000 to 5,000, something pretty token but something nonetheless that you could say there is a withdrawal going on. bin laden's death does change the

white house spokesman jay carney calling it a distraction. as for the voters of his district -- >> hey, ho, weiner's got to go. >> they are divided. >> we support weiner. >> reporter: should weiner resign, there would be a special election much like the one recently held in new york's 26th district. that election was called after republican congressman chris lee resigned in february after e-mailing shirtless photos of himself to a woman on craigslist. with weiner's political career in limbo there's talk his district could be eliminated in 2012. can that district realistically be eliminated? >> yes, it can. >> reporter: veteran new york political reporter errol louis says weiner's district has come up because new york is schedule to lose two seats, one republican and one democratic seat. >> the democrats tend to be down here in and around the city and if you were to look at any one he has a big target on his back and i think he knows that. >> reporter: whether weiner's district is left is something left to the state legislature, likely next sp

. >> responding to that attack, white house spokesman jay carney said the president wasn't ready to engage touted steps the administration had taken to stop the hemorrhaging of jobs. >> president took dramatic action. we have now experienced 14 straight months of private sector is job creation, 2.1 million jobs created. >> reporter: but many people are still skeptical. the latest cnn opinion research poll shows 58% of americans disapprove of how the president is handling the economy. white house aides admit there's still a long road ahead and that unemployment remains unacceptably high. >> we want them suited literally from head to 0 toe. >> they know that here too where referrals have jumped from under 150 per month earlier this year to more than 200 per month now. >> we have ladies that are frustrated and they come here day after day applying to numerous jobs each day and just not hearing anything. >> reporter: white house aides say yes, things are not great. but take a look at what has happened over the last two years. that the trend line is moving in a positive direction and that in or

you know, you can kind of see how they would and certainly some of the big agenda items we heard jay carneysecretary say they may come up, we think maybe they'll come up. >> all right, yeah, they can't just be talking about the weather during that golf court ride. we'll check back with you when it is a little quieter there at the white house. brianna keilar, thanks so much. appreciate it. >>> also today, president barack obama announced he has a second job. assistant coach for his daughter's sasha's basketball team. in his weekly address, the father in chief said kids want their fathers to be a part of their lives. and he says he enjoys coaching, even though sasha rolls her eyes every now and then when he objects to the ref's calls. >>> this is a big weekend for presidential politics. the main event is the republican leadership conference in new orleans. but in minnesota today, there were two rival conferences. one involving liberal bloggers, the other involving conservative bloggers. cnn political producer shannon travis joins us now from minneapolis. what is going on there, shannon? >> re

but jay carney said today that they're not going to agree to anything that doesn't include getting ridx subsidies. >> we know the biden talks broke down. cantor and kyle bailed on them last week. the white house claims it has made progress. do we know what it is that the two sides actually agree on? >> reporter: we know from sources generally some areas of agreement which would total about $1 trillion, which is not exactly chump change, cutting student loan subsidies, farm programs, agreement that federal workers would pay more into their pension plans, things like that. but we're told that that was some of the -- what sources are calling low-hanging fruit, things that everybody could generally agree to. the big stuff to get to that big potentially $4 trillion, when is a big question mark, that is going to require both sides to say different things. republicans say spending, democrats say, get rid of some of the tax subsidies. >> what about taxes? we heard mcconnell talking taxes. we know the white house wants to close some of the tax loopholes but republicans are saying, hey, that's a

that's what jay carney said.hink here at the very least, you have these two leaders who are frequently at odds on issues, and they're at least going to spend some time together. and i think a lot of people would say that's a good thing. some people might say why are they playing golf? we know that some people have raised that issue. but at least it's some time for them in an informal setting they haven't had. >> okay. i'm going to bring back some video here, and a lot of people will remember this. you certainly will. but the president, we have seen him play under pressure. basketball, this is him visiting troops. no warm-up, no nothing, launches a three, sinks the thing, people go crazy. >> reporter: boom. >> all right, that's great stuff. all the cameras on him. that takes a lot of pressure. but then we remember this other moment, brianna. he was playing -- look it. not playing, he was bowling, and just gutter ball. he ended up, i believe, with a 37 is what he shot, or something like that? so, which obama is goi

here's white house spokesman jay carney earlier today. >> i can tell you that as the president has already said, he did not know about or authorize this operation. but the department of justice has said repeatedly that fighting criminal activity along the southwest border, including the illegal trafficking of guns to mexico, has been and is a priority of the department. >> and attorney general holder, last month told the oversight committee he'd only heard of the operation a few weeks ago -- or a few weeks before even though a federal agent had die as a result of it months before that. >> now that you've been briefed on it, the president has said on march 22nd that he didn't authorize it. did your deputy attorney general james cole authorize it? >> my guess would be no. >> how about the head of the criminal division, lanny brewer? did he authorize it? >> i'm not sure whether mr. brewer authorized it. >> well, he went on to sayhood wait to see more until an atf inspector general finishes investigating. we put drew griffin and the cnn special investigations unit on the story keeping them hon

in fact, when that number was first put out there, i asked jay carney, listen, how can you guys be talking about $1 billion at a time when people don't have jobs, don't even have $100 in their pockets. that is not a number you throw the white house throw around. they do point out this is a very competitive race. a lot of money is needed in order to run in all of these states. so that's why the president is out there fund-raising. this is not just a campaign about rich people who are coming to these $34,000 a table of meals and fund-raisers but also about individuals, small donors who are giving $25 as well, wolf. >> he'll be in new york city monday night during the republican debate. he's got a bunch of fund-raisers with some rich people up there. thanks very, very much. this programming note. please join us monday night as the republican hopefuls square off on the issues in cnn new hampshire's presidential debate monday night 8:00 p.m. eastern only on cnn. >>> syria in turmoil. allegations the government is getting away with murder while shifting blame to protesters. >>> also, a former u.

asked about the differing opinions on the drawdown, white house press secretary jay carney was definitive in charge of this process and he makes the decisions. this decision will be the commander in chief's. >> reporter: a full day before the president gives his announcement, this was sent to him by members of congress, 57 of them, liberal democrats but also some conservatives calling for a sizable reduction in troops from afghanistan. 10,000 by the end of this year, 30,000 by the end of 2012 will not be enough for these lawmakers, zain. >> brianna keilar reporting. >>> the u.s. first lady michelle obama has visited south africa. in the 1980s and 1990s, the township was the center of the battle against apartheid. one day after meeting the former president nelson mandela, mrs. obama visited soweto's historic church and spoke to young women about the ties between south africa and the united states. >> that is why my husband's administration is not simply focused on extending a helping hand to africa, but focusing on partnering with africans who will shape their future by combating corruptio

jay carney yesterday seemed to suggest that the president has lost some of his focus on the economy because is he no longer receiving daily economic briefings. the white house spokeswoman trying to repair. so the damage there saying quote the president requests meetings several times a week and daily economic meetings. to be fair to cancer yes wasn't tea here at the white house this the president was getting daily economic briefings. >> shepard: the poll that i just mentioned shows that the president may be in for a tough re-election battle. one republican challenger is unveiling his economic plan in the president's hometown. for that, we're live in chicago coming up just minutes from now. a fox urgent first though, hundreds of square miles now burned to a crisp and the state of california government has a plan to avoid releasing thousands of convicts into the streets. last month the supreme court ordered california to cut its prison population by more than 30,000 inmates to ease overcrowding there was some concern that the state would just have to release many of them. but now the state co

but white house spokesman jay carney played down the differences today. . >> i can tell you that by some miracle every lawyer in this administration with an agreement on that issue, you wouldn't believe me because it has simply been too contentious for now, 38 years. so there was not a unanimous agreement on it but the president makes the decision. obviously his white house counsel, also agree with his assessment and we feel very confident that the legal reasoning is sound. >> sreenivasan: in libya, moammar qaddafi's government claimed a nato air strike today hit a large family compound west of tripoli and killed 15 people. an alliance official in italy said there have been no air strikes in that area for the past 24 hours. on sunday, nato acknowledged that a weekend strike mistakenly killed as many as nine civilians. a spokesman said an apparent weapons failure caused a bomb to miss its intended target, an alleged military missile site. syrian president bashar al-assad made his first address to the nation in nearly two months today. he opened the door to possible reforms, but he made cl

speaking at midday, presidential press secretary jay carney said the 30-page document was designed to address lawmakers' concerns. >> we believe that the report we will be sending up to congress later today answers a lot of the questions that members have, continues a process of consultation that has been broad and deep and consistent-- more now, but continues the process that allowed me to say last week that there have been 40 distinct engagements with congress in terms of consultation on libya. this is part of that process. so we... we feel very confident that we will be able to answer the questions that congress asked. >> brown: just yesterday, house speaker john boehner had warned the administration would violate the 1973 war powers resolution unless it asks and receives approval for the libyan operation by sunday. in a letter to the president, boehner wrote: the mission began in march, when the u.s. and its allies launched air strikes to enforce a "no- fly" zone over libya and to protect civilians from attacks by moammar gadhafi's forces. the u.s. soon handed over operational con

. >> brown: a short time later, white house spokesman jay carney cautioned against reading too much intombers. >> we are aware of these different economic reports. obviously, we watch them closely. we're also aware, and i would point out that the trends here, the longer term trends are quite positive. >> brown: some economists do point to temporary factors, like the march earthquake in japan, that caused many auto dealers to run short of models. natural disasters, from tornadoes across the midwest to flooding in the south, may also be contributing to economic woes. plus gasoline prices at $4 a gallon have weighed on consumers, but may now be backing down at least a bit. all the same, a depressed housing market remains a huge drag on growth, with no end in sight. in the meantime, policy makers seem to have little appetite or ammunition left for new measures. the federal reserve's $600 billion program of buying government bonds to stimulate growth will end this month. and in congress, speaker boehner and other republicans insist more spending is the problem and not the solution. >> last we

white house press secretary jay carney said the session served mostly to lower the temperature on hotly-debated fiscal issues. >> all of those disagreements will not be resolved in the next several weeks as these negotiations move forward. but there is common ground, and more common ground can be found to significantly reduce our deficits. >> reporter: the u.s. government actually reached its borrowing limit last month. for now, treasury secretary timothy geithner is using a variety of unorthodox measures to pay the bills. he's said such tactics can run until august 2, when the u.s. would face default, a prospect unnerving to wall street. geithner will make that case to house republican freshmen tomorrow. the "new york times" reported today republican leaders have assured top wall street executives that a deal remains possible, and last night's debt ceiling vote was simply to make a point. the president will sit down tomorrow with house democrats. he's already met with both parties in the senate. and vice president biden continues wide-ranging negotiations on raising the debt ceiling and on cut

. >> reporter: instead, white house spokesman jay carney said mr. obama was going ahead with plans to travel to philadelphia for a fundraiser. >> what the senator invited the president to do was to hear senate republicans restate their maximalist position. we know what that position is. he also invited the president to hear what would not pass. that's not a conversation worth having. >> reporter: in the meantime, reports circulated at the capitol that other options were under discussion, including a 7- month increase in the debt limit. as the clock kept running, toward august 2nd, when the government faces the prospect of defaulting on the national debt. >> brown: and that brings us to our newsmaker interview with white house chief of staff william daley. i spoke to him this afternoon at the white house. mr. daley, welcome. >> thank you very much. >> brown: was the president drawing a line in the sand yesterday saying tax increases must be part of any-- of any deficit reduction plan or no deal? >> well, the president is saying in order to solve the