since being taken into custody, he hasn't said a word, brian. >> jim miklaszewski starting us off from the pentagon tonight, jim, thanks. now for the reaction on the ground in afghanistan, nbc's atia abawi reporting from our bureau in kabul tonight. >> reporter: good evening, brian. there is outrage here over the gruesome loss of innocent lives. but there's mostly sadness among afghans who know what happened. the killings happened in a remote rural village in afghanistan. so news has traveled slowly. but there is fear and uncertainty as to what will happen next because, so far, we have not seen protests. but this is what the americans here are afraid of, deadly protests like these that happened after the koran burnings just a few weeks ago. although we haven't seen these protests just yet, the taliban have called for revenge. afghan president hamid karzai has condemned the killings as well, calling them intentional and unforgivable. u.s./afghan relations are at a low point in an already difficult relationship, one that relies on cooperation. and this incident is the latest in a series

our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski on duty from there tonight. jim, good evening. >> good evening, brian. another twist to the tragic story, villagers where the shooting took place are now claiming that the 16 civilians were gunned down in retaliation for an ied attack against american forces. they claim days before the massacre, american combat troops entered the village and threatened to kill every man and their children for that attack on the americans. but pentagon and military officials said there's no evidence of any ied attack around that time and no evidence the americans threatened retaliation. in fact, officials here at the pentagon suspect this is nothing more than propaganda. at the same time, we're told tonight those charges against the suspect, army staff sergeant robert bales, including 16 counts of murder, are expected at the end of this week. >> jim miklaszewski from the pentagon tonight. thanks, as always. >>> still ahead as "nightly news" continues, ahead of schedule, not always as nice as it looks, though. warm weather is trigg

our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski on duty tonight to pick up details. good evening. >> we knew from the start this was a horrific crime, but today's charge sheets that were released are devastating. they show for the first time that out of all of the civilians targeted in the shooting spree, more than half, 13 of them, were children. for a crime of such magnitude, the military statement today was brutally blunt. alleging that army staff sergeant robert bales did with premeditation murder 17 afghan civilians and attempted to murder six others. a charge sheet documents all 23 shootings in grisly detail. he's accused of trying to murder one afghan girl with a gunshot wound to the head. bales received the charges today at the ft. leavenworth prison. where he's being held in solitary confinement. in seattle, his civilian attorney, john henry brown, said bales has been in rough shape, even before today's charges. >> he's kind of in shock about the whole thing, he's emotional, very emotional. >> in a preview of a possible defense, the lawyer also claims despit

jim miklaszewski has more for us, and clearly he had personal problems that he let get to him. >> defense officials are telling us in addition to the surveillance footage which showed this soldier approaching his own base, laying down his weapon, holding up his hands, and essentially surrendering to the u.s. forces. we're told that when initially asked about this shooting incident, at that village about a mile away, he reportedly replied "i did it." then when his weapon was seized and taken into custody, he then said he wanted to talk to a lawyer and hasn't talked to investigators or anybody else in the military since. but this 38-year-old staff sergeant had three combat, and we're talking direct trigger-pulling combat tours in iraq, was involved in a rollover of a humvee in 2010 in which he had a traumatic brain injury for which he was treated and then cleared, had three screenings for posttramatic stress syndrome when he came out of the battle areas and had pretty much a clean health record, clean behavior record, and now some officials are saying it's possible that he did have some mar

joining us is jim miklaszewski. let's talk about are the half began forces ready and trained to handle this. >> this is what makes the relationship so complicated and the military mission there difficult. for the afghan government and people it's a matter of sovereignty. it's a detention facility run by the americans where afghans are being held prisoners. for the u.s. military it's all about security. the fear here is that once control of that facility is turned over to the afghan government. officials could be coerced or corrupted, bribes paid to release some of those prisoners who attacked and killed americans there in afghanistan. u.s. military officials say that's why in this agreement they've instituted what is called a dual key proposition. in other words, no single prisoner can be released without the agreement of the united states and the afghan government. it's going to take some time before this prison is totally turned over, at least six months. we're going to see many of these transitions over the next

. >> nbc's jim miklaszewski joins with more on this.learned about the suspect and the alleged atrocities that took police. >> first, the kuwaiti government has also confirmed that he in fact left there and is on his way back to the united states to ft. levinsworth, kansas. the best place for a long-term incourse ration while awaiting possible charges and any criminal actions. the civilian lawyer said he kept the conversations very brief over the telephone. he's concerns military officials would be eavesdropping. that's a good assumption. in civilian cases we see the conversations end up as evidence during a trial. the lawyer did release a few more details about what may have happened leading up to that incident last weekend. he is telling reporters another soldier had his leg shot off the day before. at the same time while this soldier, the suspect. did have three combat tours in iraq. was seriously injured twice. including a traumatic brain injury. he was reluctant to go back, on a fourth combat tour to afghanistan. you almost see the

jim miklaszewski reports that charges could be filed against the staff sergeant when he gets here. the soldier was flown to kuwait yesterday to move him away from the backlash over the rampage in which nine children were killed. a seattle-based defense attorney who has been selected to represent the staff sergeant says he spoke to the soldier briefly yesterday and described him as stunned and distant. >> he is highly decorated professional soldier. never been in trouble of any kind before. very happily married, despite rumors to the contrary. everybody's really concerned about security for his -- his family and him. so i can't give you much detail about his identity. >> the soldier's a father of two. he's on his fourth deployment. his first in afghanistan when the shooting happened. he suffered two injuries, including head trauma, and alcohol may have been a factor in the shooting. >>> new from overnight, a car crash sparks a transformer fire in fairfax. this accident happened at the intersection of lee highway and village drive. a utility pole was knocked over, setting the transfo

our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski at the pentagon. first to you, atia. the reaction in afghanistan? because it has been relatively muted we know especially in comparison to the rioting after the koran burnings. what about the families themselves that were involved in this horrendous case? >> hi there, andrea. absolutely right. i think everyone in the world was shocked we didn't see more pro testifies throughout the country. the sad reality about afghanistan is they see civilian casualties almost on a daily basis and have for the last 30 years. but what we have seen from the families of the victims, president hamid karzai in fact invited them to the capital of kabul last week to hear them, to hear them out to hear their tears, their cries and pleas for justice. one man who lost 11 family members asked president karzai to do more, to actually make sure there is justice for the victims that were lost. many of these afghans still claim that there was more than one u.s. service member that went after the families there. even after u.s. officials showed them s

our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski was told my military officials that on the night of the shooting, a search party went out looking for the missing 38-year-old staff sergeant. he was first spotted from the air, either by a drone or a helicopter. they saw him crawling through an open field on his belly, heading back to the base. they tracked him from the air. as soon as he got to the base, he was confronted by soldiers, asked specifically about the shooting. at that stage, he said i did it. he was taken into custody, disarmed. he demanded to speak to a lawyer and after that has refused to cooperate any further. as for why, it's still unclear. there are reports that he was having marital difficulties, that he had recently received a letter, not a good one, from his wife. and u.s. officials say they do have reason to believe that alcohol may have been involved. but whatever the reason, now afghanistan has to deal with this. afghan president hamid karzai today tried to make amends for the u.s. troops keeping him in power. he sent a delegation led by two of his brothers to a memorial fo

jim miklaszewski joins us. i do want to talk about the soldier and what we know his being brought to kansas. let's start off with the larger picture. the relationship between the u.s. and the afghanistan. what does he mean the u.s. is not cooperating with the investigation? >> not surprisingly u.s. officials are pushing back on karzai on that. there's even some disparity and difference between what karzai said about, hey, i want all american troops out of villages now because afghan military are in a position now to take over security for al those outlying after villages. people here in the pentagon saying that's what he is saying publicly but the reality is difference. i suspect in his criticism about that investigation, quite frankly the u.s. military's hands are tied because the suspect, once as we understood it, when he was first approached by his soldiers, he said i did it and said i want a lawyer and hasn't talked since. he has talked to his lawyer. even the lawyer acknowledges and instructed his client d

we have to have due process for the individual that people are suggesting, this jim miklaszewski this george zimmerman did something wrong. >> when you have probable cause, you make an arrest. and to say that zimmerman did nothing wrong, that would be determined in a court of law, not in the police station. that's my exact point. you can't predetermine he did nothing wrong. he himself admitted he killed someone. he himself admitted he was pursuing who he killed. if i were to kill someone or anyone in my community had killed someone and i've got an alibi as to why i did it, they would arrest me and say, tell it to the judge. he's supposed to prove that to a court of law, not in a police station why he's saying something that contradicts the evidence they have on the tape. just go to the tape. the tape tells it all. >> the reverend al sharpton, i know you're very busy, thank you for taking the time to step away. i know you were in a meeting. and, again, he will be part of that march tonight. they're hoping to get a huge crowd, tens of thousands. and also tonight, trayvon's mom and dad a

jim miklaszewski joins us. mick, senator harry reid acknowledged that many are likely to link the koran burning incident with this shooting. this is all still under investigation. what's the latest? >> it is under investigation. we're told the suspect is in custody but he's not talking to investigators. they still haven't determined apparently what his motive was when he left that base, walked more than a mile, according to the afghans to one or two villages and went from door to door killing as many as 16 afghans, including nine children is what we understand. as far as a link to the koran incident, nobody sees any link there. on the heels of the koran incident, many here at the pentagon and military over in afghanistan are holding their breath hoping we don't see the kind of violent reaction protest in which dozens of afghan protesters were killed and six americans were killed in retaliation for that koran burning. asked here at the pentagon today whether the u.s. will change its strategy or whether this stra

>> all right, jim miklaszewski at the pentagon.hank you. >>> the gunman suspected of killing seven people in southwestern france had been on the u.s. no-fly list since 2010. u.s. counterterrorism officials reportedly had 23-year-old mohammed merah's name on the no-fly list because in 2010 he had been in u.s. custody in afghanistan, then sent back to france. french officials say he had also uploaded a video to the internet, allegedly showing him executing an 8-year-old girl at a jewish school on monday. merah was killed yesterday after a 32-hour standoff with french special forces. >>> bank of america is testing a new program that gives homeowners facing foreclosure a new option. the mortgage-to-lease program would allow customers to stay in their homes by becoming renters, transferring their home's title to the bank. the program will only be available to about 1,000 customers while in its early testing phase. >>> a florida man will plead guilty to hacking into the e-mail accounts of scarlett johansson, milla cup its, christina agui

nbc's jim miklaszewski reports that charges could be filed against the staff sergeant about his returnthe soldier was flown totuate yesterday to move him away from the backlash over the rampage. a seattle-based defense attorney who has been selected to report the staff sergeant says that he spoke with the soldier previously yesterday. he described him as stunned and distant. >> he is a highly decorated professional soldier. never been in trouble of any kind before. very happily married, despite rumors to the contrary. everybody's really concerned about security for his family and him. so i really can't give you much detail about his identity. >> the father of two was on his fourth deployment when the shooting occurred. he has suffered two injuries including head trauma during his deployments. and officials say alcohol may have been a factor in the shootings. >>> one of the biggest marathons of the year takes place in the district this weekend. you'll have to deal with some metro delays to get to it. there will be track work on four of the five lines. on the red line, the shady grove st

the chief correspondent jim miklaszewski joins me now and mick, this change in direction, i should say now saying that this war has gone on long enough. is that a real surprise to people there at the pentagon? >> well, not actually. the first thing that senior military leaders will tell you is they don't devise a strategy or wage the war based on public opinion polls. nevertheless, this has to be disconcerting, particularly during an election year when there will be tremendous pressure on the white house and president obama. to accelerate the withdrawal of american combat troops from afghanistan. right now there are about 90,000 u.s. forces on the ground in afghanistan. that is due to go down to about 68,000 by the end of september. just a month before the november elections. but there are, there is already some talk about shortly after that time frame, drawing out another 10,000 forces. in testimony before, up on capitol hill last week before the house and senate armed services committee, the top u.s. commander from afghanistan told general john allen, told lawmakers that he would lik

jim miklaszewski is joining us now. what other details do we know about what happened? >> reporter: u.s. military officials say the army is, in fact, in the process of preparing charges against this 38-year-old staff sergeant, who left his remote base there in southern afghanistan somewhere about 3:00 a.m., walked nearly a mile to a nearby village, and allegedly opened fire killing 16 civilians, including 9 children and 3 women. at that point he apparently walked all the way back to the base, and wasn't until villagers showed up with bodies of the dead and the wounded that the military officials at the base realized something has happened. it was a short time after that this staff sergeant was taken into custody. now according to officials while the charges are being prepared it is not likely they'll come today. and they won't release his identity until that time. but we do know he was a combat veteran of at least three deployments to iraq, including during the surge period, some of the most violent times in iraq. and he had been deployed to afghanistan only since last

. >> joining me now, nbc pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski.llen talked about an investigation into the chain of command. those who were around sergeant bales leading up to his alleged crime. >> that's right. everybody suspected this would eventually happen. but it's the first time today that in his testimony, general john allen revealed there is in fact an investigation underway into the command climate. just what was the level of discipline at that forward operating base where those special operations forces were could not village stability operations. they want to know why since he was that a special operator was he assigned to that unit. and what was the combat relationship between him and the others on the base. and although allen didn't explain it or reveal it today, it is also expected that part of that investigation will look into why was there alcohol on that combat outpost. and even if drinking was not directly, did not directly contribute to that incident, in which 16 civilians were killed, it is sure in this investigation that some

. >> joining me now with the latest on the phone is nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski us. i know we are still getting details on thisins zpent conflicting reports on the number of dead. what do we have confirmed so far? >> you know the most consistent reporting in terms of numbers, casualties here, come prosecuting the afghan government themselves including president karzai. who said that 16 civilians were killed and five wounded in the shooting rampage. and among the dead, according to president karzai, nine women -- nine children and three women. if in fact this was a pre-dawn shooting in a village can -- occurred inside at least one, if not two or three homes inside, one or two villages all still very confusing. and that would indicate in the predawn hours that these would have been groups of families in their sleep when this lone gunman reportedly allegedly walked into those houses in the villages. and opened fire. now, according to the u.s. military officials, the soldier walked back to base and immediately surrendered himself to house superior officers and back a

atia live in kabul, and jim m k miklaszewski, i appreciate it. >>> turning to the campaign trail here at home, three candidates all depending on the poll that you look at, the three gop front-runners. the volatile contest is taking place in the south ahead of the presidential primaries in alabama and mississippi tomorrow. newt gingrich and rick santorum are splitting the vote. in alabama three different polls show each of the candidates in the lead, but rick santorum said the road to the republican nomination is more than just about a numbers kim game. >> the math is not the issue, the issue is vision. the issue is governor romney outspending me 10-1 and still not able to close the deal. >> in a poll from alabama's state university, santorum is third with 17% of the vote. let's bring in this morning's political power panel, i'm joined by ann cornblue, political editor for "the washington post." former governor of ohio, ted strickland, and new york daily news columnist, s.e. cob. i want to start with you, ann, could santorum and gingrich split voters and that actually work to romney's