is there an alternative to karzai?s there some -- somebody and some path to another credible local partner? >> well, i want to be clear, i'm not advocating a complete withdrawal. i'm saying we should stop the surge, reduce the number of troops to the numbers that we had at the start of the obama administration. there are still missions that can be accomplished, counterterroism, defending kabul, defending the nonpashtun parts of the country. i also think we -- it's important that we take a different approach. the white house spokesman was right now to call karzai on his remarks, to say they were untrue, and troubling. but he was wrong to say that karzai was the democratically elected president of afghanistan. he is not. the afghan people know that. we should send a message that we understand that. there are going to be parliamentary elections in the fall in afghanistan. karzai has been trying to manipulate the system so that he will appoint not only the election commission that managed the fraud, but this -- but he's tr

karzai slams the west again, is the headline. something from president karzai. here is the story. looking specifically at some of those statements that president karzai made, "the washington post" this morning, the headline there is -- karzai's defiance the stance concerns u.s. and afghan officials. we pull our question from a news analysis in "the new york times." she writes that some western critics of mr. karzai believe that the west has no choice but to threaten to leave. there is no point having troops in a mission that cannot be accomplished, says peter w. galgrave, former special representative for afghanistan. our question for you this morning -- is president karzai that credible local partner? michael, southampton, new york, on independent line. caller: good morning to you. you have a wonderful show. i wanted to give a quote from donald trump. he was on tv doing an evaluation of the iraq-again stand war. his quoted to larry king was, he said, within 24 hours of leaving these countries will go back to civil war. they are involved in a religious war that has gone on for the

. >> are you considering canceling the meeting with karzai? >> we certainly would evaluate whenever continued or for the remarks president karzai makes as to whether that is constructive to have such a meeting. >> three strikes, you're out? >> [unintelligible] >> what are those consequences for those remarks? he has doubled down. >> i cannot speak to why he said those things. >> what about the consequences. >> they are troubling. they're confusing. they have been investigated and they have been found to be untruthful. whether there is some domestic political benefits that he is trying to gain, i cannot say. we are in afghanistan and their young men and women are it in afghanistan -- and our young men and women are in afghanistan because of the threat posed since september 11 when plants posed in that area came to fruition in new york city. we understand -- we think that president karzai needs to understand that the safety and security of his country is not going to be gained simply by rooting out or removing extremist threats in certain areas

they want karzai, the americans want karzai to stand up and endorse and even lead that offensive as acal leader. he went down to kandahar last week to give a speech before a council of the elders. the hope was that he would say this offensive is a good thing. he couldn't do it. he got up this, and with general mccrystal next to him and he heard the complaints of the local leaders who are terribly worried about an offensive happening in their town. he said, i hear your complaints, i will make sure this doesn't go ahead, unless you're comfortable with it. he only got halfway there and that was part of what led to the back and forth. i have been struck by the tone of the white house. for weeks they have beyoncing corruption has to get cleaned up. if this guy does not create a force that we could transfer over to, well the u.s. will never be able to get out. so forth. today the theme was very much, they -- a misunderstanding and nobody is leaning that hard on corruption. really wonderful guy and president has been writing him letters. >> not quite wonderful. but legitimate was a word they

president karzai is... has really shown that he understands exactly what needs to be done, what the international community expects in return from its investment and has a very clear sense of the commitment that the united states in particular is making to the long-term success of his country. we want them to succeed. corruption is a serious issue. it's a serious... serious for us, serious for the afghan people. good governance is part of it. fighting the war on drugs is part of it. provideing stable leadership at the local, regional, and national level is part of it. so it's a compendium of things. but corruption is one of them. >> lehrer: but you've made it pretty clear-- as did president obama-- that you're not satisfied with how far he's gone in this, right? president karzai? >> well, i... it would be wrong to say that we went to afghanistan to talk about corruption. >> lehrer: sure. sure. >> we went to afghanistan to see the troops, thank them for their heroic sacrifice and also meet president karzai a

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

. >> it is karzai our allies? >> he is the democratic elected leader of afghanistan. >> is he an ally of the united states? >> there are times in which the actions that he takes are constructive to governments. i would say the remarks made -- i can't imagine anybody in this country found them anything other than troubling. so, our position on this, jake, is that when the afghan leaders take steps to improve government and root out corruption, then the president will say kind words. when leaders need to hear stern language from this administration about the consequences of not acting, we will do that as well. host: this comes as the united states leads an effort in afghanistan with military and otherwise. what does it do for the overall mission to have this spat going on? guest: i think the mission is not necessarily immediately effective. but what this could do, or perhaps has done, is called into question the whole idea of the united states being in afghanistan, where billions of dollars are being spent, u.s. sol

. >>> what's going on with president karzai? he's threatening to join the call ban if we don't stop meddling in his country. whose side is this guy on? what big of a problem is he for president obama? these two don't seem to be clicking after that midnight meeting. national car rental knows i'm picky. so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro. empowered. me powered. that's what i am on weight watchers. i'm learning stuff that i thought i knew, and i didn't. turns out i just needed the right direction. weight watchers. i even lost weight on vacation. yep, vacation. i'm me-powered. know what else? i want my family and my friends to learn good habits. and they are, and you can, too. and you can join for free. weight watchers. because it works. i like it. a lot. >>> some political news from across the pond. british prime minister gordon brown called for a general election may 6th, his labor

karzai's government, mr. karzai now often voices the view that his interests and the united states' no longer coincide." when it comes to president karzai, there is a well known corruption issue, and there is also a corrupt brother issue. the brother, as has been strongly suggested, may be into the drug trade. evan, what does this remind you of historically? >> vietnam, propping up dictatorships, did not like us, they steal from us. it is very demoralizing for the troops. i know from talking to them that we do have a military strategy, they are reasonably confident about that, but who are they doing it for? they are very down at about that. >> the parliament in afghanistan really unanimously it just socked it to karzai, who wanted to change the entire election structures so that he would be totally in command. they said no, we are not doing that. >> karzai is saying that the west was behind election fraud in elections. >> oh, right. >> and the u.n. and the west won a puppet government. >> the u.n. and the wes

it's karzai?> all their options are pretty bad. >> charlie: karzai is the national figure but at the same time you're dealing in regions where -- i'm asking, i'm not making a statement -- >> no, i think that is the problem but i think you've got to have somebody -- at the end of the day you've got to have -- the whole goal here is to build something that can outlast the american present and can stand on its own and make the country stable so that it doesn't once again become a sanctuary for people like al qaeda, and my overall impression that the at the moment is that the americans can do that -- the americans can do it. the afghan part of that, that is really, really troubling, and that's -- i think they're a long, long way away from that. >> charlie: you hear that reflected by the americans that are having the relationship with the karzai government? >> absolutely. you hear it everywhere. you particularly hear it from the afghans because as most of the polls show, what do the afghans really -- w

karzai has been pushing back in a very erratic way. just over a week ago, president obama went to see him and had what he thought was a good meeting. >> they did like it. >> they thought this problem was back in the box then a few days later, he's making these bizarre statements. he's not going to join the taliban. that's absurd. what i see happening here in part is a reaction to the fact we've announced we're leaving afghanistan in july of next year. karzai says the one thing i can't appear to be is an american stoonlg. i've got to find a political base. i think a lot of it is that. we need to admit that it plays well, whether it's iraq, afghanistan, pakistan. >> would he tell us to leave? >> he could tell us to leave. >> i've had it with you guys. >> he could. there are many other people in his government who we work with on a daily basis with whom we have very good relationships. if you're in kabul, you see this overwhelming american presence. this is such a poor country. we have landed there with our billions of dollars of hardware

can america be a credible partner for karzai? because we call ourselves a nation who -- people of laws but then again we only want to apply the law to where it benefits us and anybody else that does not work. my understanding is, no. that whole part of the world over there, they know more about the correctness, to face, lined, have paucity -- to face this, lying, hypocrisy, of our own people. as long as we agree and the partners and nobody has anything else to say but america. host: hang on the line a quick second. i hear what you're saying. 20 give your reaction to a couple of things quoted by afghan president karzai here in "the wall street journal." he said obstructive intervention by foreigners in the election. he said at the paper thin curtain that separate assistance and occupation. if we don't stand for our sovereignty, it will take long before that assistance turns into occupation. and afghanistan is being used by western officials who want to install a public government in the country. do you agree with the sentiments th

. >> p.j., speaking of afghanistan, what is with president karzai? >> the secretary had a discussion with president karzai on -- >> it doesn't seem to have done much good. >> -- friday afternoon. we're focused, looking ahead, to the important work that we have with the afghan government. we have a common goal. we want to see the afghan national government expand, assert itself, and, over time, take greater responsibility for security and agriculture and the basic elements of afghanistan's future. so our goals are the same, and beyond that -- >> well, do you take him seriously? >> hmm? >> do you take him seriously? >> he is the elected leader of -- >> yeah, but he says that he's threatening to join the taliban. i mean, is this a serious threat, in your estimation? >> that particular comment is a bit of a head scratcher. but beyond that, we were troubled by some of his comments last week. we think we've addressed them. we're moving forward. >> yeah, but isn't it -- is it still -- do you still think that this guy is an effective, capable, competent lead

karzai's frustrations with the u.s.team up with the taliban? it's a rumor that's been circulating. chris lawrence explains. >> reporter: the u.s. and afghanistan are trying to fix a troubled relationship. hamid karzai's government now says it's committed to a partnership with the u.s., and the state department rejected what it calls outrageous allegations against afghanistan's president. a member of the afghan parliament tells cnn he heard president hamid karzai he might join with the taliban if western officials keep criticizing and pressuring him to reform his government. farouk ma rainy's accusation shocked karzai's office, his spok spokesman refuses that he considered it. >> those who put the life of afghans in danger as priority number one, and in that context, that comment, whoever has come up with that comment, does not make sense. >> reporter: that was one accusation. but a former u.n. official also suggested karzai might have been using drugs. every diplomat who served in kabul has had doubts about karzai's men

we will work with president karzai and his government. at the same time, we will work to establish an effective governance. all ultimately, the key here is the relationship between the afghan government and its own people. they will all benefit after the bond is strengthened. >> the fact is that we have saved this man's life. he turns around and says we have fixed the elections. >> he is the leader of the afghan government. we are trying to grow the capacity of that government to be able to sustain -- >> you don't seriously suggest that he could stay in office without the support of nato? >> we are trying to create a government that will work on its own. they will have an effective economy. this is in our interest. this is a partnership that we are trying to build. >> you have mentioned opium. the former u.n. envoy has said that perhaps president karzai has a taste for it himself. what is your explanation for why he is behaving like this? >> he is a crucial political figure. to the extent that we see real politics going on in afghanistan,

karzai, if you all notice this week, he left. he pushed him a little bit on corruption, and then karzai comes out and says a few days later, today i have come here to tell you that there was widespread fraud and rigging in the presidential and provincial council's elections and he blamed the u.n. he didn't specifically say the u.s., but he said elm bases in kabul. today there was a quick turnaround. secretary clinton released a statement saying afghan president karzai called secretary clinton to clarify his statement from yesterday. in other words, what he meant to say was not actually what he said, and they pledged to continue working together in the spirit of partnership. but what happened and immediately that karzai turns around and says things like that right after president obama had left does not bode well. >> a warm thank you note. >> it might not even make it better. >> what is happening militarily at this point and what is coming? >> good question. one of the things the president said is the real reason he went over ther

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

-- tehe vote won by president karzai. >> president karzai may rely on foreign helicopters to make any moves of safety in his own country and foreign funding for 90% of his government spending, but he sometimes speak only to put his foreign paymasters, repeating his claim that foreigners almost stole the election from him last year. >> what i said about the election was all true. this was to clarify that afghanistan is a country, and it belongs to afghans. them of the president may need more than spiritual guidance to win back international trust -- >> the president may be more than spiritual guidance to win back international trust. >> the president even said that its international interference does not stop, that might justify the taliban insurgency. this is about more than the disputed election. after session, he has now removed two controversial elected officials, but he still wants to block foreign influence in elections to afghan parliament later this year, and in response, the white house has even threatened to withdraw an invitation to president karzai to visit the white house

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 a close relationship with president karzai. some people say the bush administration coddled him a little bit. what we're seeing from president karzai is a great deal of frustration. he feels he's not able to act. a lot of this has to do with reconciliation. karzai believes that the way out of this war

karzai has the ultimate trump card, which is that there is no one else.administration looked into other possibleties before the election, to see if there was someone there to mount a credible challenge to karzai and be a credible leader. they couldn't find anyone. even with the electoral fraud which was documented, which he identified and blew the whistle on, even with that, ultimately, the administration had to expect karzai as the leader. >> glenn, thank you for putting it that way. >>> a lot still to happen today. ten minutes, kathleen sebelius will speak at the top of the hour. ever wish you knew a retirement expert? let's meet some. retirement's a journey and, we know the territory. we're chartered retirement planning counselors at td ameritrade. we're trained. we're seasoned. experienced. we'll help you with rollovers. consolidating old accounts. opening new ones. guiding you through paperwork. we're like retirement co-pilots. call us soon. when you're ready, we're here. time for fresh thinking. time for td ameritrade. [ male announcer ] competition

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

government have concerns about karzai's stability, his mental state, or behavior as late? >> none. >> so everything that has been said in the white house about his behavior is without merit? >> there were questions the world had about some of our leaders in the recent past. let me -- [laughter] as we have said for a couple of days, we have concerns about some of the things he has said. just as i think probably the president karzai and others may take issue with some of the things that are said in this country, whether they are said in the executive branch, legislative branch commodore wherever. we do understand that there's a political process that has emerged in afghanistan. that is a good thing. politicians in afghanistan and around the world sometimes will feel the need to say things of importance to their own population and that may cause us some discomfort, but he is the president of afghanistanh. e is a partner. we work very closely with him. he is a partner. the secretary had a constructive conversation with him last week. we will continue to work on our joint share

karzai called secretary of state hillary clinton to explain his position. so what's got everyone so agitated? from kabul, here's mandy clark. >> reporter: it was a scathing tirade from the afghan president against the west, against foreign diplomats, the press, and the u.n. all of whom he accuses of trying to influence the results of last summer's elections. >> ( translated ): they wanted a puppet regime. they wanted to have a servant government. >> reporter: the scolding from karzai is designed to counter accusations that he stole the elections. a u.n.-backed panel found more than a million ballotss-- a third of the votes for him-- were fraudulent, raising questions about his legitimacy. and it all comes less than a week after president obama surprise visit to kabul. in public, the talk was of a brighter future for afghanistan. >> good governance, rule of law, anti-corruption efforts. >> reporter: in private, the president demanded a crackdown on corruption, a promise karzai has repeatedly failed to deliver on. one potent symbol of that fail injury this ma

whose side do you think karzai is on? >> there's a mild rebuke with mr.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. >> we do have an alternative. >> what is it? >> the alternative is get out. the alternative is to get out and it becomes more and more attractive eve

that was president zardari and president karzai. so that's way down the road. and what was the other half? >> the assessment of how -- i mean, the big goal last year was to get them working together more closely. how -- to what extent have -- because the >> we've made enormous strides there, but still not where you'd want it to be. i think everybody agrees that there's been improvement in that particular area but that's improvement from a very low base. yeah. >> can i ask just two quick operational questions from today? there was an attack on the kabul airport earlier today and it looks like it was someone who's -- either was dressed up as an ana soldier, or who was actually an ana soldier, and -- >> i'm unaware of this. i apologize. i've been in meetings at the white house all day, so -- >> there was also an attack in peshawar, too. >> that, i am aware of. >> do you know any more about that or have any reaction to >> no. p.j., actually, do we know anything about an attack on the airport? >> no. >> i'm really sorry. thank you for telling us. historically, we're

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 their mission. >> clear articulation probably is needed. i would expect the white house to get closer to that. let's be clear, the engagement issue is not a bad thing. if you look at where we are with china, it's likely in t

government and the afghan government and there's little point president karzai is ready to do any of the things the obama administration laid out would be necessary. it could put the president in a position a year from now of having to begin to withdraw without achieving his major objective of being able to tra transfer >> schieffer: you're saying the whole afghanistan project is in trouble. >> it's in jeopardy and we had a fascinating story of what's happening in marja where the nato initiative began two weeks ago and the taliban are coming back in and quietly intimidating or executing people who have taken money from marines and helped them out in a way and we're a long way way from the declaration from commanders we had a government in a box ready do come into afghanistan and there's a similar problem next door in pakistan where for years president bush and now president obama have been trying to get a pakistani government to have the same enthusiasm about pursuing the taliban and al-qaida and pakistan improved some. >> schieffer: if i understood the reason we went to afghanistan

just yesterday karzai threatened to join the taliban. the taliban.ent 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 taliban if he didn't do what he wanted, but i'm not surprised that his attitude, ed, because this is not somebody who rules

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

we can't say oh, because we don't like karzai we're leaving. but the idea and i'm very glad obama went over there, he gave a brilliant speech to the troops. >> lehrer: that was a good speech, wasn't it. >> it was just really tremendously good. and but the idea that you can talk to karzai into being what we hope him to be is just not going to what. so we better have some work arounds. >> lehrer: work arounds? >> well, yeah. it was interesting that the president was there unexpected, una employe employed-- announced so that karzai could not get the political pluses of having ceremonial photo opportunities. he was in and out. he gave him the stern dutch uncle lecture. and that was the purpose of the visit other than the troops as david pointed out. and you know, we're seeing with general jones on the show last night with you and from other reports. without a functioning, honest responsive government on the ground, all the military efforts in the world, on the part of the afghans, all the military efforts in the world and sacrifice by americans mea

that was president zardari and president karzai. so that's way down the road. and what was the other half? >> the assessment of how -- i mean, the big goal last year was to get them working together more closely. how -- to what extent have -- because the >> we've made enormous strides there, but still not where you'd want it to be. i think everybody agrees that there's been improvement in that particular area but that's improvement from a very low base. yeah. >> can i ask just two quick operational questions from today? there was an attack on the kabul airport earlier today and it looks like it was someone who's -- either was dressed up as an ana soldier, or who was actually an ana soldier, and -- >> i'm unaware of this. i apologize. i've been in meetings at the white house all day, so -- >> there was also an attack in peshawar, too. >> that, i am aware of. >> do you know any more about that or have any reaction to >> no. p.j., actually, do we know anything about an attack on the airport? >> no. >> i'm really sorry. thank you for telling us. historically, we're

president karzai came to the meeting. there were cameras and there were great photographs that were not printed anywhere in the u.s. but he came and was briefed by david and me. we sat on either side of camp and then he spoke for about 10 or 15 minutes about how appreciative he was of the international efforts. to those of us in the room, that was a very important, symbolic statement. so, i do not even count that among the meetings i have had with president karzai since january. so, we are focused on the future. >> what caused this aberration? what's that is for you to judge. >> talking about president karzai and's agenda, -- >> here is our schedule. he will arrive on may 10, 21 days from today. that schedule for that evening will be opened. we do not know what time he will ride. the next day, the 11th, we are working with him on coming to the eighth floor of this that apartments with his cabinet members to be joined by american counterparts so that if the minister of defense is there, this would all be subject to their a

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

on the karzai comments, wow, sometimes with friends like that, who needs enemies?rry, we are in tv. -- on tv. [laughter] this is the crux of the problem in afghanistan. if it is true that mr. karzai will be at the nuclear summit in washington next week -- >> [inaudible] >> i'm sorry? >> [inaudible] >> that was reference to the may 12 separate meeting. which is still on as of today. obviously, one of the core problems that we face in afghanistan is the competitive instincts of pakistan and india. i would have to think that with both of the leaders here next week that it may be a point of discussion, hopefully. with the upcoming plan the offensive in kendrkandahar, you know, ambassador eikenberry was here recently and he said it was going to be one part of military and five parts political. the one part military, the afghan leadership is likely to ksupport. the five parts political, a big portion. Ñ-- a big question. >> and from the christian science monitor. i would like to go back to the reset with russia subject. could you talk a bit about the political aspect of

and president karzai has been the center of most attention. there are a few points i would like to make. first of all, he shares a perspective that isn't uncommon in pakistan. his first since of loyalty and its implicit as well as explicit as to his family to try and event to the nation of afghanistan. she is not unique in that regard. that is not an uncommon approach this its up attention because our orientation company to a's orientation is primarily to the nation of afghanistan to build structures, to build government capacities. that is a given. we were fortunate in the united states we had george washington. there are very few countries in the world at a critical moment like this that have a george washington. however, with all of the difficulties in the last election the challenge we have is working with what is the recognized government of afghanistan and president karzai and finding ways to work at the local level simultaneously so that we are able to deliver this capacity out in the field of the military operations. but me -- i don't

>>> well, karzai has no -- has no other plan.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 roll their way into kandahar keeping casualties at a minimum and seek to reestablish control in the city. jamie. >?what what lessons did we learn from marjah, and what's the difference between the fight there and the fight in kandahar? >> reporter: yeah. marjah was like a take down. >>>

karzai, that he might not be at the white house as he would. how do you read that? >> president karzai erupted in this tirade against the united states, the president. americans are in afghanistan, among other things, keeping president karzai alive, so you would think he would have better manners. he is an unreliable partner, and there are other partners, some of whom they have gotten more votes in the actual election if they had been counted. >> finally, i do not want -- i want to raise this quick. since you are in washington and i am sitting in california, i read a fascinating piece by you the other day where you believe republicans have a chance in 2010 in this stage? ronald reagan's state? >> i hope they have a chance, but the main thing i want to emphasize is the republican party desperately needs california to be that as part of the republican coalition. back in the 1980 costs when the republicans for the stronger of -- in 1980's when see the republicans were stronger, it was a sun belt party, not just a southern party, and it did reach into the midwest and no

i think president karzai gunning just last week to meet with tribal elders. you have to remember i don't even know how to describe this. the fact that these people are fighting and fighting with the taliban is because they don't think that karzai even as the exist and the folks he has in power, they feel they are so corrupt any money that they get never trickles down for him to show what is a symbolic act to sit on the floor with 400 of these guys and say tell me what your problems are is an earth moving kind of symbolic gesture. i think you're going to see more of this approach we are hearing british foreign secretary millo brandt said that we need to start dealing with the taliban, the ones that work for the dollar as opposed to the ideology, the 500 million-dollar package that was announced in london in january with the members of 70 different nations to kind of peace and reconciliation fund there is a another community defense initiative going down. all of these things are trickling so when singing is when you leave here and start reading the news if you

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

on the karzai comments, wow. sometimes with -- some of our friends, you know -- friends like that, who needs enemies? sorry, we are on tv. i mean, this is the crux of the problem in afghanistan. [laughter] >> and if indeed mr. -- it is true that mr. karzai is going to be at the nuclear summit in washington next week -- [inaudible] >> sorry? [inaudible] >> that was the reference to the may 12th separate meeting. okay. >> this is still on as of today. that's what robert gibbs said this morning at the gaggle. >> well, obviously one of the core problems we face in afghanistan is the competitive instincts of pakistan and india. and so i would have to think that with both of the leaders here next week, that that may be a point of discussion hopefully. with the upcoming -- the planned offensive in kandahar, you know, ambassador eikenberry was here recently. and his comment was, you know, this is one part political -- excuse me, one part military, five parts political. the one part military, the afghan leadership is like

know gibbs was also asked about these disturbing, to say the least, comments, reported from hamid karzai. they're not pleased the ally s has -- troops and treasure going to afghanistan with a leader criticizing the united states. >> clear frustration coming from this white house that karzai has done it again. just last week, he made extremely antiwest comments. over the weekend, he renewed those comments. >> now, we're seeing the president in a nationals red jacket coming out with a team owner and shaking hands with the kol lor guard there. these are wounded warriors from all of the services who are being honored there today. you can see obviously, these veterans getting special honor and tribute from the washington nationals as the president is coming up. chuck todd is with the pool representing all of the networks. chuck, you're out there in the park. what a great place to be. >> it is a great place to be. mostly cheers, a few boos. they showed highlights -- on screen. probably a few more boos than that. on the mound here, took off his hat. a white sox hat -- that's going to get some b

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 the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> what the world needs now

host: what is your impression in terms of karzai?hreatened to block any offensive and even threatened to join the todd heap -- he threatened to block and nato offensive and even threatened to join the taliban. guest: the problem is a fundamental one, which is a challenge for president obama to deal with what president karzai comes next month, which is to establish a relationship of trust with him again, because he is the president and we need him in order to succeed in afghanistan. he understands that he needs as an order for the country to work. -- he needs us in order for the country to work. there has been distrust that has built over the last few years. host: can you give us more insight, having worked with him so closely come into president karzai's thinking? guest: i think he thinks we have plotted against him in the election, which is wrong, in my view, but that is what he believes, and some key figures in the administration supported opponents, and that he intentionally pushed his vote down -- we intentionally pushed his vote

benjamin netanyahu and president karzai. we'll get reaction from this. pj crowley joins us live on two important international stories : as "studio b" continues in just a moment. rv, camper, boat insurance. nice work, everyone. exec: well, it's easy for him. he's a cute little lizard. gecko: ah, gecko, actually - exec: with all due respect, if i was tiny and green and had a british accent i'd have more folks paying attention to me too... i mean - (faux english accent) "save money! pip pip cheerio!" exec 2: british? i thought you were australian. gecko: well, it's funny you should ask. 'cause actually, i'm from - anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >> shepard: breaking news, fox confirmed an earlier associated press report regarding pope and the catholic church. the news is not good for the church or the pontiff. church files show before he became the pope, joseph cardinal ratzinger resisted defrock ago california priest who molested children. and in 1985 letter signed by cardinal ratzinger, the pope, sit