but leon pineta says the united states will not cut the mission short. rita nissan reports, his visit comes at a tense time. >> reporter: secretary of defense, leon pineta arrived in afghanistan, for what is expected to be a difficult visit. even his landing was tense. the pentagon says an afghan man drove a stolen pickup truck onto the runway and crashed into a ditch. officials say pineta was never in danger. his trip was planned two months ago, but now has new urgency since a u.s. soldier went on a shooting spree sunday. >> as tragic as these events have been, they do not define the relationship between the coalition and afghan forces in the afghan people. >> reporter: a 38-year-old staff sergeant is accused of going house to house, slaughtering 16 villagers, many of them women and children. an afghan official says there is surveillance video of him walking to a base, laying down his weapon and surrendering. the taliban has promised revenge. wednesday, a bomb, hidden in a motorcycle exploded not far from a delegation investigating the shooting. the exp

. >>> defense secretary leon pineta heads to afghanistan. he opens on civilians, killing 16 people.nissan reports for wjz, on pineta's trip. and the shooting investigation. >> reporter: secretary of defense, leon pineta arrives in afghanistan, for what is expected to be a difficult visit. even his landing was tense. the pentagon says an afghan man drove a stolen pickup truck onto the runway, then crashed into a ditch. officials say pineta was never in danger. his trip was planned two months ago, but now has new urgency, since a u.s. soldier allegedly went on a shooting spree sunday. >> tragic as has events of violence have been, they do not define the relationship between the coalition and afghan forces and the afghan people. >> reporter: the u.s. military says the 38-year-old staff sergeant accused of slaughtering 16 villagers has been flown out of afghanistan to a facility in another country. an afghan official says their surveillance video of the suspect walking to his base, laying down his weapon, and surrendering. >> reporter: the taliban has promised revenge. wednesday, a bomb

. >>> another big story, a close call for defense secretary leon pineta. the secretary's plane was landing in sank. a man stole the truck and drove it to the runway to crash the vehicle. authorities say it's unclear if pineta was targeted. later, he met with gap and tribal leaders to try to smooth the relations of the death of death of 16 afghans allegedly cold by a u.s. soldier. >> as tragic as the events of violence has been, they do not define the relationship between the coalition and afghan forces and the afghan people. >> the american soldier is in custody and was flown out of afghanistan and is being held in another country. where's not been charged. >>> in the u.s., a day of weight weighty discussions between obama and cameron. day two of cameron's official visit to the white house. here's more. >>> a musical and 19-gun salute to american-british relations. officially welcoming the prime minister david cameron and his wife to the white house. >> it's now been 200 years since the british came here to the white house under somewhat different circumst

. >> secretary of defense leon pineta says the soldier could face the death penalty when he is tried. >>> a baltimore county man, charged with murder, and police say the victim is his girlfriend's son. andrea fujii is in the newsroom with more on the investigation. >> reporter: police are still trying to piece together a motive for the crime on sunday night. police say 54-year-old james haywood stabbed 28-year-old andrew fisher at a house in randallstown. fisher drove to northwest hospital on his own but died several hours later. haywood was arrested and charged with murder last night. he is being held at the baltimore county detention center. >> police say haywood used a sword-like weapon in the attack. >>> serious charges have dropped against a maryland schoolteacher and athletics coach. mary joins us now with the latest. >> reporter: 47-year-old scott spear was accused of having sex with a student. but a snag in maryland law cleared him of those charges. >> reporter: the middle schoolteacher and high school coach in montgomery county, no longer face sex abuse charges. >> this never

. >> reporter: secretary of defense leon pineta arrived in afghanistan for what is expected to be a difficult visit. even his landing was tense. the pentagon says an afghan man drove a stolen pickup truck onto the runway, then crashed into a ditch. officials say pineta was never in danger. his trip was planned two months ago, but now has new urgency, since a soldier went on a shooting spree. >> tragic as these events of violence have been, they do not define the relationship between the coalition and afghan forces and the afghan people. >> reporter: the u.s. military says the 38-year-old staff sergeant accused of slaughtering 16 villagers has been flown out of afghanistan to a facility in another country. an afghan official says their surveillance video of the suspect, walking to his base, laying down his weapon, and surrendering. the taliban has promised revenge. wednesday, a bomb, hidden in a motorcycle, exploded not far from the delegation, investigating the shooting. the explosion destroyed a building and killed intelligence officials. opened fire on government officials attending a servi

. >> secretary of defense, leon pineta says the soldier could face the death penalty when he is brought to trial. >>> police are releasing more information about a murder in baltimore county. 54-year-old james haywood is charged with killing his girlfriend's son. detectives say haywood used a sword-like weapon to stab andrew fisher to death inside a home on wind sor mill. haywood is being held without bail on a charge of first- degree murder. the motive is still unclear. desire. >>> a man will spend decades in jail for shooting a 10-year-old boy. >> reporter: a judge sentenced defon cante into life in prison for injuring a child during an attack in east baltimore. cante was trying to shat another man in the 1100 block in north lakewood avenue in august 2010. but he missed his intended target and wounded 10-year-old tevian who was sitting northeastern. tevian was treated at johns hopkins and released. at trial, the jury convicted him of attempted murder and assault. >> all but 55 years of his sentence are suspended. >>> infamous westborough baptist church pickets outside of glen burnie h

on capitol hill, secretary of defense, leon pineta, tried to reassure skeptics. >> we are committed, just to contain but prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon. >> reporter: but secretary of state hillary clinton faced a tough audience. some staunch supporters are israel question the administration's resolve. >> one of the red lines that the iranians cannot cross. >> i think it's probably smarter for us to be pressing on the sanctions and the negotiations. >> reporter: but netanyahu does not believe the sanctions have done enough and will press the president to do more. when asked what that could entail, white house press secretary, jay carney, said mr. obama will be specific and direct when the two meet next week. >> if israel attacks iran and iran retaliates, will we defend israel? >> that's a couple of "ifs "down the road. what i can say is we have an unshakeable commitment to israel's security. >> reporter: a group said that congress would support military action if it comes to that. >> that the iranian regime will not be allowed to possess nuclear capability. and if that mea

after a meeting with defense secretary leon pineta, he released a statement, saying afghan forces shoulde the lead across the country in 2013, one year ahead of schedule. a defense department spokesman says the pentagon does not expect to change the current plan, which calls for grad yulely -- gradually handing over authority to the afghans. this follows sunday morning's shooting rampage in a southern afghan village. 16 civilians, including nine children, were killed. the u.s. soldier accused of opening fire, was flown to kuwait wednesday. >> the united states is, indeed, going to not only prosecute this individual but ensure that he's held accountable. >> the white house hit with a second setback thursday, announcing it is breaking talks with u.s. officials. top aides to the president says the u.s. is not walking away from the table. >> there is no likely resolution to the conflict in afghanistan without a political resolution. >> reporter: taliban leaders argue the u.s. never made good on its promises and made new demands. the obama administration insists they have been consistent sinc

. >>> defense secretary leon pineta is expressing demands for freedom. before the senate armed services committee, pineta said that it makes no sense for the u.s. to take unilateral action with no clear mission. this comes as human rights groups say syrian troupes -- troops are targeting civilians. several republican lawmakers have called for airstrikes to end the blood shed. >>> damaging testimony in the trial of a former rutgers university student, darwoon ravi. christine sloan has the story. >> says property of tyler clemente. >> reporter: tyler clemente's laptop, shown to the jury today, in the trial of his former roommate, darwoon ravi. video taken just hours before clemente jumped off the george washington bridge. prosecutors say ravi sent out a tweet, inviting people to join in and watch clemente make out with another man. >> i dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12, period, yes, it's happening again. >> reporter: the expert with the middlesex county prosecutor says clemente also saved another tweet, where ravi allegedly said h

pineta is there to help calm the tensions. here's more from kabul. >> reporter: defense secretary leon pinetta doing damage control. the pentagon chief making an unannounced visit to afghanistan on the heels of two incidents, which have been raised afghans. the burning of the qu'ran and other texts that sparked violent riots throughout the country and the recent shooting of 16 afghan civilians in kandahar province. an american soldier in custody in connection to the shooting. secretary pineta meeting with u.s. and international military leaders during the trip along with troops, tribal elders, and afghan president karzai. the was go secretary hoping to smooth over the rise in tensions. >> as tragic as these events of violent that get, they do not defy the relationship between the coalition and afghan forces and the afghan people. >> reporter: secretary pineta is telling afghan officials that the primary mission of the u.s. and international troops is to prepare for the transition of control over the afghan forces. president obama addressing the latest incidents in afghanistan saying the recent tragic events are a r