the taliban will play off against that as well, anderson. >> nic robertson from london.nk you very much. wolf, the president obviously also talked about praising the efforts made by u.s. troops over the years in afghanistan and praise which is important because when you spend time there you go out with marines or with the army and military and the conditions they are operating under in afghanistan are extraordinarily difficult. the landscape and climate is an extraordinary effort they are putting in. >> doing amazing work under awful circumstances. one other point i want to bring out, the president did reach out and i thought it was fascinating tonight directly to the taliban when he said the united states is supporting initiatives that reconcile the afghan people including the taliban. he didn't put a condition on bringing the taliban into these negotiations. he said they have to abide by the afghan constitution. now, a lot of spertexperts have pointed out the taliban will never abide by the afghan constitution calling for equal rights for women. we know where the talib

nic robertson who has been following the war closely joins us live. nic, is nato not striking hard enough? is that what gates is saying? >> he seems to be implying it is taking a long time to take on moammar gadhafi. moammar gadhafi is really seen by everyone as the essence or the focal point of winning the fight in libya at the moment. he has to be killed or removed before the rebel forces can move into tripoli and a new government can be sustained. the frustration here in nato and what we are hearing from secretary gates is not just that nato countries don't have enough ammunition to keep up the fight, perhaps but the region's goal is proving elusive. a lot of people were worried about this, going after essentially what is one man and his will to fight moammar gadhafi is tough. none of the beating that his army has received at the hands of nato has made him back down. just this week, he has said, he will fight to the en. his compound, his palace is in ruins. that is a growing frustration here. we are not able to, the international community is not ab

we want to go straight now to abu dhabi and join our senior international correspondent nic robertson with more on this international contact meeting and what they hope to achieve from this. knick? nic? >> reporter: monita, one of the things that seems to be close to the top of the agenda is financing for the rebels at the moment. i don't think anyone expected moammar gadhafi to be holding on this long, at least in the international community. and this is now the third contact group meeting. there was one in dough ha-- doh qatar. the reason for the monthly meet sgz to build consensus. they believe the consensus for removing moammar gadhafi is growing. they point to turkey's recent statements, russia's recent statements and they will be looking at the meeting to find more support among arab nations as well, indeed perhaps financial supporters as well as the same time in the united states congress to unfreeze some of libya's frozen financial assets so they can be released to the rebels at this time. also trying to find money, we'll be making sure there is a transparent mechanism tore di

monita. >> nic robertson at cnn abu dhabi. thank you so much. you're watching "world one" live from london. >>> still to come, a killing that shocked pakistan. the death of a young man caught on tape leaving the troopers who shot him in the dark. your favore but it's time for your medicine, okay? you ready? one, two, three. [ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you did a really good job, okay? let's go back to drawing. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] wake up to sweetness with honey nut cheerios cereal. kissed with real honey. and the 100% natural whole grain oats can help lower your cholesterol. you are so sweet to me. bee happy. bee healthy. you are so sweet to me. somewhere in america, a city comes to life. it moves effortlessly, breathes easily. it flows with clean water. it makes its skyline greener and its population healthier. all to become the kind of city people want to live and work in. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nat

our senior international correspondent nic robertson is tracking the power struggle in yemen. as you hear that, you reported some of this last night. the injuries more severe than the government is letting on. the obama administration now believing time will simply run out on president salah, he will be in the hospital and developments in the country will overtake the possibility of his return. what's happening on the ground right now? >> reporter: well, it really sits with the vice president. the vice president has been left in charge, president ali abdul has yet to sign a document or give some signal, despite his injuries, he's willing to see a transfer of power in yemen. until he does that, it seems his government will hold out, between his son controlling the revolutionary guard, his nephews controlling other security forces, he can count on about 100,000 armed men in yemen to uphold his position. so while he's sick and ill, in hospital in saudi arabia, you have a situation across yemen where there's a semi cease-fire, but it's breaking down. about 400 tribal gunmen are he

. >> let's get some more insight from our senior international correspondent nic robertson.ll us, the appointment of al zawahiri what does it mean for al qaeda? >> it means continuity. he's been one of the principal ideologues. he was there when bin laden put out or put forward al qaeda's global agenda in 1998 so he was part of the mastermind of that agenda. while he lacks the charisma that bin laden had and while he is sometimes seen as a divisive figure, he's going to bring continuity. don't expect any change from al qaeda because of this, john. >> when you say don't expect any change, does that include its targeting, if you will, since the death of bin laden, we've heard there have been disputes among the rank and file and leadership about whether to make the united states and the west a big target or whether to focus more on regional challenges like in the middle east. >> he's going to look to the challenges that the arab spring brought to perhaps bring instability to libya or true news ya or in the north of africa to develop a better foot hold for al qaeda there, in yem

>> nic robertson for us, senior international correspondent, nic, tremendous reports in country. i'm sure you'll be back. we'll check in with you then. thank you so much, nic. >>> by the way, you can watch president obama's address, of course you can, tonight 8:00 eastern right here on cnn, talking about that troop drawdown. 30,000 surge troops by the end of next year. watch tonight, cnn, 8:00 eastern. >>> now this. >> in july of 2007, hillary clinton was going to be the democratic nominee and rudy giuliani was going to be the republican nominee. john mccain was out of money. his staff had left and everybody had written him off. >> so, case in point, folks, don't write newt gingrich off yet either. our own t.j. holmes caught up with the white house hopeful just this morning. maybe had a little breakfast with him as he was here in atlanta. you'll want to hear what he told mr. holmes. folks, don't move. that is coming up next. >>> more troubles for newt gingrich. we told you yesterday two more of his campaign staffers quit. it was senior fundraising staff this time. remember a coup

nic robertson is in sana, yemen. let's go to arwa first.a, this has been another tough time, another tough few weeks. what's going on in syria right now? tell our viewers what you're seeing firsthand. >> reporter: well, wolf, we got an opportunity to go up to the highly controversial town that is at the center of the military crackdown that sent all of those refugees streaming across the border to turkey. and we hoped that following our trip, we would have a better idea of exactly what it was that transpired there. take a look at what we saw. it is unsettling arriving in the town. for weeks we heard stories of brutal attacks by syrian security forces, of thousands fleeing, of mass graves. now the government is bringing journalists to this dusty and very empty town. we're escorted, not only by officials, but two truck loads of military. that's for our own protection, we're told. armed gangs that once controlled all of this town are still a threat. military officials tell us the crackdown here was unavoidable. to stop terrorist elements whose

our senior international correspondent nic robertson is in the capital city.e and the back and forth you've been getting on that. first, i want to ask you, the army fought against al qaeda members today. was that fight at all related to the nationwide civil uprising? >> reporte >> reporter: it is. i mean, there are so many things that are part of a nationwide uprising, tribes that are going against the president, sectarian volatility, al qaeda and radical islamists in the south of the country, five al qaeda members according to the government today. many of them wounded, they say, seven soldiers wounded in abian province. the state capital according to some people was taken over by radical islamists or al qaeda in the past few weeks. the government saying they arrested six al qaeda members today. they say those people were making ieds. this is -- of yemen at the moment, a country that is unstable and perhaps becoming -- just because the president is out of the country -- as he is under huge international pressure to do, brooke. >> as he is under that pressure

first, nic robertson live in abu dhabi where he's watching the situation in libya. what's the latest? all right. doesn't seem like nic is hearing us. we'll check on that in a moment. the developments -- we're going to be talking about what is happening in nato now, but -- >> what is the end game, how can they achieve that end game? >> can you do that with moammar gadhafi in office? >> it is really a change, is this really a change in what nato's goal and mission has been all along. we'll check with a nato spokesperson in a couple minutes. we're talking about national politics and the sudden mass exodus we started hearing about yesterday afternoon of the presidential campaign of candidate newt gingrich. 16 staff members in all, including his senior campaign staff, entire senior campaign staff, all resigning. citing a, quote, different vision of how to win the white house. gingrich is not backing down. he says his campaign will go on and he plans to take part in monday's gop debate in new hampshire. which you can see only here on cnn. joining us from washington, cnn se

cnn's nic robertson is following developments from abu dhabi for us. what do you know about saleh's condition and whether he will eventually return home to yemen? >> well, according to his party in yemen that he was only in saudi arabia for some minor medical treatment, according to other sources though he's had two operations to remove splinters of wood that were embedded in him when he was very close to that explosion last friday in yemen's capital saana. so they vary widely on the one hand that he may take several weeks to recover from these operations, on the other hand that he could be coming back to saana within a matter of days. that's what his vice president said earlier on today, randi. >> nic, what is your sense of the situation in yemen right now? >> well, senior western diplomatic sources i just talk to says that the cease-fire that's in place is, by an large, holding at the moment with a few small exceptions. the tribal forces that had come to the capital to an front saleh's forces the last few weeks are not being seen on the streets. the a

nic robertson, cnn, man a mar, bahrain >>> recapping our top stories here on "world one," the numberd to turkey has now risen to more than 5,000. are getting away from a military crackdowns on protest ores. human rights activi activists m and that there was heavy shelling. state media say at least three people were killeded on sunday including a soldier. a series of earthquakes has hit christchurch bringing further destruction to the city. no one has died but there are reports of injuries. the quakes come nearly four months after a 6.3 magnitude struck the same area, killing more than 180 people. >> you're watching "world one" live from london. i'm monita rajpal. >> i'm zaun verjee. the news continues here on cnn. >>> "american morning" starts in just three minutes. we have seven republican candidates for president all getting set to debate tonight. the only place to see it is here on cnn. we'll bring you the best political coverage live from new hampshire this morning. >> new embarrassing photos of anthony weiner posted on the website of tmz triggering new calls for the congressman

our nic robertson is live in abu dhabi. overing this story from the very beginning closely mao for months. first of all, why this back-and-forth? why has this woman been brought from one country to the next to the next? will she ever be able to come back home? >> reporter: i don't think she's going to be going home if you call home the east of libya where the rebels control which is where her parents live. i don't think she'll be going back home any time soon. see now sees her life being outside libya. she doesn't feel safe there from gadhafi's loyalists who might be able to get to her even if she was in the east of libya. she's got her sights now firmly set on getting to the united states if she can on some sort of refugee program. she's a lawyer. she wants to continue her legal studies and she sees the united states as being the best place for her. she really wants to put this part of her life behind them, much as she's got family and friends back in libya. it's what she really would like as well is just to get over this h

nic robertson joins us live from london. nic what are we hearing from this group exactly?> reporter: mujahadin the group had been using a cell phone to communicate with had been around 20 or more years and creation in part by pakistan's intelligence service and radical islamist mujahadin who pakistan used to help fight the soviets in the pakistan in 1980s and also used them as a proxy force in indian-controlled kashmir and that territory between pakistan and india. now, this organization has sort of ties and a common global outlook has al qaeda and the taliban and perhaps best scene in 1999, mujahadin, one of the few people in that group, hostaged an india airlines plane and landed it in afghanistan and did a deal with the taliban and al qaeda that let them off scott-free and let the indian airline passengers go free as well but shows you the fact of the group based in pakistan and supported and trained by their intelligence and military services had close ties to the taliban and al qaeda. and that sort of, if you will, why people are asking questions now. if osama bin lad

. >> cnn's senior international correspondent nic robertson. >>> greece is in the grip of new turmoil. the prime minister is reshuffling his government after violent protests exploded on the streets of athens. geor he is trying to win support for more austerity measures. wednesday and images of protesters clashing with riot police through a fog of tear gas has really put the seriousness of the greek debt crisis in focus. about 25,000 demonstrators within on t were on the street in the capital. we're joined by someone in athens. >> the rumors have been flying thick and fast yesterday and today about whether lawmakers will resign. one or two have threatened to do so. one of them has actually specifically said he will yesterday, which would bring the governing majority down to 155 seats and george needs 151. that brings him within four deputies of losing a majority. >> is he going to be able to do that? will he be able to hold it together? >> the test will come if and when he presents the austerity plans which the creditors of greece have said this is absolutely necessary. this is the mi

cnn's nic robertson following developments and joins us now.l us about the new u.s. air strikes and what some call really a secret campaign against al qaeda in yemen? >> reporter: randi, it's very interesting. secretary of state hillary clinton was here earlier meeting at a contact group on libya and asked that question about the bombing runs in yemen, and she offered no answer at all. she said, i'm not going to comment on operations. certainly gives the impression that those operations may be ongoing. there have been drone strikes in the past. they have targeted al qaeda leaders, anwar awlaki the yemeni cleric who inspired a number of attacks inside the u.s. and other parts of the world, there were strikes against him. what's happened in the past, though, sometimes they've missed, it's angered the yemeni population. right now it seems al qaeda, particularly in some of the southern provinces, is trying to take advantage of the sort of fighting in the rest of the country to take territory for weakened government forces. and by targeting them now

nic robertson is following developments and joins us now.you can, can you just give us an update, what is the status of these military trials? are they still in progress? >> reporter: they are absolutely still in progress and the government is really sort of fast-forwarding a huge number of defendants through these cases. it was more than 40 people yesterday, there were more than 30 the day before. the trials continue. the doctors themselves, that case has been postponed to the 20th of june but a government official today called me into his office to show me videotape that he says proves the allegations that the government's making against the doctors. it's not legal evidence that would stand up in a court of law that you and i are familiar with, where the defendant is innocent until proven guilty, but the government here is convinced it's right, won't listen to any outside calls that the doctors should have their confessions squashed, they should be treated by civilian doctors and indeed, that they, if they are going to be tried, put in a c

cnn's nic robertson is standing by.ave been in the united arab emirates with you, hillary clinton, the secretary of state. what are they saying about all these suggestions that gadhafi must go, even if it means he gets killed in a nato air strike? >> reporter: well, there's a growing concern that the only way gadhafi is going to go is not by damaging his military on the front lines in misratah, that saves the civilians of that city but rather focusing on him, himself, because he will quite happily let his army to pounded into the dirt. there's alsos a recognition here that the longer this situation goes on, the more destruction that happens in the country, the harder it is going to be for the rebels and for other political forces in the country to unite. that it's going to take longer, if you will, and take more money to put the country back together. so there's a recognition here that you can bomb the front lines, but unless you get gadhafi, you won't bring this to an end because he's not going to step down because his

our senior international correspondent nic robertson is in abu dhabi. >> far from the libyan battlefieldhorus grows, it's aim quite simply to build international momentum for a rebel victory. almost three months into libya's civil war, some 30 governments are signed up to the libyan contact group. the grim photo here is more than just symbolic, this conference is almost as much about size as it is about substance. many officials here talk about the importance of the growing international unity that gadhafi must go. heading the agenda, funds to keep the rebel transitional national council, the tnc afloat. italy offering over $500 million in cash, for day to stay expenses, france $250 million. kuwait, 150 million. officials stress the money not for weapons and it will be accounted for. >> the last thing we want is to put the tnc in a position where the money flows but they are not -- they don't have the systems in place to actually put it to good use. we think that they do now and we're working to assist them. >> reporter: but on the battlefield, weapons are what the rebels want most. outg

. >> nic robertson, our senior international correspondent, thanks a lot, nick. >>> you're watching "what's in a name for this basketball superstar? meet the man of peace in just a minute. what's in a name for this ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] thanks to advanced natural gas turbine technology from ge, the power that will help make our nation more energy independent is right here in america. what's in a name for this ♪ [ cheers and applause ] advanced gas turbine technology from ge. ♪ i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. what's in a name for this to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. [ male announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance. [ lane ] here's the trouble with most anti-wrinkle creams. the cream disappears but your wrinkles don't. ♪ introducing neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest retinol formula available. in fact, it's clinically proven to smooth wrinkles in just one week. so all you have to do is sit back and watch your wrinkles go away. new rapid wrinkle repair. from neutrog

let's check in with our senior international correspondent nic robertson. he scene for us in bahrain right now. what's the latest? what's going on, nic? >> reporter: well, wolf, i was in the military court today to see these doctors and nurses brought before the judge. 1 of them. -- 11 male doctors and five or six female doctors. males looked pathetic because their hair had all been shaven short. they looked tired, strepsed, nervous, anguish. you can see they haven't seen the sunshine for quite some time as well. that's why they look rather pathetic. but one of them challenged the judge saying that the confessioned they had aide been forced to sign had been given under torture. we heard in the courtroom there, i heard several of the lawyers said that their defendants, the doctors they were representing, had been tortured, too, and they asked the judge to allow the doctors to be visited by a civilian doctor and that these confessions that they've signed under torture shouldn't bed a ms.able in the court. the prosecutor challenged said, said that these were no

the acting president tells nic robertson how saleh is doing as he gets medical treatment in saudi arabiaranslator: i saw him immediately after the incident. he had burns on his face, burns on his hands, burns on his chest and a piece of wood was sticking between his ribs. >> reporter: how long before it comes back in your estimation. >> translator: no one can tell, this is accord together doctors. >> reporter: days? >> translator: days, weeks, months. >> reporter: it could be months? >> translator: it could be months. this is a decision up to the doctors. >> and the u.s. has reportedly been asked to leave an air base in pakistan, one used to launch drone attacks against taliban and al qaeda targets, along the afghanistan border. that is according to the state-run associate press of pakistan, quoting the country's defense minister, the u.s. official tells us the comments are, quote, news to us. >>> all right. we're going around the world. zain vergee is standing by in london. it will be a big day in london. we're expecting to see big strikes. good morning, zain. >> good morning, ali. ever

we bring in nic robertson in the hague to explain the update on where al obeidy has been forcibly deportednsidered safe and vocal in speaking about the rape charges. nic? >> reporter: suzanne it seems eman al obeidy can't get a break, she spent a month in qatar taken there by the rebels. once she escaped libya, why qatar because qatari authorities heavily support the rebels. she'd been disappointed with the rebels, frustrated they were trying to perhaps she felt maybe use her a little bit while she was just trying to recover from the emotional strain of everything she had been through, the rape and the pressure of living in tripoli, not knowing, she said, if she was going to die from one day to the next. what had happened was she had asked the united nations high commission for the refugees to give her refugee status, they granted her that status and her parents had come to visit her but it seems the qatari authorities had put her under essentially arrest with armed guards on the door in the hotel, told her she was going to be forcibly deported even though the unhcr had a representative in

cia and department of homeland security, and also in london, senior international correspondent nic robertsono reported extensively from afghanistan, and with us here in washington, retired army bringing deer mark kem et, involved in key deliberations about afghanistan during the bush administration. let's start with you, nic. you spent a lot of time in afghanistan. how different is the situation on the ground now compared to before president obama took office? >> the surge contributed to bringing better stability and better chance of getting afghan governments into places like kandahar, but the number of troops involved in the surge and number of troops across the whole country really can't provide that same level of control over key cities around the country that perhaps we would all want to see. that would give the afghan government a chance to put in their police, to build up their army, get their army to come in, back fill behind the successes that the surge troops had. but the reality is, commanders on the ground have taken ground. they wanted to move the surge troops to combat the tali

our senior international correspondent nic robertson is in the capital of sanaa on the phone right now. what is the situation in yemen right now? it has been slowly coming apart at the seams for weeks and then the president was injured. what's happened since? >> since the president left the country to saudi arabia to get treatment there's been a sort of uneasy calm over the capital san sanaa. there are two protests going on here. there's the anti-government protests, by far the largest protest and a small pro-government protest today. people are marching, this anti-government protesters, descended on a square. it is very peaceful. it's a small city, very much like people in ta fir square in cairo. they call it king square here. today security is up, it's high, it's been heightened in the capital because of the anti-government supporters are going on the march. what else is happening here, the price of gas is going up. there are massive fuel lines at the gas stations. people park there cars there for days because there's a shortage for gas. hospitals are being forced to close, they say,

cnn's nic robertson tells us more about ayman al zawahiri. >> reporter: al qaeda released its statementn several islamic web sites saying the general commander had met and zawahiri is officially taken over for osama bin laden and no surprise. he has been the number two in the organization since it was first formed. for him, it will have been a natural step he should move on to leadership and perhaps surprisingly taken so long an indication of perhaps of division within al qaeda that perhaps some people didn't want him to take on the leadership. he is seen as somebody divisive in the past. either people people like him or dislike him. he has been seen as the ideal as bin laden seen as the person with the charisma to draw people in so interesting to see the dynamic of al qaeda shift perhaps as a more divisive as not a charismatic person takes over. >> what exactly does this change in command mean to the impact of what al qaeda will have now on the region? cnn's zain verjee is joining us live from london. a lot of us wondering how it will impact the region and, therefore, how will it impac

nic robertson spoke to a former gadhafi soldier that say they exist and others have gone out to peopleerview these people and they say there's more than two or three. the disturbing thing in this particular case is a lot of times the women that are attacked often won't even go to the hospital because it's considered such a stain on the family name and on the woman that they just don't want anyone to know so they won't ever go and get help, randy. >> sara sidner, sara, thank you. >>> we're minutes away from anthony weiner's expected resignation. new video into cnn. this just in. congressman anthony weiner flanked by media there. reporters just outside his apartment in queens, new york, trying to make it to his car so he can make his way to brooklyn to the center for senior citizens where he's set to announce his official resignation. it's very difficult for him. a lot of people trying to get a shot as he leaves his apartment getting into a little bit of a scuffle. there's our jason carroll who we spoke to a short time ago trying to get some answers and these are inside pictures here, li