general petraeus and his people are determined that they are going to end it. i'm not sure when i pressed him as to exactly how they are going to end it, but i'm sure of their determination to end it. they were pretty explicit. the afghan army, for instance, protects afghan convoys providing supplies. this is a much smaller number, providing supplies to the afghans and don't rely on these contractors who are under the thumb of local war lords and end up just being a protection racket, we'll protect your convoys, but on the side, making sure there was no end to a threat to those convoys because they are making pretty good money by quote, protecting them. i'm confident that general petraeus and his people are going to find a way -- they left it that way with me -- to find a way to end this money piece that these guys are engaging in at our expense. >> does your investigation point fingers as to how this was allowed to come about? it seems such an outrageous story. >> it points fingers at people who are engaged in it specifically. and as to how it came about, yes,

i think they have a heckuva lot of respect for general petraeus. it is really a lucky break that there wasn't general petraeus who was ready, experienced, and could take over. it was a lucky break. i think people would perceive this as being a big bump in terms of policy and because general petraeus would be doing something similar he was able and willing to go back into the fray. it was a lucky break for us and for america's continuity of policy. >> do you think petraeus will change the rules of engagement, and should he? >> i doubt he will change them significantly during give they have been consistent. -- i doubt he will change them significantly. they have been consistent. >> you have not been concerned with the whole back fire to prevent civilian casualties? do you think that is the way to go? >> in terms of defending themselves, will backfire, no. holding by fire in terms of taking action where they believe there may be innocent civilians that are going to be killed and where that would hurt our cause when that happens, i think the balance ge

petraeus and mccrystal. we know that mccrystal was removed from being our top leader in afghanistan. he is goings to retire from the military. you have advised both of them. talk to me about your sense of what happened to general mccrystal. >> look, i think it was a very tragic series of events. i think the president had no choice but to fire general mccrystal. if we were having this conversation a few weeks ago and you said what are the problems in afghanistan, i would have given you a long list but mccrystal would not have been on the list. it was just impossible for him to be in command. i was very worried when he was fired and thinking who can possibly replace him and do a good job and the only person that i could think of that would have made me feel confident was general petraeus. i guess it worked out. it was tragic but the way it worked out it was ok. tavis: concerning all the generals that we have and to your mind you think he was the only person in that vast military who could do as good a job as m

the way general petraeus will operate as leader of the forces? >> no, i do not believe it will. we had similar strategy -- tragedies happen in iraq as well. we grieve, we grieve the loss of our brave young british soldiers as we do americans. it is tough. what we owe them in return is a strategy that can succeed in the overall plan that does not tell the enemy that we are going to leave at a date certain. the strategy can and will succeed in my view. >> if you were president, what would your strategy be? what's my strategy would be exactly the same that i supported -- >> my strategy would be exactly the same that i supported. it would be the surge, what worked for us and our allies in iraq. that succeeded. everyone said that would be the end of my political chances to get the nomination of my party. i was right. all the pundits that you year in washington now is say we cannot succeed -- you here in washington now who say we cannot succeed are the same ones you said we could not succeed in iraq. people do not hold them accountable. >> last month was the deadliest month for colleg

if old lawmakers are really the ones to be dealing with that then we're going to examine general petraeus his approach in afghanistan he now wants to pay local police units that are not linked to the afghan government to help u.s. soldiers just don't call them militias but will that strategy really work then will shed light on a very hush hush issue here in the u.s. agent orange this deadly chemical wasn't touched by lawmakers until now when they took up the discussion about it on capitol hill earlier today r.t. correspondent john half is has those details and then we'll look into illegal immigrants who are taking jobs for americans now it's a heated debate in this country but now some are asking what americans really want to do those jobs anyway r t producer among the lindela bring us that story and at the end of the show a new study shows that more women are watching porn these days but some are speculating that this practice could lead to more women being victims of nonconsensual sex how do they figure that one would host a debate on the issue at the end of the show but now let's move

i'm trying to learn the lessons from my father and even general petraeus who said this is more aboutistening than anything else and building relationships with the people of afghanistan. >> charlie: what i like about your father is he said "it's more important that you do than what you say." >> exactly. >> charlie: as people say, "go do it." there is this about when general mcchrystal was flying back, you received an email before he was fired but within nine hours of the time saying what to you? >> he said -- i had just sent him a note that i had appreciated his efforts and i looked forward to having tea with him in a couple of weeks. i didn't know that he was going to get canned. and he quickly -- he sent me a reply saying that -- he mentioned it was a difficult time and he also said, "no matter what happens and what the outcome of this is," as he was flying to see president obama, he said, "it gives me great courage to know that there are people like you who are really helping the afghan people for the long-term solutions and long-term situation." and i received it about 1:30 in th

so it is putting that much more pressure on petraeus to show what the military can do in the field and almost certainly underscore the limitations of what military alone can do in afghanistan. >> rose: let me cover one thing, you covered pakistan on the isi. >> yes. >> rose: my impression was that because of general can i annie and others that the isi was changing a bit, that they were not as pro islamist as they might have been? >> well, i think like many spy organizations in developing countries the isi is not a monolithic organization and i think that the american -- the americans mullen and the other commanders have had a pretty good relionship withan i annie kiani but we have to remember kiani was head of the isi when a lot of this stuff was going on, when the afghan taliban were going over into afghanistan and where they continued to do, and kiani made it perfectly clear the afghan taliban is an asset of pakistan, and they think it is a very important asset, because when the end game is over in afghanistan, the afghan taliban should have full pakista the kindf communicatesin sout

is it being tweaked by general petraeus? what is your thought on that plan and whether it's the wayo move forward and ultimately get us out of the region? >> sir, partnering is absolutely the right way to go. it has worked well everywhere we've done it. sometimes it's better that they do something imperfectly than we try to come in and do it perfectly because they know the people. in the long run, they're actually probably doing it better. i was looking at the reports of casualties and incidents the other day. i was impressed by the fact that 80% of the contacts with the enemy, 80% were out of partnered units. that's just a snapshot. i don't want to say that's a -- take that to the bank indicator of how we're doing things over there every day, but when you look at how the enemy is fighting right now, they're running into more and more units that are partnered together and gaining that maturity you're talking about. >> is it an accurate statement that the -- that the taliban, al qaeda, or the enemy, however it's constituted i

general petraeus has been involved in those. secretary clinton and myself in the present of the unit-- united states using cursor. i do not want a leader committee or anyone who is listening to this hearing with the impression that any agreements have been reached. they have not. i do not want to leave anyone in on this committee with the impression that some of the news reports recently fevered accounts of secret deals between elements of pakistan and elements and the taliban. we have no evidence whatsoever of the accuracy of those reports, but there is movement. and that movement below the radar screen has been massively supported by the kerry-lugar berman legislation. i cannot think of this committee enough, and i mean this sincerely, for what you did last year. it was difficult and the initial reaction in pakistan was not shall i say, pleasant because there was a serious misunderstanding. your personal intervention mr. chairman ameliorated the problem. we believe it is more or less gone. the money is beginning to flow. the i

he came out pretty close to where the military and general petraeus were. it to congress by pairing it with a deadline. i thought it was interesting to hear the vice president talk about it as the beginning of transition. when the time comes, and in the discussion leading up to that, if the administration continues to try to finesse that, which i think they have been doing, i think you'll see angry liberals. we have already seen it. people again signed on to this plan on the notion that it would be a specific period of time, not a long period of time, that we wouldn't be there for ten years, 20 years, nation building. and i think the language is leaving wiggle room. things on the ground have not gone as well as we had hoped a year ago. >> george, something else the vice president said. you and i talked about. you disagree with his assertion that the wall street reform bill that the president will sign this wednesday will end uncertainty among big business. >> the vice president was really responding to your point about all this mountain of cash that busines

he also talked about a plan favored by general david petraeus to create local security forces in afghanistan. this is a little less than an hour. >> good afternoon. good to see you all. let me begin with a brief announcement about the upcoming trip. i am happy to get to your questions. there are travels to seoul, south korea. on july 21, the secretaries will participate in talks at the republic of korea. it will be the first meeting of them and the talks will address the full range of security and allianz issues including the development of a new chance for implementation plan agreed by president obama agreed earlier this month as well as other enhancements to the military readiness. in the wake of the unprovoked

. >> rose: afghanistan, we have had now petraeus there for a while. tell me what you think is going on and what keend of assessment they are making about the reality of how afghanistan is different than iraq. >> from what i've heard, general petraeus is having the same sort of tough time trying to convince hamid karzai to build a noncorrupt government as everybody else has had. part of the reason why the taliban has the kind of sway to do that sort of disgraceful, disgusting thing is that the afghan government hasn't provided a system of co-- coherent system of justice. to get justice in afghanistan through the government's courts takes months, and you have to pay a lot of bribes. the taliban will issue these disgraceful edicts within a half an hour. the other fact about about this case that's really important is that the judge made the decision but the husband cut off her nose and ears. so we're dealing with a society here that is very, very, very different from ours and very resistant to change. and now you're beginning to hear from the petraeus gro

hos the senate confirmed general petraeus as the afghanistan commander. what does that suggest to you as far as the debate in washington? guest: they believe he is the man to get this job done. he wrote a book on counterinsurgency. i might have some questions on its effectiveness here, when you combine what we have already donen afghanistan, but certainly, is on of the most knowledgeable people in this area. host: the report about the strength of al qaeda it is in the "new york times" this morning. one of the country's top terrorism officials said -- let's get to your telephone calls. indianapolis. tracy, republican line. caller: good morning. d i am calling on on the subject of unemployment extensions. i have been unemployed for one year. i had been working for5 years. i was fired for the wrong reasons. i go to work on a biweekly basis. there are a lot of people here in indianapolis that are unemployed and cannot get jobs. for instance, one month ago, and the indianapolis motor speedway had a job fair. i went there hoping that we would be able to fill ou

but as general petraeus has alluded to, it may be the interpretation that's going down the chain. and sometimes at the bottom, at the pointy end of the stick the troops feel that they have to, they interpret the rule of engagement in they way that maybe wasn't intended up the chain him so that's an issue that i think general petraeus and the commanders have to address immediately. because there's obviously the perception that the troops are fighting with one arm tied behind their back. and the facts seem to be supporting that. the original rationale that general mcchrystal put out was to protect the afghan people. but what we've seen since the restrictive rules have gone into effect is afghan civilian casualties have reached an all-time high, as have the losses of young americans and young nato troops. so we really have to take a look at this situation, see if there's a better way of accomplishing the task. >> lehrer: do you agree, major, that there's a connection between the rise in u.s. casualties and the possibly some misunderstandings about the rules of engagement? >> i'm not

general petraeus is doing a job for 11 days. he has met with president karzai every day about his new command. they have been meeting daily. they have been discussing when issue at great length. it has been this issue of local community policing. . these would be local community policing units, they would not be malicious. these would be government-formed, government-paid, government-uniformed local police units. who would keep an eye out for bad guys in their neighborhoods, in their communities, and who would in turn work with the afghan police forces and the afghan army to keep them out of their towns. what's more, this is a temporary solution to a very real, near-term problem. this would just be a stopgap measure, at least that's how it's envisioned at this point, because we clearly do not have enough police forces to provide security in enough of the populated areas. while we are growing the ansf on target and while we are getting the partnering rates up above even expectations, we are simply not in a position to provide as

himself said general petraeus himself said on the record that his words were completely distorted by a politically charged government representatives following his testimony to the senate and what mr patris said which is that if the israeli the israeli palestinian conflict is won and you can check the protocols of what i'm telling you here go to google and check out what he said is one of a number of different problems in the middle east now you know extremely well that in fact the majority just answer one of mr mr fix misstatements of fact that the majority of the injured wounded and murdered israelis in the in the intifada after israel made a far reaching statehood offer in two thousand and one of two they made a second one in two thousand and eight which was rejected the majority of israelis that were killed in priest sixty seven israel and if mr fisk thinks that the israeli the israeli settlements are illegal or are not proper it outside of israel which is absolutely not true in fact there are two claimants here israel is a claimant to its own land the land of israel the palestin

putting them together is both central to general petraeus and the new plan. we're very fortunate for this extraordinary command team in afghanistan. the operational commander, and the coalition allies were very impressed with the british officer. we have professionals in the coalition, and they are also -- there are the very brave civilian leaders. the commander's going back to the units -- and there is the recognition that this has to be a civil, military effort. i sensed that the transition is remarkably smooth, and they are focused on getting the job done. and this is a big focus. >> >> do you see this happening from what you saw on the ground just now? do you see this going ahead as planned? >> this has real energy and urgency into the leadership of afghanistan. and they may reiterate something that they have said before. >> the american general in charge of training the afghan troops, they reiterated something they had seen before. this decision to begin the reduction -- and give reduction by july 2011, the decision to begin the reduction has been workin

>> certainly since david petraeus took over, that was july 4, i was there for the assumption of command. that's something he's really going to push. i think he's really just putting his head down and trying to figure out what to do next. he has melt with hamid karzai several times -- met with hamid karzai several times. he wants the local neighborhoods to defend themselves. karzai said he didn't like the idea unless the government can have some control over that. they worked out some way to do that. that means you're going to have a lot more special operations forces, more americans going out into the villages, being more vulnerable and having more casualties, to try to reach out to the elders and the villagers to defend themselves against the taliban. afghanistan is so vast. you can't really have a central government over all these areas and know what is going on. that's part of the plan, to have the different tribes -- this is very complicated, very different from iraq when it was the sunnis and so on -- this isn't "west side story." you've got a whole lot of afghan tribes. >> is ther

the decisive action he took with general mcchrystal and also replacing with general petraeus. i can also point to other places, and give you an example. you and i talked about this. on health care. where i gave counsel with the president, which is what he wanted, was i would have done a different road. he wants that kind of open debate. but he is stuck with his guns and solved a problem that basically had been at this country for over 100 years which is comprehensive health-care reform that controlled costs. and i've seen him up close. another example, we can talk about, as we talk about the economy, the tough decisions he made when this country faced an economic crisis, a fiscal crisis, two wars, and the tough decisions in the auto industry that was on its back, that was what he walked in on the to-do list on day one in his office. he made tough decisions to help right the ship tas related to the banking and financial system and unpopular decisions that have turned out to be right and saved money for the taxpayers. de the tough things as it related to the auto industry, requi

3year veteran, mattis has commanded combat marines in iraq and afghanistan, and with general david petraeus helped write the military's new counter insurgency strategy. mattis supporters, and there are many in the military, say beneath that bravado, is a thoughtful leader who's dedicated his life to his marines. >> somehow we are getting the message out that we are the good guys. we are not the perfect guys, but we are the good guys. >> reporter: mattis will be confirmed and on the job within days. jim miklaszewski, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> we turn now to the disaster in the gulf, bp announced its quarterly earnings this morning and said it's deducting $32 billion to reflect the costs of the deepwater horizon mess. and the executive taking over from embattled tony hayward admits there is a huge amount of work ahead. that's clear to anyone overseeing the scene. our own anne thompson is in venice, louisiana again tonight. anne, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. bp now hopes to intersect the well in two weeks. though it has a new leader tonight, bp still has the same old probl

general petraeus was unanimously confirmed by the senate. he is on his way to kabul to take over the command and we are debating a rule that will delay further the money that those troops need over there. sunday is the 4th of july. george washington on the 9 of july in 1776 was so impressed by that declaration ofndependence that he had all of the continental army come to ranks and have that document read to them. we're going to be reminded again of that sunday. and how important it is for us to follow our commander in chief to give our troops the things they need. the -- mr. dreier: i would like to yield an additional 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mckeon: i wish we could have him here now and see the letter he would probably send to us accusing us of digittering while the troops are putting their lives on the line. we could defeat this rule. this afternoon, turn it right around, pass the bill that the senate already passed and have the money on the way to the troops next week. i ask my colleagues to pl

the new troops that president obama committed, and two good generals, general petraeus has now taken over and we have seen he has been very successful in iraq. and we believe he must be in afghanistan. >> senator reed, what did you think, what do you think of this huge release of these documents? >> well, first, i think we have to visit -- vigorously investigate the source because it represents a breach and particularly if the source is an active duty military person , that undercuts the notion of loyalty, fidelity and professional standards. so we have to investigate very vigorously. >> excuse me, that's the allegation, a 22-year-old u.s. army soldier, intelligence analyst, gave this stuff to wikileaks and that's what started all this? >> well, there's an allegation that he released a tape about it -- about an attack in iraq, and the investigation now is whether it went much further. but the suggestion that american military personnel would be leaking this goes to the issue of the appropriate military standards that we have to insist upon. so this investigation has to be very seriou

general david petraeus is now on the job as the new commander of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan. he landed in kabul today to take command from general stanley mcchrystal, who was fired last week. petraeus arrived after six suicide bombers killed four people in the north, at a u.s. a.i.d. compound in kunduz. the taliban claimed responsibility. a nato spokesman said it showed desperation. >> these attacks as crazy as they are, they show kind of a frustration and resignation on their side it is indiscriminate t is useless, it is krasesy. and it-- it is crazy, and it is usually like the case we are seeing here, goes against innocent civilians. >> sreenivasan: back in this country, the republican national chairman touched off a furor with an attack on president obama's afghan policy. michael steele told a political fundraiser in connecticut: "this was a war of obama's choosing. this is not something the united states has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in." republicans and democrats alike condemned steele. later, he said the u.s. cannot accept a

general petraeus, the newly appointed commander of isaf has made clear that this remains his approach. together with my right honorable friend the international development secretary i attended the kabul conference yesterday following visits i made to china, japan and oman. some 40 foreign ministers and international organizations including the u.n., nato, the e.u. and the world bank attended in what was an unprecedented event for afghanistan. it was also unprecedented in the number of muslim partners represented at such a conference. it showed the world that afghanistan is increasingly able to run its own affairs. and was a further step in the process of transition from direct international military and civil intervention to afghan leadership. the conference issued a communique agreed among all participants which builds among the progress made in the last six months. it establishes the kabul process, an afghander led process which aims to accelerate afghanistan to govern itself on the international community and enhance its security forces and provide better protection for the rights

are we all on the same page, you, the ambassador, turner petraeus? are we all of the same page because even being on the same page, it is a hard battle and challenge to win, but if we are not all on the same page, it certainly doesn't you know create confidence by those of us who are asked to cast votes here for a continuing engagement. so, maybe you can reassure me that we are all on the same page moving in the same direction, executing the same strategy and having-- towards a goal that we can collectively have success with. >> it is a very legitimate question of course in light of "the rolling stone" article, which obviously was extraordinarily unfortunate and necessitated a completely correct decision by our commander-in-chief, because basic issues of civilian and military control were involved, and although it brought to an end the career of a very distinguished and fine officer it was necessary to do. as far as your core question goes, let me assure you an state again for the record that my counterpart, until two weeks ago was david petraeus. fo

and whether it was miss crystal or petraeus, it's not about the generalsut about the failure. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentlelady from california. ms. lee: i yield o minute to the the gentlewoman from texas, sheila jackson lee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlela is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i rise strongly to support the barbara lee amendment which i'm a co-sponsor. and this is about the orderly withdrawal of our troops. we lost 58,000 men and women in vietnam, now today we have the opportunity to do what congress should do, not to g+ive an unending mandate or a war, which is this is not. if we are looking after the terrorists, al qaeda is not there. our intelligence authorities, general petraeus has indicated there are less than 100 al qaeda terrorists there. there are snurts and the taliban. it is well known if you give to the taliban the mountains and valleys that have been given by general mcchrystal, you still will lose this war. $37 billion is in this bill. we must do what were did in see vietnam and not cry aft

during his brief hearing, general petraeus proposed funding in an expedited way. this guarantees no fund welcome signed into law until mid july. if that's not bad enough we find ourselveses on the floor debating, not one, but three amendments that have the effect of defunding our afghanistan operation. basically, tying the hands of our commander in chief and micromanaging the military at a time when they need to do their job and to be successful. mr. speaker, we are a nation at war. we have soldiers and marines deployed halfway around the world. many of them are in combat at this very hour, facing a dangerous enemy. yet we find ourselves here tonight questioning the very mission we've asked our troops to execute. what message does that send to them? if they're watching us? what message does it say to our allies, some of whom may question in their own government their resolution to stay the course? what message does it send to our enemies, people who would launch deadly attacks in our homeland, as they've done in their homeland. each and every day at an early oppor

. >> the replacement was general david petraeus. >> actress zsa zsa gabor is hospitalized. and a july heat wave grips most of the nation. wewewewewewewewewewewewewewewewq jaguar platinum coverage is not just a warranty. it's a belief in everything we do. it's a 5 year, 50,000 mile promise. with complimentary scheduled maintenance no-cost replacement of wear and tear items and 24/7 roadside assistance. because when you create the most beautiful, fast cars on earth, you create an ownership experience to match. >>> actress zsa zsa gabor if s in the hospital after breaking several bones. she is seen in much better health is thought to be 93 years old. she fell out of bed last night while watching tv. her husband says she broke her hip and other bones. she is partially paralyzed from a car accident in 2002. she suffered a stroke back in 2005. >> southern california is baking for at least another day. this time it's not a dry heat. rare high humidity heat wave is predicted to last until tomorrow. nothing stop morning workouts. it reached triple-digits north and east of downtown l