. >> ifill: then, we have a newsmaker interview with richard holbrooke, the u.s. special representative for afghanistan and pakistan about the firing of general stanley mcchrystal and about the war. >> brown: kwame holman takes us through day three of the confirmation hearing for supreme court nominee elena kagan and judy woodruff gets analysis from marcia coyle of the "national law journal." >> ifill: tom bearden reports from florida on scientists going deep underwater to explore the damage caused by the gushing oil well. >> the whole idea about oil impacting known delicate ecosystems is really a new one. toxicity studies done in the lab do not come close to replicating the impact this might have. >> brown: and poet benjamin saenz talks of living and writing amid the violence of the u.s./mexico border. >> this is the place that really defines me, because it is such a difficult terrain to negotiate. it's not a comfortable place to live and if you want to be a writer, you don't want to live in a comfortable place. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour."

this is five minuues. >> richard holbrooke is in kabul today. he has meetings with afghan officials as part of his regular travel to the region from the i think he met with the president earlier today. they talked about parliamentary elections. i know. i know. if they do. >> all three of those? >> yes. >> the present karzai meeting. >> [inaudible] >> that was a separate meeting of the security council. susan was in that meeting. >> richard holbrooke was in the same room? >> indeed. >> can you talk about the atmosphere there? >> my understanding is that prior to the meeting general mcchrystal reached out back to the embassadors to offer his apologies for the article. >> why do think the comment had been so widely discussed? >> i think our focus is on the ongoing strategy. all members of the national security team feel that general mcchrystal has made a save the vacant mistake. he will be coming back to washington to attend a pre scheduled a meeting with the president on afghan and pakistani policy. he will talk to the president directly. >> the s

president and ambassador eikenberry, the vice president, the national security adviser, ambassador richard holbrook publicly and to allow his staff to do that, it just shows the lack of good order and discipline within his unit or within his command in afghanistan. if i had behaviored that way or colonel shaver behaved that way and undermined a brigade commander in front of our troops, we would be reprimanded. this kind of insubordination from people inside the military will not be tolerated. and it was personal attacks to make it worse. >> colonel, what's your side? >> i agree with the captain's assessment of the situation, but there's some, i think, mitigating issues we have to look at, realistically. general patton survived saying pretty outlandish things to the press as well. presence is there for good officers to continue. i don't want to defend mccrystal's bad actions. what i'm here to say is that the president has to consider what's best for his strategy. let me be painfully clear here. our center is not for -- break break if you're going to go with the strategy the way it is, you probably h

president and ambassador eikenberry, the president, the national security adviser, ambassador richard holbrooke publicly and to allow the staff to do that it just shows the lack of discipline within the unit or within his command in afghanistan. if i had behaved that way or colonel schafer and undermined a commander, we would be relieved. the president needs to send a signal to the troops on the ground that insubordination from within the uniformed military is not tolerated. >> larry: colonel, when's your side? >> i agree with the captain's assessment of the situation but there's i think mitigating issues. look at world war ii. general patton survived two incidents of slapping troops and saying outlandish things to the press, as well. precedence is there. i don't want to defend general mcchrystal's bad actions but i'm here to say the president has to consider when's best for his strategy and, larry, let me be painfully clear here. for the strategy, break, break, if you go with the strategy the way it is, you have to pick the very best guy with the shot of making it work. now, general mcchrystal

envoy to the region richard holbrook said this network moves with i am punity across that border in a remote area in which the pakistanis don't have resources. afghan president hamid karzai has sought to negotiate a peace settlement with some taliban leaders in the region. but this weekend ambassador holbrook said talking to the network was out of the question. shahzad, while not directly linked to the network, is adduce accused of training with the pakistani taliban. he may now face life in prison. joining us now is the reporter from public radio in new york city. she was inside the courtroom this afternoon. and steve coll is president of the new america foundation. he's written extensively about the taliban, pakistan and afghanistan. to you first, was the plea of guilty a surprise? >> i don't know if you can call anything a surprise in this case. remember they had shahzad without even appearing in court the first two weeks after his arrest which is quite unconventional in these types of cases even in terror cases. nobody was really saying anything was a surprise at this point. >> wo

on afghanistan later in the program and tomorrow night we'll have a news maker interview with richard holbrook, the obama administration's special representative on afghanistan and pakistan. >> brown: now to the fallout from that surprising new spy story. the f.b.i.'s arrest of russian agents living and working for years inside the united states. traveling in israel today, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov voiced anger and bee rild... bewilderment. >> we have not had an explanation of what this is all about. i hope we will receive one. what i can say now is the timing of this announcement was most elegant. >> brown: back in moscow, the foreign ministry confirmed that the ten suspects arrested in the u.s. as part of an alleged spy ring are russian citizens. in a statement the ministry said these actions are unfounded and pursue unseemly goals. monday the u.s. justice department said the suspects acted as unregistered agents of the russian government. and today an 11th arrest. this one at the airport in larnaca cyprus of a man accused of delivering money to the suspects. >> he presented bef

richard holbrooke arrived yesterday to assess progress in the key phase in the campaign against the taliban. we will go to fairfax, va., with trevor on the independent line. caller: hello, are you there? i was going to say that is pretty disturbing news. it is probably part of the way that you have to conduct war as a nation to get things done. but i would appreciate it if the government would tell me the truth of why we are over there, rather than just telling us their case in the taliban or osama bin laden. i could except the facts of were much more readily. that is pretty much all that i have to say. -- i could accept the facts under the circumstances. host: craig, democrat from las vegas, nevada. caller: yes, i would like to see the people of the u.s. step forward. what we tell the senators, until you pass unemployment extensions, we cut your pay. you get no pay. let them live on $200 per week in food stamps. let them do that for about one month, and then they will know how we feel. instead of wasting $900 apiece. start doing stuff for our people and forget the rest of the world. get ou

recent days with all members of this team, including president cars by, -- president karzai, and richard holbrooke. we are all united. as i noted in my testimony before this committee, i was part of the process that helped formulate a strategy. i support the president's new policy. i have offered advice, and i assure the president i will do the same as the conduct assessments over the must be over the months ahead. -- over the months ahead. i specifically agreed with the messages of greater commitment and greater urgency that the president expressed in his address at west point in december, when he announced the new policy. the greater commitment was explained in terms of the additional 30,000 u.s. forces, and the funding for an additional 12000 afghan security -- 100,000 afghan security members. this includes the 2011 responsible drawdown. it would be based on conditions of the ground. it is important to note the president's reminder that the july, 2011, will mark the beginning of a process, not a date when the u.s. heads for the exit and turns out the lights. as he explained, we will need to pro

there's a meeting happening next week and madrid, and richard holbrooke will leave it the u.s. they intend to focus on the meeting as a legion to the -- as it leads into the kabul conference. george mitchell will be up delegation to the conference tomorrow through friday, meeting what the secretary as we speak, and he will depart later on this afternoon and expects to have meetings with palestinian and israeli leaders over the next couple of days. i think we released as secretary statement on the of -- iraqi election results. this decrease said said that with the election results officially certified, the leaders did to move forward to form an inclusive and representative government that will work on behalf of the iraqi people. with that. >> i was wondering if you could give us flavor on what the conversation but during the secretary and a turkish foreign minister was? he had strong things to say today. and his boss has had strong things to say as well. is it safe to assume -- he said he wanted the united states to condemn this act. neither the secretary nor the spokesman at th

richard holbrooke arrived yesterday to assess progress in phase in the campaign against the taliban. we will go to fairfax, va., with the independent line. caller: hello, are you there? i was going to say that is prrtty disturbing news. ii is probably part of the way that you have to conduct waa as a nation to get things done. but i would appreciite it if the government would tell me the there,why we are over rather than just telling us their case in the taliban or osama bin laden. i could exct the facts of were much moreereadily. that is pretty much all that i have to say. -- i could accept the facts%- under the circumstances. host: craig, democrat from las gas,evada. caller: yes, iiwould like to see the people of the u.s. step forward. what we tell the senators, until you pass unemployment extensions, we cut your pay. you get no pay. let them live on $20 per week in food stamps. let them d that for about one month, and then they will know how we feel. instead of wasting $900 apiecc. start doing stuff for our people tteforget the rest of world. get out of these wars and quit wasting

. >> richard holbrooke is and kabul today. he had meetings with u.s.nd afghan officials as part is his regular travels in the region

with all of these members of the team, including president karzai, as well as with ambassador richard holbrooke, the special representative for afghanistan and pakistan. we are firmly united in seeking to forge unity of effort. as i noted in my testimony before this committee two weeks ago, i was part of a process that formulated the president's strategy for afghanistan and i support and agreed with his new policies. during its development, i offered my fourth ride military advice and i have assured the president that i would do the same as we conduct assessments over the course of the months ahead. he in turn assured me that he expects and wants me to provide that character of advice. as i also explained to this committee two weeks ago, i specifically agreed with the message is of greater commitment and greater urgency that the president expressed his address at west point last september when he announced the new policy. the greater commitment was explained in terms of the additional 30,000 u.s. forces, the troubling of the u.s. civilians, and the funding for an additional 100,000 afghan secur

with all of these members of the team, including president karzai, as well as with ambassador richard holbrooke, the special representative for afghanistan and pakistan. we are firmly united in seeking to forge unity of effort. as i noted in my testimony before this committee two weeks ago, i was part of a process that formulated the president's strategy for afghanistan and i support and agreed with his new policies. during its development, i offered my fourth ride military advice and i have assured the president that i would do the same as we conduct assessments over the course of the months ahead. he in turn assured me that he expects and wants me to provide that character of advice. as i also explained to this committee two weeks ago, i specifically agreed with the message is of greater commitment and greater urgency that the president expressed his address at west point last september when he announced the new policy. the greater commitment was explained in terms of the additional 30,000 u.s. forces, the troubling of the u.s. civilians, and the funding for an additional 100,000 afghan secur