the vice president hasn t visited iraq since march s inconclusive election here but iraqi politicians haven t managed to sort out their differences and form a new government. as the politicians squabble. the militants try to fill the vacuum by launching attacks on security forces. there is also concern that the political uncertainty could continue into august when all but 50,000 u.s. troops are to leave by the end of that month. the vice president who is being accompanied by his wife has been the point man on iraq for the obama administration having visited here several times. he has already had meetings with u.s. ambassador to iraq chris hill and a top american merchant commander in iraq general ray odierno. the vice president is also likely to meet with all major political leaders here in iraq. back to you janine. will the vice president be able to get the iraqis to step up? sara carter is the national security correspondent with the washington examiner. she joins us fr
anchors, behind-the-scenes employees, people who work cameras. we have writers, graphic artists. also who do music. i m involved in a charity that is called want to play. they place instruments in the hands of students but we have been joined by some of the biggest names in the music business. willie nelson, i willnards willnardskinard leonard skinnard and meatloaf. tonight, some of the favorites are on the show. 234 years ago, 56 incredibly brave men signed a document we have come to known as declaration of independence. one of the key phrases in the document say we hold these truths to be self-evident. that all men are created equal, they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. the power of that document remains with us 234 years later. i hope this weekend you stop and think of the uniqueness and the exceptional kind of spirit that these men had when they created this remarkable, i
captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening, everyone, and happy july fourth. we re finding all sorts of ways to celebrate our country, each other and our way of life. patriotism and lots of outings and adventures centered on food, family and sun. just a few hours from now, communities will be lighting up the skies with fireworks like these from philadelphia last night. but rarely on a july 4th has the country been as deeply challenged as it is today from the expanding gulf oil disaster to the troubled mission in afghanistan and a jarring reminder just tonight of the dangers still confronting americans in iraq. we ve got it all covered with richard engel in kabul. reporter: good evening, lester. after so much grumbling from the troops about the rules of engagement being too strict that it s too difficult for american troops to fire back on the taliban, today, general petraeus issued a letter, telling the soldiers to go and fight. he wrote this of course c