let us remember why we came here. it was here in afghanistan where osama bin laden established a safe haven for his terrorist organization and one year ago, from base here in afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed osama bin laden. president obama mentioned osama bin laden twice in his address from afghanistan last night. but he s facing sharp criticism from some republicans who are calling the speech a political stunt. senator james inhofe said yesterday this trip to afghanistan is an attempt to shore up his national security credentials because he has spent the pacht three years gutting our military. the security improvements and the killing of osama bin laden are great american victories that should not be politicized. joining us is david frum, former special assistant to president
battle with afghan forces. hunter powell is streaming live from kabul with the latest. reporter: the u.s. military in recent weeks have been touting the improved security in afghanistan. but today s attack shows how fragile that security improvements are. the taliban launched a fairly spectacular attack on a military check point. and several insurgents were running around launching a four-hour gun battle in kandahar city. six people were killed including members of the united nations staff who works there doing food program. this is the second major attack on the international community. over the weekend a u.s. military convoy was targeted and 17 people were killed including 12 americans. kabul has been transitioned to the afghans and kandahar city
before. [cheers and applause] even as we have stepped up patrols, apprehensions along the border have been cut by nearly 40% from two years ago. senator dick durbin of illinois scolded house leader john boehner for crime rate here in el paso substantially lower than it is in similar size cities in ohio shepard? shepard: what are republicans saying about this? they are saying that most of the border improvement. security improvements were done on former president bush s watch. 0% of the fence that republicans demanded they point to a government study out just recently half the border under operational control. biggest concern is the path to citizenship president obama wants to use to lure illegals out of the shadows.
they said we needed to triple the border patrol. now they are going to say we need to kwame the border patrol. or a higher fence. maybe they will need a moat. [ laughter ] maybe they will want alligators in the moat. [ laughter ] shepard: republicans say it s the president who is playing politics with the immigration issue. kind of felt like a 2012 speech today. white house correspondent wendell goler on the border in el paso. what s the white house s response to this charge is he politicizing the issue? shep, remember the president promised to pass immigration we form his first year in oflts his aids say two wars and the worst recession in our lifetime put him behind. here in el paso he was preaching to a fairly friendly crowd when he said he has delivered the security improvements that republicans demanded. we have seized 31% more drugs. 75% more currency. 64% more weapons than ever
federal authorities. now the president has spoken, arizona governor has spoken, and we should hear more from the federal authorities and local authorities within the next few minutes. john: obviously it raises all kinds of concerns about security on capitol hill. what have you seen regarding security improvements and enhancements? bret: the u.s. capitol police sent out an e-mail to every law maker on capitol hill saying that they were on this, that they had stepped up security on capitol hill and they asked each member to use precaution after this event. of course, we don t know what motivated this suspect, what s really behind the reason that he went on this rampage. but out of abundance of caution, sent a note to everyone. security is already pretty tight on capitol hill after the swearing in of the 112th congress. congresswoman giffords on her