that's an awful lot of sacrifice by the united states and britain and other countrieses during that time. secondly, it's still not obvious to me that even if we were to do that that we would then even have in place a strong, functioning afghan government that if left on its own could handle the security challenge. it's very hard to translate american effort into enduring improvement in afghanistan. >> there are reports today that the white house is considering a change of strategy, a fairly radical shift to allow, quote, third parties to start negotiating in secret with senior taliban leaders, not just the lower level leaders that we have all most governments have agreed should be at least brought into some sort of reconciliation process. first of all is that a good idea? >> it's one of the two changes in policy i called for in the "newsweek" article you referenced. i believe the united states needs to start talking with the taliban. i don't take it as inevitable that if the taliban regains some foot holds in southern afghanistan that they necessarily make the same mistake they made last time bringing back al qaeda and we ought to talk to them about that, it's quite possible that we could have an arrangement with the taliban that even if they were to take hold of parts of the country, they would not for example work with terrorists, they would not undermine other parts of afghanistan, they would not work to undermine pakistan and even though we may not like them, no matter what it is they do or don't do, that's something we could live with and that would make it possible for the united states to dramatically reduce the number of troops they have had in the country. >> how can these new negotiations with senior taliban leaders take place, what would be the format, the mechanism and could they really be done in secret? >> i think they could be done in secret if both sides wanted it to be done. i would not do it just to be clear through pakistan, i think it's something we would do ourselves, whether it was in pakistan or some third country, or conceivably even afghanistan. and let me just make it clear, it's not as though there's one person that could speak for all the taliban. what we're likely to get are miniature agreements with individual taliban leaders and that, so at the end of the day, you're probably likely to get an afghanistan that is not all one dimensional, but the phrase i would use is something of a patch work quilt where various taliban commanders might control some parts of the country and various other ethnic or political leaders might control other parts of the country. that's my problem with this conference, too much of the government is still going through the karzai government. i would like to see the united states diffuse or decentralize it's approach to the country. because at the end of the day, that's what afghanistan is, it's not a strong central government, it's not germany, it's something far more decentralized. >> that was one of the victories that karzai had at this conference was to guarantee that moving more than 50% of the aid through his government rather than through these independent agencies because he claims that if the american contractors are responsible for a lot of the corruption and there's a gao report and congressional investigations that bears some of that out. >> i'm sure there's corruption here on the part of individual contractors, there always is any time you have this many people involved, this many firms, this many moving parts. let's not kid ourselves, corruption is rampant in afghanistan, in the drug trade and virtually all else. so even if there was not a single contractor in afghanistan, corruption would still be the name of the game. >> richard, would you sit down with mullah omar, would you sit down with the network? >> i would be willing to sit down, but i have never thought negotiations were a favor we bestowed on others but i would have very clear red lines and i would say we would only stop attacking you with drones or special forces if you don't cross certain red lines, if you don't bring in al qaeda, if you don't undermine certain of the rest of the country in areas beyond your immediate position, if you do not become a sanctuary under which al qaeda leaders train in pakistan. if you would abide by those guidelines, i would say we would attempt to work with them. and i would also say if you violate the rights of women and girls, then we won't give you any aid. but if you respect their rights, then we would consider having a better relationship with you. >> you said earlier you would not negotiate through pakistan. who could be a good broker here. >> i would rather not have a broker. we have such enormous stakes that 100,000 troops there, we're spending more than $100 billion a year, we have invested tremendous prestige and credibility and effort. i believe that these are negotiations that we undertake ourselves. the pakistanis have their agenda. we're the only ones, i believe, we, the united states who can safeguard the american agenda. so i believe we should undertake these talks ourselves. >> thank you very much, richard house, a very provocative column in "newsweek" and it's setting off a lot of conversation around the world. and with me now in kabul is abdullah abdullah the former presidential candidate and opposition leader. what was your impression of what was achieved and whether we will have any timelines that have enno, se enforcement to back them up. >> in terms of what was said, there's very little that one can object to. but the main problem remains to be the same. which is the united states and the national community is dealing with a partner led by mr. karzai which has failed so far. and which has turned a burden of opportunity into a mess as of now. and so they are expected to deliver independent coming few years and take the whole responsibility, assume the responsibility for security and otherwise fight against corruption in the political process that will bring peace, it sounds very unrealistic to me. >> hillary clinton said that president karzai says i gave general petreaus and others very specific timetables, criteria that they will meet. >> in terms of the five years which mr. karzai mentioned today, if we count this run like any other of the promises he made to his own people or to the international community, they would know it. >> general petreaus and the head of nato had words, quote, a candid, heateded exchange yesterday about the nato desire to begin withdrawing and what you heard today from rasz musen was, we will stay as long as it takes. >> in terms of the nato members, some of the nato members have clear timelines, like poland, like canada, like netherlands, and a few other countries. >> they want to get out sooner than we. >> that's right. and the fact that their situation is not improving in the afghan government has not shown the confidence, efficiency, or the political wealth to deal with corruption, with the issues related to the people, that has disappointed most of the nato member states. so that situation is an impediment in terms of having a coherent commitment by nato, all member states. >> do you think that the president will be able to meet his commitment to begin withdrawing nato troops by next july, a year from now or less than a year from now. will things improve by then? >> it has not improved since the beginning of the surge, as of now. we cannot say that the security situation has him proved. what will happen in the remaining months to for us to conclude that the conditions are now better than before, it remains to be seen. but a lot will depend on the ability of the afghan side which unfortunately i see that problem is a constant one. >> abdullah abdullah, thank you very much, as you and other afghans continue to try to fight for your country and suffer all of these consequences. >> thank you. >> we thank you. and up next here, we head live to the gulf where bp and government officials are struggling with what to do with a temporary containment cap. and send your thoughts, you can find me on twitter@mitchellreports. this is andrea mitchell only on msnbc. to remove oil from these waters. bp has taken full responsibility for the cleanup and that includes keeping you informed. every morning, over 50 spotter planes and helicopters take off and search for the oil. we use satellite images, infrared and thermal photography to map and target the oil. then, the boats go to work. almost 6,000 vessels. these are thousands of local shrimp and fishing boats organized into task forces and strike teams. plus, specialized skimmers from around the world. we've skimmed over 27 million gallons of oil/water mixture and removed millions more with other methods. we've set out more than 8 million feet of boom to protect the shoreline. i grew up on the gulf coast and i love these waters. we can't keep all the oil from coming ashore, but i'm gonna do everything i can to stop it, and we'll be here as long as it takes to clean up the gulf. ♪ [ male announcer ] we make them beautiful. ♪ we make them tougher. ♪ we make them legendary. we make them better... ♪ to make your life better. ♪ and we've never made one... quite like this. the 100% electric nissan leaf. ♪ there is a huge debate taking place among industry experts and bp experts about the quality of the well, whether it has integrity, whether it can with stand the pressures or what exactly is going on in the well itself. it's a confidence game. >> that was john hofmeister, former president of shell talking to brian williams last night on nbc "nightly news" and we were waiting for the latest update from both bp and the government right now. the cap is still on that blowout well despite several small leaks. this is the environmental reporter for the times. what is the situation as far as people in the gulf are concerned, as far as the confusion that we're hearing from the scientific end, the government end and of course from bp. >> it really is confusing for the general public to try to figure out what to make of this back and forth argument over what exactly is happening out at the well head underneath the ocean. but it still looks like bp is going to be allowed to keep the cap on top of the well, which means that the flow of oil will continue to be stopped, and that's a good sign. >> but what about the integrity of the well, what do you know about the riser pipe, what does anyone know about whether or not there are leaks under ground and the problem could be spreading? >> well that really is the thing that's pretty unclear. what we're seeing so far is that there are indications that there are a couple of seats that have been spotted, one's about two miles away, another one's a couple of yards away from where the top of the well is, and then there's a little seepage going on in the cap itself. and then something from right underneath where the blowout preventer is. what that actually means is really unclear. we're getting, you know, differing reports, is it really oil or is it just bubbles that are coming up, could it be natural gas or methane hydrates that are coming up? there's not enough information right now for the public to understand and the concern of course is that if the oil and natural gas starts moving through the formations out to the sides and starts going to the surface in some new fissure, that could be a real problem, then you would have to rely solely on the relief well to get something done to completely close off the oil from leaking and that means another month or so of oil coming out, if it does get that bad. >> and what about the status of the relief wells, one had to be shut down as this containment procedure was going on, what about the progress of the primary relief well? >> well, they seem to be on track to getting it in place, they could start actually drilling into the existing well, in about two weeks, you know, really you're talking about a pipeline that is a mile -- you know, from the top of the surface of the water to the bottom is a mile and then another two miles to the point through rock where it's going to hit a small hole. and that's -- you know, it's a very difficult process for them to get this thing lined up exactly right. they keep reporting that it is lined up exactly right. they think they're on track, but this two-week period, they have to go through the same steps to make sure that this new well they're drilling is secure the same they should have done with original well, which means cementing in casing, going all the way down to where they are right now before they move forward with this last piece of drilling. >> and one of the things that john hofmeister was saying last night is that there are really different interests here, you've got the shareholders of bp, you have the people of course of the gulf, the government and it's scientists and bp and there are a lot of conflicting agendas going on, how do we have any confidence, especially after the way this all started that we are getting the right solutions at the right time. >> i'm not quite sure that we do have confidence. i think this is really going to be the confidence will increase once something actually gets done to absolutely close off the flow of oil. you know, there is this big fight going on now that sort of was pushed by congressman markey saying, look, you know, let's go ahead and use the cap to collect oil to the surface because then we can find out how much oil is actually being produced. that added a whole other layer of uncertainty about everything that's going on. and the public down here doesn't want that cap to come off right now, they want the oil to stay stopped. >> mark, thanks so much, thanks for being with us today. and coming up next, we'll talk about the tea party, it's heating up, politico's ken vogel. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. it combines extra strength bayer aspirin to treat pain plus an alertness aid to help you get off to a running start. try bayer am the morning pain reliever. 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[ engines rev ] ...until now. ♪ the 100% electric... no-tailpipe nissan leaf. innovation for the planet. innovation for all. welcome back, topping the headlines right now on "andrea mitchell reports," it's a jam packed day on capitol hill. elena kagan's supreme court nomination now moves to the full senate. senate judiciary committee approved her nomination, 13-6. and senator lindsay graham, the only republican to support kagan. this afternoon confirmation hearings begin for the man that obama has tapped to be the next director of national intelligence. and j and joe manchin is going to run for the late senator byrd's seat. in about 45 minutes, cart goodwin will be the interim senator. luke russert joins us from capitol hill. they had the vote yesterday, yet the president came out and slammed the republicans. was this more theater? pre-emptive action? what was going on there behind the scenes? >> reporter: the white house was really trying to frame this as it was being held up by republicans. senator harry reid knew he had the votes last week with senators collins and snowe from maine coming over to the democratic side. essentially all he had to do was wait for cart goodwin to be sworn in. senator mitch mcconnell, the minority leader from kentucky going to the floor today, and actually saying that the president was misleading about this. let's listen to what he had to say. >> if democrats were as concerned about passing this bill as they say they are, they would find a way to do it without adding to the debt. after all, there's no law that says we're required to exacerbate one crisis in an effort to alleviate another. >> reporter: that is the gop position, they are in favor of unemployment benefits, but they want to figure out a way to pay for them and not to add to the deficit. mcconnell also went on to sigh this was shenanigans by the white house. it was misleading to do that on monday when they knew for sure they had the votes on tuesday. andrea? >> of course, you make the argument that the white house is making, it's been weeks and weeks, 2.5 million people without extended uninsurance claims and the fact is that the republicans were holding it up for all this time because they wanted it to be paid for. >> reporter: it's very interesting if you look at the history of these unemployment benefits, going back to june of 2008 when president bush was in office, it has been passed six times under a republican president bush and democratic president obama. never when the unemployment rate is higher than 8% has there been a delay on these things. it's one of those areas where it looks bad to rob 2.5 million people of their unemployment benefits especially at a time when the nation's unemployment rate is at 10%. so democrats are saying privately, this has always gone forward, it's absolutely ridiculous for the gop to be fiscally responsible right now when people are starving and hurting. not to mention, a lot of this money will not be saved, it won't go to pay down debts, it will go back into the economy for things like gas, food, expenses and things that people that are unemployed right now desperately need. republicans have really gotten some traction as you know, with this argument about the deficit, it's pulling really well and our nbc "wall street journal" poll that folks are concerned about the continued barring from china and foreign entities and we're going through a $13 trillion debt. so they thought they could stake their fortunes on this deficit idea. and we'll see how it plays out in november. it's going to be interesting. >> i think it's going to be one of the real cutting edge issues. luke russert, you're all over it. thank you very much. >> you're all over afghanistan. >> that is high praise. god bless you, be safe. >> thank you. and back here in afghanistan, secretary of state hillary clinton is on her way now to seoul, south korea, but while she was here she made a big point of the role of afghan women, promising them she will not abandon them as negotiations eventually do take place with the taliban. great to see you, gail. >> good to see you. >> what is the concern, why don't you frame for us the concern that women feel, the women who are meeting with hillary clinton today. >> i think that women probably more than anybody else here really are desperate for peace because they're the first ones to suffer when war comes and i think they are really eager for some level of negotiations and talks to go forward. but the question is will their rights be the ones at which the price is paid? are they the ones who are going to be the ones who suffer immediately and quickly? >> and what hillary said was, you know, i understand you your concerns. basically i won't sell you out. do women trust that? when it comes down to getting rid of an expensive hundred billion dollar american commitment to afghanistan, all of the lives lost, the president's political legacy, do afghan women fear that they will be eventually sacrificed to all of that. >> oh, absolutely, they definitely fear that the country's problems will be balanced on their backs once more and they talk about it a lot. and i think that secretary clinton for them made the difference today. she and the e foreign minister met this afternoon and to them it showed the commitment from the u.s. and the eu to stand behind them. >> it was by design the very first meeting she had today. i have traveled with her over the years going all the way back to the beijing women's conference, when she first said women's rights are human rights. it's never been more poignant and apparent than in afghanistan under taliban rule. >> absolutely. and i think the contrast wean women's lives during the taliban and women's lives in 2002 and 2003 is really dramatic. >> what are the changes. >> first of all, girls can go to school, women are able to work outside the home. you really do see women as parliamentarians and breadwinners in a number of families. and that is the change that you see. women did work during the taliban years, but it was much harder. and the fear is that a return to those days will be a return to really dark years in which their rights were the price for peace. >> in fact you have been writing about that, you're working on researching a book on the dress makers, the women who in secret created a whole industry to support their families? >> yeah, these girls were breadwinners when they weren't even supposed to be on the streets. that's shocking to people. we think of afghan women supported families even during years in which they couldn't go to school and couldn't work is something they have never gotten credit for. >> when we look at hillary clinton and all of the pressures on this administration, do you think spending as much time as you do in afghanistan, that it is realistic to think that the taliban can stand up, training police, training afghan soldiers, taking it on all so american troops can withdraw? >> i think it is like most things in afghanistan a goal, not a definite time or end point. they have had a tough time recruiting for both the police and the army. although i have been working on a story about policewomen and there are policewomen even in places like kandahar who are training. i think they're behind schedule in recruiting, there's all kinds of questions about governance, corruption within the government, but i think there are signs of hope, and we'll see what happens as the date gets clearer and nearer what actually happens with the timeline. >> is it a good idea for karzai to have more control over all of this assistance, that was one of his big arguments, one of his victories today. >> as far as women are concerned, it is the international pressure which has made a great deal of disturbance for them. as late as lost evening there were some who were in the conference who were not on the official schedule. it was the u.s. and the eu that helped. i think president karzai talked about it today, i think they understand that there is international desire and i think very much desire in local afghan communities for women to be involved in what comes next and women are december pratt to have a way forward. >> gail, thanks for being here. and when we come back, it's actually a primary day somewhere in the country. we'll tell you where when we come back with chris cillizza. msnbc is now on sirius xm satellite radio from "morning joe" to our show to prime time with keith and chris. they go through every car and truck we make with a big fat red pencil. because they know a family's going to be inside. a teenager. a guy on the way to the job. the engineers of chevrolet. just another reason why we can offer a 5-year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. and another reason why a chevy's a chevy. the best time to crack it... twirl it... dunk it... and discover more new ways than ever to enjoy crab. like our new crab lover's trio with crab-stuffed shrimp, and succulent north pacific king and snow crab legs. or our decadent crab and shrimp pasta. new crab creations for every craving, starting at $14.99, only during crabfest. right now at red lobster. with my money. they charged me a small fortune, but i never really knew what they were doing. so i switched to e-trade. it's high-tech, easy to use, low cost. i can screen investments, analyze them, diversify properly, track everything, even on my smartphone. and help is available any time. it's transformed my investing. experience high-tech investing at e-trade. it's primary day, guess where? georgia where an endorsement by sarah palin has somehow rocketed karen handle to the front of the pack for the republican race for governor. chris cillizza joining us now, managing editor of post politics.com and author of the fix blog. it's just that palin magic. >> first, andrea, you are way tougher than me for doing this from cap bukabul, i'm incredibl impressed. but we have seen a lot of criticism, she wades into lots and lots of races, probably more races than any potential 2012 candidate and there are many examples and karen handle go from the middle of the pack to the lead. that's not just because of sarah palin, but it does have something to do with it. mickey haley, middle of the pack, had started to move up a little bit. but the palin endorsement threw huge amounts of national press attention, money, all those things matter in a primary where not that many people are voting and sarah palin understands that and is using her influence. >> is that the impetus behind the mama grizzlies ad? i keep wavering thinking she's actually doing something for herself politically or just enlarging her own political footprint which is also cash flow and books and other kinds of deals. >> i think it's really hard to know whether this is about sarah palin inc. or sarah palin 2012. i just don't know if you can know that yet. whether the mama grizzly thing, they happened upon it. she was endorsing women, or this was a broad strategic plan, it's very, very smart. i wouldn't say i don't think you could be surpriseded if sarah palin's announcement sometime in 2011 says i have got a whole pack of mama grizzlies behind me. laugh at it if you will, but she's helped a lot of candidates get elected. for those candidates that sarah palin really helped, they're more likely to help her if and when she runs. it also gives her campaign a message, i'm speaking for the republican women out there. remember, right when she was picked, it seems odd now, but right when she was picked as vp, she tried to get some of those disaffected hillary clinton voters saying this is the party of women, this is the party you should be for, but it didn't work out all that well. but the question is can it work again. >> there's a question as to what her appeal to women is, what sector, what women she's appealing to and i remain persuaded, chris, that she's not running or at least as of now she's not running, she really has her life in order and it's a very complicated life but an exciting and glamorous one. >> the only two people i would s say -- i would put her, mike hucka huckaby, mitch daniels, your neighbor from down the street, everybody else it put into that group, because i think they're thinking about it. what is sarah palin doing? she's keeping the option open so that if she wants to do this she can. that's very different than having already decided that she's in. she's clearly not in that group. >> may i add one other? >> of course. >> newt gingrich. >> absolutely. >> absolutely. he would love nothing more than to be the republican nominee for president. >> newt gingrich was in iowa last week, sat with the associated press reporter, and he said he's more seriously considering running for president than any other time in the past and he's considered running every time. that was not accidental. that was signal sending for you and i who probably pay way too close attention to this. let them know this is serious. i am serious about it. he has said for quite some time he would make a decision early next year. if i had to guess, i think he would look around and say why not me? but we're going to look at a pretty crowded field here. lots of republicans are haunted by 1992, a lot of people thought george h.b. bush was unbeatable. everyone understands that timing is everything in this. people who look unbeatable. look at barack obama in january 2009 versus july 2010. he looks a lot more beatable today certainly than he looked in early 2009. >> chris, those are exactly the lessons, the lessons that any presidential wannabe will be looking at, exactly right. whoever would have thought of barack obama as being the nominee or bill clinton back then? thanks so much, chris cillizza, great to see you. and what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? that's next. and be slur to follow the show online at andrea.msnbc.com and on twitter. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ♪ [ male announcer ] we make them beautiful. ♪ we make them tougher. ♪ we make them legendary. we make them better... ♪ to make your life better. ♪ and we've never made one... quite like this. the 100% electric nissan leaf. ♪ thmy friends at work thinkeaf. there's more than one "me." ...because on our trips, i always get there faster. see, expedia lets me mix and match airlines. so i can take one airline out... and another home. so with more flight options, i can find the combination that gets me there and back quickest. with a little help from expedia, my friends will think i can be everywhere at once. where you book matters. expedia. which political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? for that we go to chuck todd, nbc news chief white house correspondent and political editor, and you have a pretty nice venue and a nice podium and the seal behind you, so you're waiting for david cameron and barack obama. >> reporter: and this is the prime minister's first visit to the white house. we're going to have one of these, they have been meeting behind the scenes, they had lunch and they're discussing bilateral issues. out here in the public, i think you're going to hear them talk about two of them in particular, one has to do with the most recent criticism that's come particularly from some new york and new jersey senators over the british government and the scottish governments handling the release over the lockerbie bomber and the role that bp played in this. we're hearing mixed reports about whether he will definitely announce a formal government investigation into what happened or not. we're not sure, there's some mixed reports about that. and then of course the second big issue has to do with the country you're standing in right now, and that is how much patience does the british people and the british government have to stay -- stick with the united states when it comes to dealing with afghanistan. and of course the third major issue here has to do with the economy and the philosophical divide that the prime minister and the president has. >> it's very interesting to see whether they develop the kind of special relationship across ideological lines that, let's say george w. bush enjoyed with tony blair. they were partners in war, partners in peace. and had a very special identification with each other, one that ultimately led to tony blair being increasingly unpopular at home. here you have the first torre president, are there any signs yet from both sides as to how their relationship developed at their initial meeting when he was the opposition leader at the g-20? is. >>er in the first meeting they had. remember when candidate barack obama flew over and did the berlin speech, he paid a visit to london and that was the first time that he met then conservative leader david cameron. so there's been a personal relationship here. and you know, some of this is always spined, and usually you find out in history books later. but there appears to be more of a personal relationship between president obama and david cameron than there was between president bush and gordon brown. they may have been i'd logically somehow put together, yes, there is an ideological divide, the conservative david cameron and the progressive liberal barack obama but there's a personal relationship there. and people always forget this. conservative in great britain, doesn't necessarily translate to conservative here in america. >> and in fact this conservative prime minister is in a coalition government, so h. the other thing is lockerbie, which is so emotional here in america and especially in new york and new jersey. hillary clinton told me there's just no way to put that jeanie back into the bottle. she wrote the obligatory letter. david cam aren is on solid ground here since he criticized the decision by the scottish court to release megrahi, but there's not much he can do given scottish law and scottish jurisdiction. >> he not only was against the deal, he called for an investigation. the question now is he's in charge of government, is he going to order an investigation. that's the first thing that the new york senators are asking for, what senator schumer is asking for, and the new york-new jersey contingent wants a pound of flesh in one way or another. if they don't get a formal investigation from the british governor, then they may ask for it from the department of justice and eric holder to somehow investigate bp because he does have some jurisdiction over bp they believe using the foreign corrupt practices act. i guess the best phrase to use here is a pound of flesh and senator schumer wants it. you'll be at the news conference and you'll be asking all of the questions, thanks so much and join chuck and savannah guthrie every day at 9:00 for the daily run down. and that does it for this edition of andrea mitchell reports from kabul. thanks to everyone here, a fantastic team. nbc news in afghanistan. and you can follow the show online and on twitter. tamron hall takes over live from here. ♪ [ male announcer ] take an italian masterpiece home. excuse me. buitoni? 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[ male announcer ] ask your doctor about adding onglyza. extra help. extra control. you may be eligible to pay $10 a month with the onglyza value card program. president obama is just minutes away from holding a joint news conference with the british prime minister david cameron. you see the two men walking out now. let's listen in. >> everybody, please have a seat. it is my great pleasure to welcome prime minister cameron on his first visit to the white house as prime minister. we have just concluded some excellent discussions, including whether the beers from our hometowns that we exchanged are best served warm or cold. my understanding is that the prime minister enjoyed our 3.12 beer and we may