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U.S.-Afghan Talks Amid Tensions; Seafood Workers Suffering; Man Detained After NYC-Egypt Flight; A First Lady's Memoir; Obama, Karzai Address the Media

Aired May 12, 2010 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN headquarters, the big stories for you on this Wednesday, May 12th.

An unfolding disaster in northern Africa. This morning a little Dutch boy said to be the sole survivor after a Libyan jet crashes.

Plus this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Jennifer Jenkins said goodbye to half her employees this week, 60 hard workers, some she considered family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Boy, oyster workers along the Gulf Coast feel the burn. BP's massive oil leak cost them them their jobs.

Also, an old friend returns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look around. Who's unemployed? You don't know. How many people here are on their way to an interview rather than a job? You don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We meet up again with the out-of-work sign man. Eighteen months later, he has a new look and finally, a new job.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

Those stories and your comments right here, right now, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

OK. First up, talks amid tensions under way right now at the White House. President Obama meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The two war allies have been engaged, as you know, in their own war of words. Here are some of the flash points. March 28th, President Obama visits Afghanistan. He urges President Karzai to crack down on pervasive corruption, ensure independent-monitored elections, and reintegrate defecting Taliban soldiers.

April 1st, Mr. Karzai irritates the U.S. when he accuses the West and United Nations of orchestrating fraud in last year's election and wanting a puppet government in Afghanistan.

April 3rd, several members of Afghanistan's parliament say Mr. Karzai threatened to quit the political process and join the Taliban if he continued to come under outside pressure to reform. A day later, the Afghan president tells tribal leaders the U.S.-led military alliance would not move against Taliban fighters in Kandahar until you say we can.

Yesterday, the Afghan president visited wounded U.S. troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the recent rift and resolved to remain partners.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: There is no more visual or visceral experience that demonstrates absolutely the commitment of our two countries as partners and allies.

HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: You have been personally a friend. The American people have been friends. We have had a journey together, at times a bit difficult and quarrelsome, but a sturdy one and a strong one. And it will continue so into the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. So against that backdrop of tension, you will hear both leaders live in about 15 minutes from now, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We are covering this story on two fronts. White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is on her way to the East Room of the White House, and she joins us on the phone. And from the Afghan capital of Kabul, CNN's Atia Abawi.

And first, to you, Atia, how will President Karzai explain away some of these past statements that led many to question, frankly, whether the U.S. had a partner in President Karzai?

ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, to be honest, from my conversations with President Karzai when I went down to him in Kandahar, I don't think he's going to try to explain away his statements that he's made in the past. I think he's going to defend them.

He's trying to show the West, he's trying to show America, and particularly the Obama administration, that he is the president of Afghanistan, he will be leading this country for the next five years, and he is their partner when it comes to the mission in Afghanistan. He will try to explain, in fact, what really went on behind the scenes, behind his words.

In fact, the statement that he would actually join the Taliban was something that was said apparently behind closed doors. No one can really confirm what he said. Apparently, it came from someone inside the palace, the presidential palace here.

So, really, for President Karzai, his trip to Washington is to show them that he is a firm and strong leader in Afghanistan. And for the Obama administration, it's to show that they do respect President Karzai, that they're going to treat him with dignity, and that they are going to accept the fact that he is their partner when it comes to the war in Afghanistan.

HARRIS: OK. So you're suggesting we might see a defense of some of these more troubling statements. At least many observers here would call them troubling. We'll see how that plays out.

And obviously, we're not following this story as closely as you are. Has President Karzai done anything recently to address the pretty widespread belief that he is weak on government corruption?

ABAWI: Well, President Karzai made it clear when he took his oath of office back in November that corruption will be one of his top priorities. He did create a tribunal to actually try corrupt officials including ministers, and right now there is a trial going on here in Afghanistan where two aides of the former minister of Hajj and Religious Affairs, they're on trial for helping that former minister steal hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In fact, that minister has now found sanctuary in Britain, so that's not helping the Afghan government very much, that this man can find sanctuary in one of the coalition countries that is actually supposed to be helping Afghanistan. But that being said, hundreds of thousands of dollars, that's just chump change in the billions that have gone missing in Afghanistan, and many of the Afghans wondering and waiting, Tony, to see when corruption will really be fought. And they're waiting for it to happen at the top, because no matter what district you go to, what street you turn on, you're slapped in the face with corruption everywhere you go, whether it be from police officials or even ministers within the Afghan government -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK.

CNN's Atia Abawi for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Atia, great to see you. Thank you.

Let's get to Suzanne Malveaux. She's on her way to the East Room of the White House. She's on the phone with us right now.

Suzanne, a couple of questions for you.

Well, in the past, we've described them as soured relations between the president of Afghanistan and the Obama administration. Are the soured relations on the mend? SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, Tony, they certainly are trying to. And this is the point to this four-day visit, for Hamid Karzai to come here to Washington, really to try to press the reset button again.

It has been a frustration for the Obama administration because they've used various combinations of carrots and sticks, praise and criticism, to try to get the Afghan leader to cooperate in achieving the ultimate goal, which is essentially to get the Afghan forces in charge of their own security and get those U.S. troops to withdraw by July, 2011. It's very unclear, Tony, whether or not the Obama administration is going to be able to keep that promise.

And we are just getting here inside of the East Room. Sorry. We're picking up and settling into our seats.

HARRIS: No, no worries. No worries.

Let me try one more quick one with you, and if you have to go, you have to go, and I totally get that.

I expect that someone will ask the president the question, "What did you think when you heard some of the statements made by President Karzai, particularly President Karzai telling tribal leaders that the military, this joint military operation in Kandahar, wouldn't take place against the Taliban until you, the tribal leaders, say it can move forward?"

I mean, does the president really believe he has a partner in Hamid Karzai?

MALVEAUX: Well, there are a couple of things that the Obama administration officials believe, and we've kind of heard this. We heard it from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. I heard it from Valerie Jarrett yesterday, when I interviewed her. And we've heard it from the president, which is they are trying to publicly acknowledge that Hamid Karzai has a lot of pressure from his own government, and that there's a real question about the legitimacy of his government since the troubled elections.

What they're trying to do publicly is bolster his administration, give him a sense of legitimacy, because without that, he can't go back to his own country and convince his own people that he can provide services for them and that it's OK for the U.S. government, in truth, to lead that country. And, ultimately, to get American troops out of there, he has got to be a leader who is strong and who has at least presented in a public way as credible and in charge of his own nation.

HARRIS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: And so that's why you're hearing from President Obama, Secretary Clinton and others, even Secretary Gates, this praise of Hamid Karzai, despite the fact that there's a lot of frustration and big questions about his motivation, his intentions and his abilities.

HARRIS: I think you got it. I think that's nailed on head there.

Our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, in the East Room of the White House, awaiting the media availability with President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

And our thanks again to Atia Abawi in Kabul, Afghanistan.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Got to tell you, more tough questions today about the massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. Executives from the three companies involved in the drilling operation face another day of hearings, this time before a House committee.

In Senate hearings yesterday, the executives pointed fingers at one another. They disagreed over who discussed safety issues with the MMS. Now, that is the federal agency that regulates offshore drilling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAMAR MCKAY, CHAIRMAN & PRESIDENT, BP AMERICA: Transocean, as owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, had responsibility for the safety of drilling operations.

STEVEN NEWMAN, TRANSOCEAN: If there was a discussion between somebody and the MMS about whether or not it was appropriate to proceed in a particular fashion, that conversation would have taken place between BP and the MMS.

TIM PROBERT, HALLIBURTON: If a discussion took place, it would be with the leaseholder and the MMS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Boy, how frustrating is that?

So, a plant that provides restaurants with oysters on the half shell is operating at half-staff because of the oil leak in the Gulf. The layoffs may be just a sign of things to come for the seafood industry along the Gulf Coast.

The story now from CNN's Reynolds Wolf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER JENKINS, MANAGER, CRYSTAL SEAS OYSTERS: This is our cooler, and this is everything we've got.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Now, on a normal day, how full would this room be?

JENKINS: It would be full. WOLF (voice-over): So with the shucking line, these processing stations and this machine would be flash-freezing thousands of oysters each day.

(on camera): So I guess your average day you have about 120 people in here, shoulder to shoulder, all working like crazy, like mad? I'm sure it's loud as can be, isn't it?

JENKINS: It is very loud. You can't even hear yourself think.

WOLF (voice-over): And now, silence.

Virtually all the gulf fishing grounds are closed for business. Jennifer Jenkins said goodbye to half her employees this week, 60 hard workers, some she considered family.

(on camera): That's got to be tough.

JENKINS: You just kind of explain to them what's been happening as best as you can.

WOLF (voice-over): All the more frustrating, this year's catch was one of their best since Katrina.

Crystal Seas Oysters was sailing smoothly through the recession, now just snapshots of better days.

WOLF (on camera): Ever wonder what a four-month supply of oyster shells looks like? Take a look at this. It's huge, tons of shells. But, unfortunately, production has now come to a screeching halt.

(voice-over): And some of the last off the line was the Half Shell Oyster House in Gulfport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People love them oysters. They love them.

BOB TAYLOR, OWNER, HALF SHELL OYSTER HOUSE: That's what we eat. That's what tourists come here to eat. My restaurant, 75 percent of the menu is seafood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just right there (ph) and just gobble up the oysters as fast as I can shuck them.

WOLF: While the supply of oysters just quickly (INAUDIBLE), there's no shortage of frustration for those responsible.

JENKINS: It appears that they - they could also regulate themselves a little better from ruining a whole coastline, because they'll probably walk away from it in much better shape than we all will.

WOLF (on camera): Reynolds Wolf, CNN, Pass Christian, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: As many as 19 tornadoes on Monday. And today, folks across the plains could be hearing a lot more of this.

Yes, the sirens, right? As iReporter Gislan Bolls (ph) told us, there are bull's-eyes on everybody's roofs over here.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let me get you a quick update on what we're learning here, more details about a man who was detained in Egypt on Tuesday for having firearms in his checked baggage.

This information coming from a federal govern official, speaking on background, telling us the following was found in the man's checked luggage -- I should say checked bags. Kind of a big difference there in what you view as luggage and bags.

We're talking about two handguns, five boxes of ammo, four knives, two empty magazine clips. Meanwhile, the TSA says it checks checked bags for explosives, but that properly-packaged guns and knives are not an aviation threat because they are not accessible to passengers.

We will continue to update this story.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

About 100 people lost their lives today when a Libyan Airbus jet crashed when landing in Tripoli. This 8-year-old Dutch boy is said to be the only survivor. We'll see his picture here in just a moment.

OK. There he is.

Britain's new leader, David Cameron, has named his coalition partner, Nick Clegg, as deputy prime minister. Cameron also appointed most of his cabinet today. Clegg's Liberal Democrats got a good portion of the seat.

And in Miami Beach, protesters called on Florida to keep a ban on offshore oil drilling in place. Some business leaders are floating proposals to relax the ban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are hooked on oil. We are oil junkies. And we need to stop our dependency on oil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK.

Governor Charlie Crist says the Florida Constitution should be amended to prohibit offshore wells. Live pictures -- do we have them from the East Room of the White House? President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai expected to appear any minute now.

We will bring you their comments live, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. We want to dig a little deeper on this story that we're beginning to get more details about, the story of a man who was detained in Egypt on Tuesday for having firearms in his checked bags.

He was -- my understanding, he was attempting to board a flight in Egypt for JFK in New York, but let me check that information with Tom Fuentes, a CNN contributor and former FBI assistant director.

Tom, what are you learning? I know you've made some calls here. Help us put more of this information together.

TOM FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Tony.

I have the information the other way around, that he flew from JFK to Cairo, Egypt.

HARRIS: OK. Thanks. Thanks for that.

And what else are you learning in your outreach for information on this?

FUENTES: Well, right now, the Egyptians are working with the FBI to try to find out the background on this individual and what he might have been up to, bringing firearms like that to the country.

The normal procedure would be that you're allowed to transport within the United States luggage -- or firearms, I should say -- within your checked luggage because it's deemed safe. That if it's in your luggage, and it's not an explosive device, and it's properly packaged in your luggage, it does not pose a threat to the flight, and the passenger cannot access that luggage during the flight.

But in this case, going to a foreign country, the passenger would have to, again, declare it at the time of checking in at the flight. And then you would have to know what the rules are in the host country as far as bringing firearms into that country. HARRIS: Got you.

FUENTES: So, in this case, my understanding is that it was a routine Customs screening once he landed, and they discovered the box and discovered the contents of the box after that.

HARRIS: Yes. So, a lot of questions, I guess, still remaining here, and it sounds like at least some of the systems worked here. We're talking about these kinds of items found in the man's checked bag: two handguns, five boxes of ammo, four knives, two empty magazine clips.

Without getting into the land of speculation too much here, does that say anything to you?

FUENTES: No. It's not a huge amount of weaponry, if you will. He's not bringing shoulder weapons or automatic weapons. And, you know, so it's not beyond the realm that he was some type of sportsman or he's going to do something along those lines. But there's no guarantee of that, but it seems kind of dumb on his part to travel like that.

HARRIS: OK. Yes. All right. Well, let's leave it there for now.

Tom, if you know anything else, reach back to us. We appreciate it.

FUENTES: OK.

HARRIS: Tom Fuentes, a CNN contributor on this story for us.

Tom, thank you.

Live pictures now from the East Room of the White House. President Obama and Afghan President Karzai expected to appear any minute now.

Comments live, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Pictures, information, insight you won't find anywhere else. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris. Anything can happen.

Live pictures now from the east room of the White House. Any minute now, the president of the United States and Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, making themselves available for questions from the media. When the two men appear, we will take their comments live. That's scheduled to happen any minute now.

Health care reform could cost more than previously thought. Pushing it past the trillion dollar mark over 10 years. What's happened here? Josh Levs is all over this story. Wait a minute, Josh, is this a rogue blooper agency with a political agenda crunching the numbers anew here?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it's where everybody goes by with the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office.

HARRIS: The CBO, OK.

LEVS: Yes and -- I mean, every sites goes by that. Everyone sites of CBO figures when it's convenient for them, and either way, they are basically the record keeper and the goal keeper and all this stuff. And this is pretty striking, hey, throughout the entire bid of the health care, I told you we're going to follow the money. We're going to let you know anything that changes, about how much it will cost. Let me tell you what's happened in the last 24 hours, and as you say, we will pull out immediately if the president starts to talk.

HARRIS: OK.

LEVS: So here's the deal. The CBO back in March when it looked at this, looked at discretionary spending and how much would be in discretionary spending from health care. Discretionary spending is the stuff that's not mandated. The Congress has then to reauthorize every year. At the time they said it would increase discretionary spending by about $55 billion. Look what happened yesterday. Now, the same agency is saying and the health care reform package will increase the discretionary spending by $115 billion, that puts the total expense, Tony, at basically trillion dollar mark for how much it will be.

Now, let me show you where they're getting this from. There are a couple of ways and they have to figure out what discretionary spending will be.

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: One is administrative cost. This is really important to understand. Keep in mind, you're talking about a huge program to enact and you have federal agencies involved in doing that. Obviously, you're going to have HHS which is the Health and Human Services. You'll also have the IRS involved. They have to deal with eligibility to get those credits.

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: They have to limit your taxes and figure out how much money you have, figure out who really is eligible for certain credits. Also, another set of discretionary spending comes from this, grants and other programs. These are some grants that are not mandated for every year. Congress will have to authorize every year, and the CBO is now saying, Tony, when they took a new look at these figures and lots more information coming in as always, they're now saying that there'll be a $115 billion increase in that discretionary spending which makes the total package there about $1 trillion.

HARRIS: You know, you wonder if all of this information had been known at the time the debate was going on where we would be in the whole process and just sort of curious as to these new numbers and their impact on the deficit.

LEVS: Right. Because that's one of the biggest things people talk about. All of these numbers are over ten years, and this is, though, the language of the health care reform bill. Every day, when you were hearing numbers thrown around, it was almost always about what the cost would be over ten years. Now, let me tell you something that's really interesting. It's that actually might not increase the deficit. Really short version, they said at the time it would decrease the deficit by $143 million.

It's possible that's still the case because discretionary spending is supposed to be covered by pay as you go rules. The question is whether that will ultimately happen, so we don't know whether this increase in discretionary spending will mean that the deficit will ultimately go up -- Tony.

HARRIS: Got you. All right. Josh, appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

East room of the White House, President Obama and Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, any moment now. We're going to try to squeeze in a quick break before the two leaders make their presence known there at the east room. Let's do that and we're back in a moment here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. Laura Bush's memoir "Spoken from the Heart" is the fourth best-selling book on amazon.com today. The former first lady describes her most frightening night in the White House, the night of September 11 2001. She spoke to CNN's Larry King. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY: We both knew what lies before us. I mean, what -- you know, everything had changed. It changed for his presidency and for our country.

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Read from this a selection here about that night.

BUSH: So, he had said, you know, we're going to sleep up upstairs in the bedroom, but if you need to, come get us. So, that night, I could hear somebody after we went to sleep, I woke up and I heard a man screaming as he ran, Mr. President, Mr. President, you've got to get up. The White House is under attack. We jumped up out of the bed again and I grabbed my robe and stuck my feet in my slippers, but I didn't stop to put on my contacts. George grabbed Barney, I grabbed Kitty, and with Spot trailing behind, we started walking down to the Piok.

George had wanted to take the elevator, but the agents didn't think it was safe. So, we ahead to descend flight after flight of stairs to the state floor, and then the ground floor and below. While I held George's hand because I couldn't see anything, my heart was pounding and all I can do was count stairwell landings trying to count off in my mind how many more floors we had to go.

When we reached the Piok, I saw the outline of a military sergeant unfolding the ancient hideaway bed and putting on some sheets. At that moment, another agent ran up to us and said, Mr. President, it's one of ours. It's one of our own.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wow! OK, live pictures now from the East Room of the White House and the president And Hamid Karzai have wrapped up a meeting. The oval office, we believe both leaders are walking into the east room now. Let's take you to comments from the president.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, everybody. Please be seated.

I am very pleased to welcome President Karzai back to the White House. And I also want to welcome the president's delegation, including ministers from across his government whose presence speaks to the broad and deepening strategic partnership between the United States and Afghanistan.

This visit is an opportunity to return the hospitality that President Karzai showed me during my recent visit to Afghanistan. And that included a wonderful Afghan dinner that the president shared with us and where we were joined by members of his delegation.

So, Mr. President, thank you and welcome to the United States.

More importantly, this visit's an opportunity for us to assess the progress of our shared strategy in Afghanistan and to advance the strong partnership between our two nations, one that's based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

I have reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to an Afghanistan that is stable, strong and prosperous. Afghans are a proud people who have suffered and sacrificed greatly because of their determination to shape their own destiny.

There is no denying the progress that the Afghan people have made in recent years in education, in health care and economic development, as I saw in the lights across Kabul when I landed: lights that would not have been visible just a few years earlier.

Nor, however, can we deny the very serious challenges still facing Afghanistan. After 30 years of war, Afghanistan still faces daily challenges in delivering basic services and security to its people while confronting a brutal insurgency.

Whether Afghanistan succeeds in this effort will have consequences for the United States and consequences for the entire world. As we've seen in recent plots here in the United States, Al Qaida and its extremist allies continue to plot in the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a growing Taliban insurgency could mean an even larger safe haven for Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

So today we are reaffirming our shared goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda and its extremist allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to prevent its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future.

And we are reviewing the progress of our shared strategy and objectives: a military effort to reverse the Taliban's momentum and to strengthen Afghanistan's capacity to provide for their own security, a civilian effort to promote good governance and development, and regional cooperation, including with Pakistan, because our strategy has to succeed on both sides of the border. Just over half of the additional military forces that I ordered to Afghanistan in December have now arrived, with the remainder due by this summer. As part of our 46-nation coalition, allies and partners have increased their commitments as well. We're partnering with Afghan and coalition forces, and we've begun to reverse the momentum of the insurgency. We have taken the fight to the Taliban in Helmand province, pushed them out of their stronghold in Marjah, and are working to give Afghans the opportunity to reclaim their communities.

We've taken extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties. And I reiterated in my meeting with President Karzai that the United States will continue to work with our Afghan and international partners to do everything in our power to avoid actions that harm the Afghan people. After all, it's the Afghan people we are working to protect from the Taliban, which is responsible for the vast majority of innocent civilian deaths.

Meanwhile, the training and development of Afghan security forces continues so that they can begin to take the lead in security next year.

Towards this end, we're working with the Afghan government and our allies on a broader framework to guide the transition of responsibility for security, development and governance in Afghan provinces.

I've also reaffirmed that the United States is committed to transferring responsibility for detention facilities to the Afghan government.

To support the second part of our strategy, the civilian effort, more American diplomats and experts are now on the ground and are partnering with their Afghan counterparts.

In his inaugural address and at the London conference President Karzai committed to making good governance a top priority.

And I want to acknowledge the progress that has been made, including strengthening anti-corruption efforts, improving governance at provincial and district levels, and progress toward credible parliamentary elections later this year.

Of course, President Karzai and I both acknowledge that much more work needs to be done.

I also welcome President Karzai's commitment to take additional steps that can improve the lives of the Afghan people in concrete ways, especially with regard to the rule of law, agricultural production, economic growth and the delivery of basic services.

I pledged America's continued support for these efforts, and I've asked Secretary Clinton to lead an American delegation to this summer's Kabul conference, where the Afghan government will be presenting concrete plans to implement the president's commitments.

On the related subject of Afghan-led peace and reconciliation efforts, I appreciated the president sharing his plans for the upcoming consultative peace jirga, an important milestone that America supports.

In addition, the United States supports the efforts of the Afghan government to open the door to Taliban who cut their ties to Al Qaeda, abandon violence, and accept the Afghan constitution, including respect for human rights. And I look forward to a continued dialogue with our Afghan partners on these efforts.

In support of the final part of our strategy, a regional approach, we discussed the importance of Afghanistan's neighbors supporting Afghan sovereignty and security.

I was pleased to host President Karzai and President Zardari of Pakistan together here at the White House a year ago. And our trilateral cooperation will continue.

Indeed, Pakistan's major offensive against extremist sanctuaries and our blows against the leadership of Al Qaeda and its affiliates advance the security of Pakistanis, Afghans and Americans alike.

Finally, as we pursue our shared strategy to defeat Al Qaeda, I'm pleased that our two countries are working to broaden our strategic partnership over the long term. Even as we begin to transition security responsibility to Afghans over the next year, we will sustain a robust commitment in Afghanistan going forward.

And the presence here today of so many leaders from both our governments underscores how we can partner across a full range of areas, including development and agriculture, education and health, rule of law and women's rights. Together we can unleash Afghanistan's vast potential.

For example, I was pleased to welcome several remarkable Afghan women to our recent entrepreneurship summit here in Washington. And I look forward to formalizing a new strategic partnership between our countries later this year, and to deepening the lasting friendship between our people.

As I've said on numerous occasions, there are many difficult days ahead in Afghanistan. We face a determined and ruthless enemy, but we go forward with confidence because we have something that our adversaries do not: We have a commitment to seek a future of justice and peace and opportunity for the Afghan people. And we have the courage and resolve of men and women from Afghanistan and our international coalition who are determined to help Afghans realize that future.

And as I did at Bagram during my visit, I especially want to acknowledge the extraordinary sacrifices that are being made by American troops and civilians in Afghanistan every single day.

Our solidarity today sends an unmistakable message to those who would stand in the way of Afghanistan's progress. They may threaten and murder innocent people, but we will work to protect the Afghan people. They will try to destroy, but we will continue to help build Afghan capacity and allow Afghans to take responsibility for their country. They will try to drive us apart, but we will partner with the Afghan people for the long term, toward a future of greater security, prosperity, justice and progress. And I am absolutely convinced we will succeed.

That is the work that we have advanced today. And I again want to thank our partners, President Karzai and his delegation, for the progress we have made and continue to make in the months and years ahead.

President Karzai?

HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'm very grateful, Mr. President, for the kind hospitality that you and your team offered during our -- this visit to the United States. As always, you have been gracious and kind and very hospitable.

We began our visit the day before yesterday with an informal dinner with Secretary Clinton and Secretary Gates.

And we yesterday had, at the State Department with Secretary Clinton, an extremely fruitful meeting of the groups of Afghan ministries and their counterparts in the U.S. government, outlining the progress we have made in the past several years and our aspirations for the future and our common objectives toward the future as we travel along.

Mr. President, I yesterday had the honor of visiting Walter Reed Hospital, where I visited with the wounded who had returned from Afghanistan and from Iraq.

It was a very difficult moment for me, Mr. President, to meet with a young man -- a very, very young man, who had lost two arms and legs. It was heart-rendering. And there were other wounded, too, just like I had seen in Afghanistan.

This shows the commitment that the United States has to bringing security to Afghanistan and by extension to the United States and the rest of the world, and the difficult task that we have ahead of us in securing our future generations a better and more secure life.

And, Mr. President, I thank you again for the excellent meeting this morning -- in which President Obama and I discussed the entire structure of Afghan-American relationship, the issues that we have together inside Afghanistan, the progress that we have made together, the campaign that still is going on against terrorism, the successes of the past years, which are numerous and great -- for which I, again, express gratitude on behalf of the Afghan people to the American people and to you, Mr. President.

And I also thank President Obama for adding considerable resources to the success in Afghanistan on becoming the president of the United States -- for which, Mr. President, I convey the gratitude of the Afghan people. And I can reassure you that we will work with dedication and extreme care to have those resources spent well and in place for a better future for the Afghan people.

We also discussed during our meeting this morning the Afghan- American strategic partnership and the relations toward the future beyond the successes that we will certainly gain against terrorism, the issues related to the region and Afghanistan, Afghanistan's difficulties and concerns with regard to capacity, institutional building, the buildup of the Afghan security forces, the Afghan economy, the issues of agriculture and energy, and all those issues of developmental importance to Afghanistan for which the United States is putting in considerable resources.

We also discussed the peace process and the upcoming peace consultative jirga in Kabul -- for which, Mr. President, I am grateful to you for your support and very kind advice.

We also discussed the parliamentary elections -- the upcoming parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, and the Kabul conference. We discussed in quite detail and in a very frank and productive manner the issues of protection of civilians and judicial -- respect to the judicial independence of Afghanistan.

I found it very happy for me and to convey back to the Afghani people that I found a very supportive voice from President Obama on these accounts. And I'm very glad to report to you that we'll be setting up a team of our senior advisers to work out the exact timelines of the transfer of detention centers to the Afghan government, which I consider to be a major point of progress in our conversations.

Mr. President, I once again would like to convey to you and to the people of the United States our deep, heartfelt gratitude to the help that America has provided. Afghanistan, because of that, is once again on the world map and in a significantly important way. Our flag is flying all around the world. We are present on all the important occasions. We once again have a voice as the people of Afghanistan. And this would have not been possible without the sacrifices and the resources that the United States and our other allies have put in.

Afghanistan is grateful. Afghanistan will definitely, with your help, succeed toward the future.

There are, of course, issues that are still of concern to all of us. We have shortcomings in Afghanistan still. Afghanistan is still a very, very poor country. The work that we have done promises a better future for all of us. And Afghanistan will assure you, Mr. President, that it will take the right steps in bringing a better government to Afghanistan for the benefit of the Afghan people and in partnership with the United States of America.

I thank you once again, Mr. President, for the tremendous hospitality.

(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: Thank you.

We've got time for two questions from the U.S. press, two questions from the Afghan press.

And so I will start with Mark Knoller of CBS Radio.

Where's Mark?

MARK KNOLLER, CBS RADIO: Right here, sir.

OBAMA: There he is.

Good to see you, Mark.

KNOLLER: Gentlemen, it sounds from your statements as though you've been able to put aside the tensions and frictions that were in evidence a month or so ago.

Can you tell us if you discussed those concerns that were raised at that time? And have you figured out how the relationship may have come off the tracks?

And, Mr. President, may I also ask you about your -- your talk with the new prime minister in the United Kingdom yesterday? Are you worried in any way that the U.K.'s support in Afghanistan might wane?

OBAMA: Well, I will take the second question first.

I had a conversation with David Cameron yesterday. He's somebody who I had had the occasion of meeting when I had traveled to England previously. I find him to be a smart, dedicated, effective leader and somebody who we are going to be able to work with very effectively.

He reaffirmed without me bringing it up his commitment to our strategy in Afghanistan. And I am confident that the new government is going to recognize that it is in the interest of all the coalition partners to help President Karzai succeed, and to build a more prosperous and secure and stable Afghanistan, which in turn will help assure our long-term security.

And, by the way, when we -- when I had the conversation with Prime Minister Cameron I -- we also both reaffirmed the extraordinary, special relationship between the United States and Great Britain; one that outlasts any individual party, any individual leader. It is built up over centuries, and it's not going to go away.

With respect to perceived tensions between the U.S. government and the Afghan government, let me begin by saying a lot of them were simply overstated.

When I came into office, I made it absolutely clear that I intended to resource an effective strategy in Afghanistan and work with the Afghan government so that we have a strong, stable, prosperous Afghanistan. And I've used whatever political capital I have to make the case to the American people that this is in our national security interests, that it's absolutely critical that we succeed on this mission.

President Karzai agrees that we have to deal with the extremists that are disrupting life in Afghanistan. And our strategic approach has been entirely consistent.

Now, obviously, there are going to be tensions in such a complicated, difficult environment and a -- a -- in a situation in which, on the ground, both -- both Afghans and Americans are making enormous sacrifices.

We've had very frank discussions. And President Karzai agrees with me, that we can't win through a military strategy alone; that we're going to have to make sure that we have effective governance, capacity-building, economic development in order for us to succeed.

And, you know, I think that what we discussed this morning is a recognition on both sides that this transformation is not going to happen overnight; that a country that's come out of 30 years of war and dire poverty is not going to suddenly change across the board.

Our job is to be a good friend and to be frank with President Karzai in saying, "Here's where we think we've got to put more effort."

President Karzai's job is to represent his country and insist that its sovereignty is properly respected, even as he goes about the hard task of bringing about these changes in both his government and his economy.

And so I am very comfortable with the strong efforts that President Karzai has made thus far, and I think that we both agree that we're going to have to make more efforts in the future.

And there are going to be setbacks. There are going to be times where our governments disagree on a particular tactic. But what I'm very confident about is that we share a broad strategy: one that I hope we can memorialize in -- in a declaration by the end of this year.

KARZAI: Well, sir, the relationship between Afghanistan and the United States is now into its 10th year, in the form that it has since September 11, 2001.

It's not an imaginary relationship. It's a real relationship. It's based on some very hard and difficult realities. We are in a campaign against terrorism together. There are days that we are happy. There are days that we are not happy. It's a mutual relationship toward a common objective.

And definitely days have come in which we've had a difference of opinion. And definitely days in the future will come in which we have difference of opinion. But the relationship between the two governments and the two nations is strong and well-rooted, and has endured the past 10 years of extreme activity on both sides.

So I believe what you saw in the past few months is reflective of a deep and strong relationship. And in that sort of relationship, as President Obama rightly described, there are moments that we speak frankly to each other. And that frankness will only add to the strength of the relationship and contribute to the successes that we have.

The bottom line is that we are much more strongly related to each other today than we ever were before in this relationship, and that is a good message that I will take back to the Afghan people the day after tomorrow.