i'm wolf blitzer at the clinton global initiative in new york. you're in "the situation room." we're reporting today from the annual meeting in the clinton global initiative here in new york city covering this major forum all week. i had a chance to sit down with the former president bill clinton for an extensive interview. part of it will air this hour. part in the next hour. i want you to stand by. only a few blocks away at the united nations, president obama's on a major diplomatic mission of his on and a number of critical issues are on the table. let's bring in jessica yellin. she's with me here at the clinton global initiative. a huge day today. maybe even a more important day for the president tomorrow. >> that's right. but first today, it was a major day of diplomacy for the president. today, he met with the new leaders of a post gadhafi libya. emphasized that the u.s. will be reopening its em bah sbassy in this week. the president also sat down with afghan president hamid karzai. the first time the two lead rs have met face to face since the administration announced it would start drawing down troops. also, the president has had a meeting with turkey's prime minister. now, historically, the u.s. and turkey have had a good relationship, but recently, the prime minister of turkey has been extremely critical of israel. >> he's getting laready for his annual address before the u.n. general assembly and this is a really delicate, sensitive moment in the middle east. >> that's the perfect word and torp, the president will have to do a delicate dance. last year, the president said at this time, he would hope to be able to announce a palestinian state. but since that time, peace talks with israel have stalled. there have been no major advancements and now, the palestinians made clear they will come to the u.n. and one way or another, make a play for a vote of state hood here at the united nations and the president in his speech will have to explain why he would block such a move. now, that for the u.s. is a potentially awkward explanation give p the president has stood for state hood in other arab nations. the politicians are expected to make that play sometime after the president leaves new york. >> for friday, right now. thanks very much. jessica's going to be staying with us today, tomorrow, throughout the week. president obama may be front and center on the world stage right now, but his challenges on the campaign trail aren't far behind. just steps from the u.n., the front-runner, rick perry, was meeting with jewish american leaders. he lambed the president's land ling of the middle east peace process. >> we would not be here today at this very precipice of such a dangerous move if the obama policy in the middle east wasn't nieve and arrogant, misguided and dangerous cht. >> we're going to have much more from what rick perry had to say. let's go to afghanistan right now. where a blast has claimed the life of the country's former president, a political figure considered fie vry tall to peace efforts in the region. barbara starr is standing by with the latest. what happened here? >> another shocking attack in the afghan capital of kabul today. the man that was killed is not known to most americans. but vital to the peace process in afghanistan. and that means vital to getting u.s. troops to getting u.s. troops out and coming home, his name is rabini, he was a former president of afghanistan, fled the taliban, was working now as the head of peace counsel. he was assassinated today at his home in kabul. he was welcoming two people into his home he believed were taliban wanting to reconcile. instead, they were suicide bombers. he was killed, another man, badly wounded. the taliban were critical of him, he was critical of karzai, but had undertaken this reconciliation work because many people felt that he was the one who could maybe at the end of the day who could pull it off. >> what does this say about security right now in afghanistan? >> well, you know, in kabul now, they have seen several high profile attacks. many of the u.s. military still sticking to the party line that they are making progress against the taliban, but today, defense secretary leon panetta said it is time for the u.s. to weigh in and try to do something to improve security. have a listen. >> we have made progress in weakening them. we have made progress in going after their leadership. but having said that, they now are resorting to these kinds of attacks, to these kinds of high level assassinations, which you know, as i said, are of concern. and we've got to take steps to try to make sure that we protect against that. and we're in the process of doing that. we're working with the afghans to try to discuss with them steps on how we can take provide better protection so that this does not occur. >> the big concern, the so-called hakini network. panetta said these continued attacks they believe they are behind, are simply no longer tolerable. wolf? >> does this impact the short-term withdrawal strategy? the u.s. is planning on having troops in afghanistan until 2014, but until then, supposed to start reducing those numbers. what are you hearing? >> that short-term plan to bring the so-called surge home still is underway, but you know, at this point, the problem is these attacks, they're high pro file a are becoming streenlgedly significant. they're getting the attention of afghans, calling into question whether the karzai government can really provide for the security of that country and that is the test in the long run for u.s. troops coming home. karzai's government has to be able to take over before u.s. troops can take home and the more attacks you see, the more that is called into question, wolf. >> karzai was supposed to spend a few days here, but i think he's getting ready to bolt because of this crisis. comeing up, my special interview with the former president, bill clinton. he tells me what worries him about some of the political contenders. you're going to find out who they are and what's going on. the interview coming up. plus, the end of a controversial era for the u.s. military. no words can describe how it feels to stand up here and be able to say for the first time, my name is first lieutenant josh freed and i am a gay lieutenant in the yit air force. it's a huge burden lifted off of my shoulder. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. we're going to get to my interview in just a few minutes. we're going to find out what he thinks about the anti washington movement. before that, let's check in with jack cafferty. >> and you're in new york with me. you're just across on the east side. thanks, wolf. there are a lot of unhappy democrats these days and some are setting their sights drktly on president obama. a group of liberal leaders says they want to feel the slate of candidates against the president in the primaries. just what the president wants to hear. ralph nader tells the washington times that without an interparty challenge, the liberal agenda will be ignored. he says obama running on a post will kill voter enthusiasm and that voters won't get to see the real differences between democrats and republicans. more than 45 liberal leaders support this idea. they point to obama's handling of the wall street bailout, the wars, libya, the extension of bush tax cuts and the debt ceiling deal. meanwhile, the head of the congressional black caucus says that unhappy members of his group would probably be marching on the white house if mr. obama weren't president. black leaders have been begging the president to address unemployment among african-americans, which stands at close to 17%. almost double the national average. finally, one of mr. obama's hometown newspapers, the "chicago tribune," t "chicago tribune," is running a column called why obama should withdraw. steve chapman suggests not running might be sensible for mr. obama to do. he says the president might do the party a favor by stepping aside, taking the blame and letting someone else replace him at the top of the ticket. someone like, oh, say, hillary clinton. here's the question. how much of a problem does president obama have with his own party? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. post a comment on my blog or go to our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. i suppose at the end of the day if you don't want to vote for a republican, you're going to vote for the president for a second term, but at the moment, he's got some problems. >> he certainly does, but as i keep saying, it's still a long time between now and november 2012. we'll see what unfolds, jack. appreciate it. lisa sylvester is monitoring some other top stories right now. lisa, a setback for a death row inmate. what's the latest? >> troy davis is about 24 hours away from his execution now that the georgia parole board has denied his request for clemency. his supporters are vowing to keep fighting to stop his execution. he was convicted 20 years ago in the shooting death of a police officer and next hour, we will speak exclusively with the prosecutor in the case and we are getting new video in of friday's air show crash in nevada. now, a brief warning that you may find this video dift to watch. >> no! no! no! no! >> authorities say another person has died as a result of the crash, bringing the death toll to 11. linda mcmahan is throwing her hat in the ring again. she anountsed her run for the senate today. she spent millions last year. she is running for the seat currently held by joe lieberman, who is not running for re-election. and a scathing new book and sarah palin hits bookstores today and the author is already defending himself against criticism. joe mcginnis, who lived next to the palins last year, says many of his sources are unnamed because the family will do anything to protect their image. the palins have intimidated so many people for so long in the wasilla area that it's very hard to find people willing to talk about them even in inconsequential ways on the record. they scare people. they threaten people. even since the book has come out, i've gotten contacted by two of my named sources in the book who said they're now being told they better watch their backs. >> no surprise here. the palins here have blasted the book with todd palin saying it is quote, full of disgusting lies. wolf? >> thank you. coming up in my interview with bill clinton, he reveals something he says he's very concerned about and says why you should be worried as well. 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>> i saw some of it, yeah. >> what did you think of those guys up there on the stage? >> there's a range of, what i think i the more moderate ones as you might imagine and the ones i think would be better presidents. i was like a lot of people, quite disturbed that there were those cheering when you asked if a man who needed life saving care but didn't have health insurance, should be allowed to die and there seemed to be cheering, but you know, it's all political theatre now. look at the difference in what we're doing here and what happens in the campaign. and i sympathize with you because you've got to run all these news programs. now, it looks to me what looks like is good politics in the modern world when times are tough is conflict and it makes for edgier news coverage and yet in the real world where jobs are created, what works is cooperation. so, it's not the government versus the private sector, it's what they can do together to create prosperity. and if you look at oh, i don't know, let's take san diego. center of biotechnology in america. no longer primarily a navy city. it's a biotech city. the silicon valley is back. orlando has 100 computer simulation companies. pittsburgh is trying to go from being a city of steel to the city of nanotechnology. cleveland is using cleveland clinic to try to retrofit if you will, not buildings, the workforce. so, there are these centers of prosperity. every one of them works because people cooperate rate, not because t