End of next year. Our White House Correspondent Mike Viqueira is in washington. What else can we expect to hear from the president today . Reporter we can look at today as the third in the threeact play. The president had the surprise visit in the heart of afghanistan over the memorial day weekend on sunday there addressing the troops. Some of the 32,000 left there now after a peak of 100,000 at the time of president obamas surge way back in 2011. Then we saw the president yesterday, another surprise appearance frankly in the rose garden where he put some flesh on the bones of something he announced long ago, and that was his goal to remove all american combat troops out of afghanistan by the end of the year. What was new . The number that will be left in that residual force you just described by the end of the year, 9800, by the end of next year half that pament and by the end of 2016 a normal embassy force with security personnel of course around him. But then today whats being bille
Answer is nothing . . And the pop culture lead in her death, we can take comfort in the fact she left behind so many words for us to live by. Today we say goodbye to poet, author, civil rights icon, maya angelou. Good after noon, everyone. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. The politics lead. As bad as we thought it was, turns out it was even worse. The watchdog for the veteran Affairs Department released a scathing preliminary report follows up on a story that cnn first broke about excessive wait times, even secret waiting lists and coverups at phoenix v. A. Hospital. Just so happened to surface today, the very day that president obama spoke to the next generation of men and Women Officers who could serve on the front lines. Cnns Senior Investigative correspondent drew griffin broke the story of the scandal at phoenix v. A. And he joins us now. What is in the report . Lets start with whats in the report about phoenix. The office of Inspector General identifies additional 1,700 veter
International cooperation in dealing with crises and avoid the openended conflicts that left american troops bogged down in iraq and afghanistan. A day after obama revealed his plans for the final u. S. Withdrawal from afghanistan, a reminder of the dangers that still fester there. A u. S. Consulate vehicle is attacked and two americans injured. Critics are sure to say its another example of a weakened president defied on the world stage and no longer packing the threat of swift and decisive military action. Last hour on cnn secretary of state john kerry pushed back against those who say obama backed down during russias military intervention in ukraine. It is very clear that the opposite of what you just laid out has happened. Putin was threatening to come in with troops. In fact, those troops are now being withdrawn. Theyve had a successful election for a president of ukraine. I think the president s policy has worked. I think the European Alliance has been strengthened. The unity bet