reporter: i think they are being drawn 100%. i spoke to a commander who said, well, maybe we can get one out of two. there s a pride issue here. there is a legacy issue. the u.s. military s prestige is on the line. generally the consensus is iraq didn t go very well, and they re hoping that if afghanistan doesn t totally fall to pieces that it will be something of a saving grace for the military, that they can pull out from this experience and say, look, we didn t fail over this last decade in our foreign endeavors, we didn t launch these wars only to see chaos and turmoil in the wake. but the question is, going back to iraq and going back to afghanistan, and these aren t theoretical issues. these are issues that we re going to face right now. what would have happened if the u.s. left a small force in iraq of a few thousand? we can never know, but i think you can have a pretty good idea. let s say we had left behind 5,000, 6,000 troops.
back with our roundtable. the politics of the moment is obama care, and the president was out there reselling it this week, katty kay. this is a portion of what he said. if i ve got to fight another three years to make sure this law works, then that s what i ll do. that s what we ll do. underscoring that this is really the only job he has in his second term, right? it may be all he gets done in his second term. if he can make this succeed, this will be his legacy issue. and if you look at the chances of getting immigration reform, of getting some kind of comprehensive jobs bill, of getting some kind of infrastructure, of getting tax reform which is what businesses say they ll need, he may have to use the next three years to make it work, and this may be what he s left with as his big legacy issue. but you write it s not just about the website. there are a lot of challenges ahead about will this thing
christmas tree lighting. back with our roundtable. the politics of the moment is obama care, and the president was out there reselling it this week, katty kay. this is a portion of what he said. if i ve got to fight another three years to make sure this law works, then that s what i ll do. that s what we ll do. underscoring that this is really the only job he has in his second term, right? it may be all he gets done in his second term. if he can make this succeed, this will be his legacy issue. and if you look at the chances of getting immigration reform, of getting some kind of comprehensive jobs bill, of getting some kind of infrastructure, of getting tax reform which is what businesses say they ll need, he may have to use the next three years to make it work, and this may be what he s left with as his big legacy issue. but you write it s not just about the website. there are a lot of challenges ahead about will this thing
said. if i ve got to fight another three years to make sure this law works, then that s what i ll do. that s what we ll do. underscoring that this is really the only job he has in his second term, right? it may be all he gets done in his second term. if he can make this succeed, this will be his legacy issue. and if you look at the chances of getting immigration reform, of getting some kind of comprehensive jobs bill, of getting some kind of infrastructure, of getting tax reform which is what businesses say they ll need, he may have to use the next three years to make it work, and this may be what he s left with as his big legacy issue. but you write it s not just about the website. there are a lot of challenges ahead about will this thing float? the website is not fixed, either, particularly on the backhand. you have to deliver the information to the insurer and you re not getting accurate
president obama. the administration behind the scenes in damage control mode in a way that i certainly haven t seen before either. i think the only instance that comes close is back in 2011 during the debt ceiling debate, when the nation came close to defaulting on its loans. you could sense the anxiety here at the white house. that s really the only instance it s come close to this. and, of course, some people are jumping to the conclusion that this is similar to bush s handling of katrina. i can tell you that if you bring that up here at the white house, they reject that. a lot of expletives start flying around. they say these are apples and oranges. they say, perhaps it s closer to the bp oil spill. however you want to frame it, though, there is no debate that this is a legacy issue. this is the president s signature piece of legislation. there is so much riding on the administration s ability to get this health care website and health care plan running