huge deal. set the scene. reporter: this is a big deal, wolf. a trip by the president of the united states to a war zone like afghanistan is extraordinary and this is only the third time that president obama has made this trip. it s been over a year. the last time he was there was in december 2010 and furthermore, at the presidential palace which is where he is right now for brief remarks with president hamid karzai and to sign the strategic partnership agreement with afghanistan to talk about the u.s. relationship with afghanistan beyond 2014. that s extraordinary. the last time the president was in afghanistan in december of 2010 he could not make that trip from bagram air force base which is about 30 miles or so north of kabul to the palace because of weather concerns, and certainly security is always a concern as the president is in the comfort of the air force base. if you look at past trip, wolf, the last one only lasted four hours and it s very late at night in afgha