Good morning and welcome to al Jazeera America. Im stephanie sy. The future of american troops in afghanistan is being decided by a group of Afghan Tribal leaders. Afghan and american leaders said yes to a security deal and today afghan President Hamid karzai is pushing a council to accept it. The decision now lies with the loya jirga. Translation you are here representing the afghan nation. I was under pressure not to organise the loya jirga. When it comes to issues of National Significance it is important to hold the jirgas. Up to 15,000 troops could remain in the region if the security pact is signed, including 8,00012,000 american troops. It is entirely train, equip and assist there is no combat role for the United States force, and the bilateral Security Agreement is an effort to clarify for afghans and for United States military forces exactly what the rules are with respect to that ongoing relationship. Here are the terms of the deal u. S. Forces that remain after next year rece
Im richard lui. Overnight congressman trey radel arrived in florida hours after he pleaded guilty to buying cocaine and was sentenced to a year of probation. He is taking a leave of absence from congress and apologized. He said hed enter what he calls intensive inpatient treatment. I have been getting the help that i need and i will continue to get the help that i need and the support system that i need for years to come. I believe in forgiveness and redemption. And i hope if there is anything positive that can come out of this and i know there will be positive that comes out of this, its that i hope that i can be a role model for millions of others that are struggling with this disease. House Speaker John Boehner wont say whether he thinks his fellow republican can resign. Various reports say the speaker was only informed of his arrest this week. His dealer tipped off the feds to radel as one of his socalled regular customers, then in a sting, an undercover officer met radel at a d. C
Good morning. We begin this thursday morning with breaking news about florida congressman, trey radel. Hes speaking out for the First Time Since his arrest on cocaine charges and dropped a bombshell last night during a press conference. Speaking to reporters from his office, a contrite trey radel apologized and announced he is taking a leave of absence. Im sorry. I have no excuse for what ive done. I have let down our country. Ive let down our constituents. Ive let down my family. Reporter during the news conference, radel admitted he has been struggling with alcoholism and Substance Abuse on and off for years. The Florida Republican and tea party favorite, pleaded guilty to cocaine possession after being nabbed in the federal sting. The charges, radel was charged to a years probation. Florida democrats are canningster his asking for his resignation. Supporters are already rallying behind him. Should he resign . Absolutely not. Hes going to come out a better person for this. And i beli
Tomorrows game in l. A. There are protests scheduled for tomorrow. Reporter the controversy is bigger than basketball. And its the crowd of hockey fans at tonights game at the staple center. Its all about the shots. All about the shots winning game seven. Reporter a call for a stern reaction against sterling. Ever since audio recordings of sterling the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers making racially charged comments surfaced theres been calls for his ouster and sponsors are bailing. Including car max, state mark and virgin america. The teams partner since 2012. I expect the nba to act quickly, something has to be done. Reporter the nba has hired a forensic expert to look into the recordings and is planning a News Conference tomorrow in new york. The controversy overshadows the play off series with the warriors coach calling for a boycott. If im a warriors fan i wouldnt show up tomorrow. Im not sitting here saying clipper fans, i wouldnt show up. Reporter so if you show up, there if y
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki has been called to testify before congress. It stems from allegations of mistreatment at va hospital in phoenix where as many as 40 veterans reportedly died while waiting for medical treatment. And now a House Committee has vetted to subpoena all email and correspondents related to that va hospital and a possible coverup. Lets bring in tracie potts from washington. Good morning to you. What happens if the subpoenas come up empty . Reporter theyre probably going to dig deeper. Lawmakers believe the answer is in there somewhere. What may be thousands of pages of documents they want to look through every democrat, every republican voted in favor of this subpoena. They want to get to the bottom of who made it difficult for these vets to see a doctor quickly. Im now going to sign a subpoena for production of reporter lawmakers are giving the va until may 19th to turn over emails and documents about who destroyed a secret waiting list at the phoeni