Team as his wife already found a buyer for the clippers. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. 12 1 2 years after the United States went to war in afghanistan, president obama has announced a new plan to end americas military involvement but that plan calls for thousands of u. S. Troops to remain in a hostile environment beyond this year. It will require the cooperation of afghan leaders and its certain that the taliban and al qaeda will not be cooperating. Cnns Barbara Starr is standing by. Ill speak with the National Security adviser. First, lets go to jim acosta. Jim . Wolf, for months the white house has not specifically said how many troops will be in afghanistan after 2014 but today the president put his plan on the table. Declaring the combat mission in afghanistan over by the end of the year, president obama laid out the final chapter for the nations longest war. The bottom line is, its time to turn the page on more than a decade in which so much of our Foreign Policy was focused on the wars in afghanistan and iraq. Reporter a small residual force will be limited to training Counterterrorism Operations and there will be just 9800 u. S. Forces next year. About half that by 2016. And Embassy Security only in the Afghan Capital as president obama prepares to leave office. Mr. Obamas proposal stops short of the full withdrawal he promised voters in 2012. We will have them all out tlf by 2014. Reporter but worried about the repeat of the pullout from iraq, u. S. Military commanders pushed for a minimum of 10,000 troops and that plan, the general cautioned, will not be perfect. In a statement, three key gcop senators call the plan a mistake and hinges on a new Security Agreement with afghan leaders. Hamid karzai has refused to sign it leaving the two men vying to replace him to steal the deal. The two final afghan candidates in the Runoff Election for president have each indicated that they would sign this agreement probably after taking office. So im hopeful that we can get this done. Reporter and a Senior Administration official tells cnn that the two runoff candidates have said that they will sign the agreement. Without that agreement, white house Officials Say there will be no u. S. Troops a past 2014 and aides to the president say that it will be part of a larger speech at west point tomorrow. Hes going to talk about the forest, wolf. Live coverage starting tomorrow morning at 10 00 a. M. At west point. Jim acosta, thank you very much. The troop drawdown may have a ripple down effect in the region. Right next door, as all of us know, is pakistan. With fewer troops in afghanistan, will that limit u. S. Options in dealing with terror in pakistan . Wolf, this may be a key question for what does happen two years from now when u. S. Troops pack up and go home. What happens if the u. S. Spots an al qaeda terrorist Training Camp right on that afghanistan pakistan border in what if Pakistans Nuclear weapons are not secure . How does the u. S. Operate against terrorist elements inside of pakistan . No one is really talking about that right now. That seems to be a black hole of discussion but behind the scenes, u. S. Officials say they are going to look at all of this and figure out, do they need additional basis in the region . Do they need places to base troops if there is a crisis . A place to possibly be able to fly drones if they have to take action. Wolf . And on other fronts, syria, the war is raging on. Now the Obama Administration is looking to expand military training for antibashar al assad and syrian rebels. Do what do we know about that . We know that the administration has been considering this. The state department would like to have additional Opposition Forces and the pentagon is a little more wary of it. The pentagon owe fitfficial tel me, how do you know that they are not part of the growing Al Qaeda Movement i side of syria, that if you give them the training, the weapons, they wont use it with their with an al qaeda cell in syria. So where do we stand on this . The administration considering it . A lot of people saying that president obama may, may be close to signing some kind of order to move ahead with this kind of idea but we are told, still, no final decisions have been made. Wolf . Well see what, if anything, he says about that at the commencement speech tomorrow. The u. S. Drawdown in afghanistan down to fewer than 10,000 troops next year will still have a sur advising price tag. Tony blinken is joining us from the white house. Thanks for coming in. Thanks, wolf. The president made an announcement. Theres a couple of technical questions that you can answer for our viewers. First of all, 10,000 troops will remain in afghanistan. I assume they will have immunity from afghan prosecution, that is what forced the u. S. To pull troops from iraq. They will only remain if they have immunity and what is required by that is the bilateral Security Agreement. Both of the candidates have said that they will sign it promptly by taking office and thats when the president made the statement that he did today. How much is it going to cost american taxpayers to keep troops in afghanistan next year . Well, youre looking at the tens of millions of dollars. Were looking at the vicinity of 20 billion when you factor everything in. 20 billion. That includes an addition of 9800 u. S. Troops, nato forces as well as private contractors. Do you have any idea how many private contractors will be needed to support the 9800 u. S. Troops . Youre being looking at several thousand private contractors but also significant support from our nato allied and partner who is will remain engaged. It will be in the vicinity of 4,000 partner troops in 2015. Well be down to about half of that by the end of the year and then by the end of 2016 well be into a normalized opposition where we have our embassy and small number of troops to protect the embassy. Were getting an indication that as many as 1,000 american troops will be stationed in and around the u. S. Embassy even after 2016. Is that right . The numbers are not yet set but heres what would happen. There would be a certain number of troops required to secure the embassy and were talking probably in the hundreds. You also have, in any embassy where we have a defense relationship with the host country, some troops who are working on military contracts, you have experts who help them acquire and use it. And then those advising of the afghans, the defense ministry, other security ministries, youll have some folks there to do that. Tell our viewers why its in their interests, american citizens, to spend tens of billions of dollars to stay in afghanistan next year and the year after, especially because the afghans themselves, they have more than 350,000 of their own Domestic Police and security forces. Wolf, we want to complete the job that we started. That means that as we draw down our troops, building up the afghans to the point where they can take full responsibility for their own security in the future and thats what weve been doing. Doing it as the president announced today. That is, going from where we are now, which is about 32,000 troops down to 10,000 and then down to about half of that and then finally down to a very small presence to secure the embassy is a trajectory that makes sense and will allow the afghans to continue to assume responsibility for their future and do it in a way that, again, gets our folks out and builds them up. Im going to play for you two comments that the president made, one in 2012, one in 2013 about his objectives. Take a listen. We are bringing our troops home from afghanistan and i set a timetable, we will have them out of there by 2014. This drawdown will continue and by the end of next year, our war in afghanistan will be over. So on the first point, in the 2012 when he said that all u. S. Troops will be out by the end of 2014, thats not necessarily happening, if you think 9800 u. S. Troops are still going to stay there. First of all, lets put this in perspective. When the president took office, there were 170,000 americans in harms way. By the end of the year well be down to 10,000. The president was very clear, the combat mission in afghanistan ends this year. And so the americans who remain in afghanistan in 2015 will not be out patrolling the streets or in the mountains and the valleys. They will be there to support the Afghan Military and help train them and advise them and they will be there to help them deal with the remaining terrorism threat. Thats what they will be doing. That advances our security and helps afghanistan. You saw the statement that john mccain, lindsey graham, kelly ayotte put out. The president s decision to set an arbitrary date for a full withdrawal of troops is a monumental mistake and a triumph of politics over strategy. This is a shortsighted decision that will make it harder to end the war in afghanistan responsibly. Your reaction . First, its very important to let the afghans know what they need to do Going Forward so they can work on their responsibilities and step up to the plate. Thats worked very effectively. When we told them wed be doing that at the end of this year, we need to give them a clear trajectory. Second, it makes no sense to keep 10,000 or more troops in afghanistan. To do what . Third, military was fully supportive of this trajectory down. And finally, we cant be in an endless war posture. This is about ending these wars responsibly and then redirecting some of these resources in different parts of the world in different ways. In afghanistan, how much damage was done by the inadvertent naming of the cia station chief over the weekend in kabul . Wolf, it shouldnt have happened. Were trying to understand why it happened. Denis mcdonough asked the council why it happened and make sure it wont happen again. Will that individual have to leave afghanistan because his identity is well known . Wolf, youll understand that i cant comment on the details but you can rest assured that the security of this person is in our foreminds and well make sure its taken care of. Can you tell me where the blunder owe occurred . I cannot. He asked for it to be looked into and make sure it doesnt happen again. Tony blinken, thank you for joining us. Thanks a lot, wolf. Valerie playne calls this latest incident astonishing. Shell be my guest here in the situation room. Up next, are their lives in danger right now . Plus, our exclusive reporting of the l. A. Clippers. Is Donald Sterlings wife already shopping for offers . I missed you, too. Ou. Hi buddy. Mom awesome dad i missed you. Oh. Daddy. Chevrolet and its dealers proudly support military appreciation month. With the industrys best military purchase program, for all that have served. Theres growing fallout from the outing of the cia station chief. Joining us a bob baer and jeremy. Both of these guys know a lot about this subject. So what do you make of this, jeremy, this outing of the cia station chief. Is it a big deal as far as National Security is concerned . Wolf, it was clearly a mistake. It was pretty sloppy. It was one of those makes you wince moments. But look, i think the agency is probably taking steps right now to figure out what this means. As you heard from deputy National Security adviser tony blinken, the counsel will look at why this happened. I think maybe some criminal action. Is there any suspicion, as far as you know, that somebody may have broken a law . I dont think we know that yet. I think its too early to know what happened, under what circumstances was the name revealed. Look, this is serious and its why the white house quickly corrected the mistake and why they want to figure out how to not make it again. Bob is there a difference and i suspect there is, between the outing of Valerie Plame and a former cia station chief, who i presume is wellknown to counterparts, Afghan Intelligence officials in kabul . Ji agree with jeremy. White house staff, probably low level, prepared a list and it got sent out to the press. Its serious in the sense that i dont see any choice but to pull this man out. He will become a target. Yes, the Afghan Government knew who he was but not the taliban and he certainly would be the focus of an attempt on his life if he were to stay. Bob, if you were the cia station chief in kabul and highranking Afghan Intelligence officials, you deal with them on a daily basis, dont you automatically ast automatically assume that that information could be leaked . How secure is that intelligence information . Wolf, youre absolutely right. I wouldnt trust it myself but presumably he meets with the top people in that country who are committed to one side but the names always do leak out and you see cia people that hold out on very short notice because they are under threat because of this very problem. Jeremy, valley plame was outed during the Bush Administration and she tweeted this. Astonishing, white house identified a cia chief in afghanistan. But there is a difference in the world of espionage. This individual is declared to the Afghan Government. Hes also probably declared to other governments with to whom he works, probably the pakistani government. There are other ways to protect an officer. There is trade craft. I think the cia is probably reviewing all of that today and try to figure out how best to protect the officer and if bringing him home is the answer, thats what they will do. I would assume they will. Wouldnt you bring him home, bob baer, out of an abundance of caution, since the name is out there . Wolf, absolutely. Why take the risk . You know, its a very dangerous country and we cant depend on the government completely. Pull him right out, same day. Do you have a good handle of how this happened, jeremy . I dont. I presume it was an innocent mistake by some staffer who put together a list on a frantic trip to afghanistan to the pool reporters. We dont know that yet and thats why the chief of staff have asked the white House Counsel to take a hard look at this. If any wrongdoing or negligence happened, i presume that person would be admonished and probably punished. Theres a lot of concern out there about this blunder, bob. How do you make sure it never happens again . Thats what tony says wants to be done to make sure it doesnt happen again . You cant. They dont understand that the cia has to operate under cover, especially young staffers coming in. They say, so what, the cia station chief. They put it on a list. Its a constant problem and can never be fixed entirely. You say this was a blunder by presumably a low level staffer. The president made that memorial day visit and all of these military officers, diplomats, and then it said station chief. This is a different kind of outing of a cia operative than the Valerie Plame outing. That was different. It is different. It appears to be a blunder, an accident. But the agency is very sensitive to it the safety and security of it is officers. There was a bad day in eastern afghanistan in 2009, the worst day for the agency since the 1983 beirut bombing so the agency is very sensitive to how its officers is treated and handled in a country. And i assure you, wolf, they are going to do everything that they can to ensure that this officers cover is tradecraft, his approximately protection is bolstered here in the coming days, possibly to ininclude bringing him home. I assume that this cia station chief, as far as being an officer of the cia, whether as a station chief somewhere else or some other kind of role, thats over . You could send to london, paris, but a war zone, id keep him out just as a earth ma of precaution. His name is out there and it really will complicate his career, for the rest of his career. And like other news organizations, were not revealing the name of the cia station chief in kabul. Jeremy bash and bob bcaer, than you. Valerie plame will be my guest tomorrow here in the situation room. Weve got lots to discuss with her. Coming up, a cnn exclusive. With the clock ticking on the nbas demand that Donald Sterling gives up his team, has his wife already found a buyer for the l. A. Clippers . And the families of those missing on flight 370 finally get what they wanted, the raw satellite data used to track the missing airliner. But will it help . Stay with us. Youre in the situation room. Peoi go to angies listt for all kinds of reasons. To gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. Angies list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. Youll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. Now that were expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angies list and look for pediatricians. The Service Providers that ive found on angies list actually have blown me away. Find out why more than two million members count on angies list. Angies list reviews you can trust. Dont just visit new york. Visit tripadvisor new york. With millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better. Trwith secure wifie for your business. It also comes with public wifi for your customers. Not so with internet from the phone company. I would email the phone company to inquire as to why they have shortchanged these customers. But that would require wifi. Switch to comcast Business Internet and get two Wifi Networks included. Comcast business built for business. Breaking news. Were getting some exclusive new reporting about possible maneuvers under way right now on Shelly Sterlings behalf to sell the l. A. Clippers in the wake of her estranged husbands rant. What are your sources telling you, brian todd . Shelly sterling has been meeting with potential buyers. She met with