economy and will these accomplishments on foreign policy translate a year from now when people decide whether he gets four more years. what's going on, the president of the united states just moments ago went into the white house briefing room and announced that the war in iraq is about to end for the united states, that all u.s. troops will be out of iraq by the end of this year. there are about 40,000, 45,000 u.s. troops there right now. jay carney, the white house press secretary, is now taking questions. president didn't take questions. let's listen in. >> they are here to take your questions about the announcement the president just made. after that, why don't we give your questions to them on that subject or other subjects they may be able to help you with, then i will remain to take your questions on other subjects.

>> nine years complete withdrawal is in the white house's assessment, is this a victory for the united states and if i could bundle up just -- if you could answer that, then follow up. >> i think one of the more poignant moments in the secure video conference downstairs was when president obama congratulated prime minister maliki and the people of iraq for getting to this momentous moment. and importantly when prime minister maliki congratulated president obama an our troops an our diplomats for all they've done. so when the president laid out a vision for the future of iraq in february 2009 down in camp lejeune, many of you were there, he said what we are looking for is an iraq that's secure, stable an self-reliant and that's exactly what we got here. there is no question this is a success. >> specifically, long discussions over the issue of immunity. had that issue been resolved,

would the president have preferred to have had trainers, u.s. trainers, u.s. troops remain there as trainers? >> what the president preferred was for best relationship for the united states and iraq going forward. that's exactly what we have now as a result of the painstaking work of importantly our commanding general there and our ambassador. what we've done over the course of these last three years has indicate -- the president has indicated his not only commitment to fulfilling that security agreement but also his willingness to hear out the iraqis on what kind of relationship they want to have going forward. so we talked about immunities. there's no question about that. but the decision -- and the president will insist on our troops having what they need no matter where they are but the bottom line is the decision that you heard the president talk about today is reflective of his view and the prime minister's view of the kind of relationship that we want to have going forward. that relationship is a normal relationship. that's based on a diplomatic lead, a civilian presence in the

lead, but also will have important security components as our relationships diplomatically all around the world have from jordan to egypt to colombia to other countries that have similar kind of security components. so we feel like we got exactly what we needed to protect our interest and the iraqis feel the same way. >> you guys are confident that the iraqi security forces are very well equipped to take the lead without any further assistance? >> well, i think we feel very proud of the work that our guys have done. civilian and military have done in training the iraqis. i think importantly they've work together over the course of these last several years. not only trained together but also deployed, partnered together. very robustly. i think as we've done this and tony can attest to this as well, as we've done very intensively, frankly, over the course of the last seven or eight months, a full review of where we stand

with the iraqis, one assessment after another about the iraqi security forces came back saying these guys are ready, these guys are capable, these guys are proven. importantly they're proven because they've been tested and a lot of the kinds of threats that they're going to see going forward. so we feel very good about that. >> even though the troops are coming home, major attacks continue in iraq. you didn't feel as you said that the iraqi security forces are prepared for that. what was the hold-up? what prevented an agreement being reached on leaving trainers behind as many as many officials said training was essential to get those troops in order? >> matt, i think it is important to point out that we have a capacity to maintain trainers. in fact, the office of security cooperation in iraq will have a capacity to train iraqis on the new kinds of weapons and weapons

systems that the iraqis are going to buy importantly like the f-16s they just purchased about a month ago. we will have a training capacity there. we'll have the kind of normal training we have with countries all over the world. you'll see for example central command looking for opportunities to vin creased naval cooperation. you'll see opportunities and naval exercises. opportunities to have increased air force training and exercise opportunities. so we're going to have the kind of robust security cooperation with the iraqis that we have with important allies all around the world. so the suggestion of your question that somehow there's not going to be training is just not accurate. the main purpose of the effort that we undertook, matt, over the course of not only the last several months and intensively tony and i but also over the last several years was the establishment of a normal

relationship with a secure, stable and self-reliant iraq that allows them in the region of considerable unrest at the moment to chart the kind of secure future that they want. that was the goal. not some kind of arrangement around immunities. in getting this kind of goal, this kind of fulfilling this goal of a secure relationship, a secure, stable, self-reliant iraq, we got exactly what we need. >> you said the iraq mission was ending as a success. is that the same as mission accomplished? >> i'll let you check your they saw russ. >> what's the u.s. plan to counter iranian power in iraq? >> well, the fact of the mattercy think that as you stack up where the iranians feel they stand right now, in 2011, after years of the kind of united international pressure that they've seen over the last several years, the kind of,

frankly, robust outcry against the kind of activity that we saw announced just last week as it relates to them not living up to their obligations under the convention to which they're party to protect diplomats, of all things. i think in the first instance you're seeing an iran that's weaker an that's more isolated. so we don't need to try to exercise our influence on those matters through iraq. we, frankly, do that as a matter of course through the united nations, by lat rilaterally wit friends throughout the region. we're concerned about iran's unwillingness to live up to their obligations, be it on human rights, on their nuclear program or be it as simple as protecting diplomats wherever they are serving. we need to make sure the iraqis can exercise the kind of sovereignty they want. i think it is important to highlight one critical fact as we look at iraq's future.

if you see the kind of increased production of iraq oil output as we've seen over the last couple years yoo, they'll surpass iranian output for oil production. so this is just one indicator of the kind of very positive future that we think the iraqis have in front of them. >> the president's deputy national security advisor briefing reporters over at the white house after the president's dramatic announcement from the u.s. perspective the war in iraq will be over at the end of this year when the remaining approximate i had 40,000 to 45,000 u.s. troops will completely be out of iraq. dennis mcdonough insisting that this is exactly what the u.s. wants even though there has been a failure, at least so far, to work out any new agreement with the iraqi government and prime minister nuri al maliki to maintain at least some u.s. troops in iraq after the start of next year, 3,000 to 5,000, which had been the hope of a lot of u.s. officials.

but nuri al maliki's government refused to provide the immunity that's currently provided to all u.s. military personnel in iraq and as a result those negotiations apparently collapsed at least for now. chris lawrence is our pentagon correspondent. chris, all u.s. military forces will be out, i assume there will be a handful, 50, 100 u.s. marines that will protect the u.s. embassy in baghdad. that's the largest u.s. embassy in the world. thousands of american diplomats and contractors are stationed there. there will be some other marines, i assume at consulates or other places but the pentagon will be out of the picture as far as the future of iraq is concerned. state department, the cia will state over. unfortunately, chris lawrence, we've lost him over at the pentagon. gloria borger is here. gloria, you've been getting a

lot of information coming in. this will be a very modest u.s. military presence. just a few marines protecting the embassy. there won't be any u.s. military bases in iraq. >> and to the point you were just making, dennis mcdonough just made which is essentially we have other ways of dealing with iran, don't worry so much about iran. we believe it is weaker and more isolated and this withdrawal from iraq does not mean that we have taken our eye off the ball as far as iran is concerned. there is the state department. there is the cia. there are other ways to deal with iran and the larger point he says is that when he was asked a question about victory, he said iraq is secure, stable and self-reliant. >> let's hope it stays that way. >> well, that's the question. >> after 2012, there will be a lot of questions as far as the future of iraq is concerned. we're watching all of this

unfold. john king is watching it as well. john, as you take a look at what the president said, what dennis mcdonough, his deputy national security advisor has said, there's going to be a lot of reaction coming in, including reaction, i assume, from some of the president's republican critics, including sol of the presidential candidates. >> some of the republican critics in congress and an independent senator in congress, joe lieberman. we know they thought it was critically important to keep that residual force. some thought it should be in the ballpark of 15,000 or 20,000. it is very clear from the president's standpoint those negotiations are over. he said he will keep the promise he made as a candidate for president in 2008 and get all u.s. troops out by the end of this year. if you look at the map of iraq right now, you see the dots here, the biggest base obviously here in baghdad. military has divided iraq essentially into three pieces, northern, central and southern. during the iraq war this was largely the domain of the

british troops. american military presence throughout these other places. if you look, this is during the big surge. remember this was happening in the bush administration. then senator barack obama opposed the surge. he said it was a reckless policy under the bush administration. you see all these blue dots. it was the surge of u.s. troops. a much larger u.s. military presence at that time as the surge played out. if you look back in time, almost nine years, the war started here. march. you saw about 150,000 at the beginning. then troop levels came down, the bush administration thought early on it started to drop them down. then we all remember the significant problems in iraq. here's the surge area right here where they went higher. the surge brought u.s. troop levels higher than they were at the beginning of the war. since then there's been this slow drawdown. then in the last couple of years a dramatic drawdown. remember it was in 2010 that the number of troops in afghanistan actually passed the number of troops in iraq. as of today, little more than 90,000 u.s. troops in

afghanistan. the president saying that number will continue to drop. they're not supposed to go home until 2014. about 30,000 troops in the middle of iraq. very great logistical organization. sad but we must remember 4,421 americans lost their lives. in 2004 these are the casualties, when things were going south in iraq. then when you had the troop surge. you had increased military tempo, increased fatalities as well. more than 4,400 brave americans lost their lives during this war which was become a huge political controversy here in the united states. for point of reference, 1,800 in the ten years the united states has been in afghanistan. 1,800 troops have lost their lives there. the larger number, 4,400 in iraq. there will be a political and policy debate, security debate

about whether you need that residual force. the president believes this is a promise he made and a promise he will keep now, all u.s. troops -- again a big logistical challenge. if they don't make it until december 30th, but all troops coming out of iraq ending the war. it will not end the political debate, historic cal debate whether it was the right course to take. fareed zakaria is on the phone. i know you're getting ready for an exclusive interview with mahmoud ahmadinejad. i know our viewers here in the united states and around the world are anxious for your thoughts on what the president has just announced. >> i think it is just as you and john king have been pointing out. but it is important to point out this is the disappointment for the united states. the united states was in active negotiations with the iraqi

government to try to retain a residual force. i know that the central command of the united states wanted a force much larger than 2,000 or 3,000. the debate that was taking place in the american administration was whether to have 15,000 troops or 3,000 troops. clearly what happened was on the iraqi said, there was simply not able to muster the political coalition to make the deal work. and that tells you that there were strong enough forces on limits for simplicity sake call it the pro-iranian side of the iraqi political spectrum, the muqtada al sadr's of the world and others who made it very difficult for us to move forward. here we are in a situation where we are lose, without any question, day to day influence in iraq and the iranians will gain it. i think that it does fulfill a president that the president had made but there was a very easy path to maintain some kind of

force level if this status of forces agreement had been negotiated. clearly what happened was the iraqis were unwilling to make that deal happen and so the president decided in that context he was going to make clear that we were -- there was no circumstance in which american troops were going to stay in iraq without the legal status of forces agreement that we have with any country in which we have our troops. >> including south korea, including japan, including germany. after all those wars, decades ago, the u.s. still has significant troop levels in those countries. but there are stand tus tus of agreements that the u.s. attempted to negotiate with the iraqi government of prime minister nuri al maliki over these several weeks or months but as you pointed out, fareed, they failed that. here's what concerns a lot of u.s. military officials. you're there in iran right now, fareed. when all the dust settles next year and the year to come, that iraq might be dramatically

aligned not only with iran but also with syria and indeed in recent weeks in the face of all the turmoil that's going on in syria, baghdad, nuri al maliki, like mahmoud ahmadinejad, has basically backed up bashar al assad, the syrian leader. and i'm anxious to see if that worst case scenario, that the likes of joe lieberman or john mccain or lindsey graham might fear. is that realistic that all the blood and treasure the u.s. involved in iraq might, in the end, emerge as a iranian strategic victory. >> i think there is a likelihood of that -- maybe not a likelihood, but there is a distinct possibility of that and it tells us, i think, that there was a dramatic misconception of iraq from the start. we never really understood the country we were getting involved in. we never understood the exiles when we empowered. the president of iraq, the talibani, the prime minister of iraq, mr. maliki, has spent

years in iran. they were funded by iran. they speak fluently. they have close relations with the leader of the qods force, so the idea that they would not have some kind of close connection and the way in which the united states entered this almost plindly assuming that because we were the liberators and we were getting rid of a bad guy, all of iraq would rise in our support. just shows that there was both a strategic and a tactical level a game very badly played and now we are reaping the rewards of that or the consequences of that. i don't think there was much the obama administration would do at this point, because -- and there were many forces within iraq that did want to do the deal with united states, just not enough. and so we face a situation where we will have to redouble our efforts politically and diplomatically. but i tell you something, in this part of the world, wolf, there's nothing -- nothing helps soft power more than hard power.

in other words, if you're going to try to have influence and be persuasive and have an impact on decision making, sure helps to be militarily powerful, strong, consequential and having had a certain number of american troops that would be crucial to training the iraqi army will be very useful. what remains to be seen, wolf, is who will play that role. because the iraqi army sure needs help. they have been trained by the americans. if the americans are going to withdraw, somebody is going to have to fill that vacuum. >> excellent point, fareed. before i let you go, when are you sitting down with president mahmoud ahmadinejad? when can we expect to know what he has to say about this dramatic announcement from president obama today, also the killing yesterday of moammar gadhafi in libya, and these latest accusations that the u.s. government has put forward accusing the iranians of

attempting to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador here in washington,ed a adel al jubeir. what are you going to be speaking in this exclusive interview with president ahmadinejad? >> the interview is scheduled for 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. it is 9:00 at night now. president ahmadinejad apparently gets up at 4:00, goes for a run, then goes to the gym. so when he is done with all of that, i will interview him. and you are absolutely right, wolf. we've got issues to get the plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador, we've got libya and gadhafi, we've got the consequence, what happens in syria, and of course this new announcement about iraq and we're going to get his reaction to all of those things. as you know, he's very seasons politician so i'm sure he's already given some thought to what he is going to say. >> i assume he'll declare victory on all fronts if what he

told a few reporters who met with him in new york city during the time during the week he was in new york for the general assembly. i was among those reporters. i assume he'll say that iran is doing everything right and the u.s. is doing everything wrong. all right, fareed, we're anxious to hear how this interview goes. good luck. i know fareed zakaria gps, sunday morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern. replayed 1:00 p.m. eastern for fareed's interview with president ahmadinejad. we'll all look forward to that and fareed, we'll stay in very close touch with you. want to recap the breaking news. president obama only moments ago announcing at the white house that all u.s. troops will be out of iraq by the end of this year declaring that the war in iraq will be over. we'll continue the breaking news coverage right here in the "cnn newsroom" right after this. ( phone ringing )

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so, still if iraq right now. will be home by the end of the year. no agreement on retaining any residual u.s. military presence. there had been an effort in recent weeks and months to negotiate a new status of forces agreement with the iraqi government of prime minister nuri al maliki. that would have allowed perhaps 3,000 or 5,000. some u.s. military personnel at the u.s. military's central command want the 15,000 u.s. troops to remain to have that presence there. but as of now that is not happening because of opposition within the iraqi government of prime minister nuri al maliki. retired u.s. army general mark k kimmitt is joining us as well as retired army general spider marks. general kimmitt, first to you. what do you make of this announcement from the president? >> well, i'm not surprised. it has been clear over the last few weeks that the negotiations have stalled on the point of immunity. the diplomatic protection that our soldiers enjoy while operating in iraq.

the iraqis were not willing to grant it. the u.s. cannot keep their forces there without it. so the president was backed into a corner and had to make the decision to withdraw the combat forces at the end of this year. >> what is do it say about iran's level of influence within iraq that prevented nuri al maliki from accepting a new status of forces agreement with the u.s.? >> well, as fareed said earlier, clearly the geographic proximity of iran and iraq -- iran is going to have a significant amount of influence inside of iraq for years to come. even though there are a significant number of iraqi nationalists that are trying to push back on this, i think it is quite evident that there is celebration going on tonight in tehran and there's going to be worry in riyadh and abu dhabi about which way the iraqi government and the iraqi nation is going. will it be going to the west or will it be going to the east and this would be one more indicator

that the influence is going to be focused on the east rather than on the west. >> yeah, i assume you're right. general marks, spider marks is with us, as well. do you agree with general kimmitt and fareed zakaria and a lot of others that this does represent a sort of strategic setback for the u.s. right now? >> oh, i completely concur that it's a strategic setback. i disagree with mark in that i don't think the president was backed into a corner. clearly what could have happened was an incredibly more diplomatic posture to ensure that al maliki would have worked a little harder toward establishing a status of forces agreement. and mark knows exceptionally well. if we have one soldier, one marine or one individual on the ground who wears a uniform in iraq, that individual has to be protected by s.o.f.a. and it is totally unacceptable for us to

have any kind of relationship going forward that would have a military to military type component without s.o.f.a. that becomes a stumbling block and a no-go line in terms of our relationship moving forward. having said that, i can promise you there is going to be a u.s. presence in the region most likely in kuwait that allows the united states to have a presence that can provide kinetic capabilities to protect all u.s. presence that will exist. there still is going to be an embassy. there will still be diplomatic efforts that will take place in iraq and there will be a u.s. military presence that's over the horizon that's available. >> s.o.f.a. stands for status of forces agreement. generals, thanks very much. we'll continue the breaking news coverage. lots more coming up. we'll take a quick break. don lemon will continue right after this. on my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military

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i'm don lemon live at the cnn world headquarters in atlanta. we've been following the breaking news coming out of washington. president at the white house moments ago announcing all troops -- most of them -- most of them -- will leave iraq by end of this year except for a few. maybe about 150 who will stay

there to work with arms sale. clearly a big week for this white house when it comes to foreign policy because we know on top of that, moammar gadhafi, that tyrant is dead. the fighting is over in libya as well liberation is at hand one day after the grisly end to moammar gadhafi. we are looking forward to that country's next pivotal moment. it will come soon. a formal declaration by the national transitional council that will clear the way for a new libyan government. nato is working down the details for wining down its air campaign. while there is no doubt libya's dictator of 42 years is gone, the circumstances are still unclear and moammar gadhafi's burial is on hold. we are looking ahead to life after moammar gadhafi in libya right now. a life after u.s. troops in iraq as well. i want to talk to a man who has served as u.s. diplomat in both those countries and many others. david mack, he joins us by

phone. former deputy assistant secretary of state and now a scholar at the middle east institute in washington. mr. ambassador, thank you so much for joining us. i'm sure you heard the news here on cnn. start with iraq. we know americans were pulling out. we knew that that was going to happen but what does it mean to speed up this process at this point? >> oh, the process is moving ahead very, very rapidly already. it has been for some time and the physics of this are that you really -- it is very hard to stop such a logistic effort. so really, it was necessary to cut to the chase and make a final decision and that's what we have done. >> the service enforcement agreement that they couldn't come to terms with, that's what a source close to the administration says, what influence do you think it had on this process? >> well, look. don, it's possible for iraqi and

u.s. street sfrat gists to keep a presence in the country for a year. most of of the senior iraqi military leadership and probably most of their political leadership wanted to have this presence remain but the politics of maliki's -- prime minister's maliki's cabinet, his reliance on the southern faction, the presence of other armed factions that have vowed to see the end of a u.s. military presence in the country made it impossible domestically in iraqi politics for the government to provide any of the legal provisions that would have been necessary to satisfy the american side.

as for u.s. domestic politics, outside of people like me an other strategists in washington, d.c., most of the american public is fed up with our involvement in iraq. they want to see the end of any military presence. they questioned why we would even consider keeping military forces in the country. that's certainly true for most of president obama's party and you will notice, you don't have any of the republican presidential candidates stumping for this either. it is fine for senator mccain and senator graham to make a case for this just as there are foreign policy national security specialists on the democratic -- on the -- in the obama administration who can make a case for it. but the american public has made it very clear that it doesn't want to continue sending its sons and daughters to iraq to keep iraqis from killing one another. that's the way they look at it

and they don't see some of these other strategic pictures and so i think it was natural that the two governments were going to come to this agreement. i think it's been inevitable for some time and i'm glad it's finally made -- put in very concrete terms now. >> ambassador, i want to turn now to libya and moammar gadhafi's death. clearly this has been a big week. at least foreign policy wise when it comes to the president. osama bin laden, now nomkno nom gadhafi and now the withdrawal of troops here. you mentioned republicans may try to spin it in a different direction saying the president is trying to at least ease or lose or lighten the footprint of the u.s. presence in the world. what do you make of the week for the white house on foreign policy at least? >> oh, i think that the libya involvement of the united states and the way this has played out

has been almost picture-perfect. from the beginning this was a case where our european allies in nato had a much larger strategic stake than the united states did. it was incumbent upon them to share the burdens and the obama administration has from the very beginning, the president's inaugural speech and his speech in oslo when he got the nobel prize, he's made it clear that he wants to work to global alliances when he can. there will be cases when the u.s. has to go unilateral. there will be cases when the u.s. has to emphasize its military involvement. but to the extent it is possible, obama administration has taken what i believe is the very wise course of trying to make heavy use of our alliances, sharing the burdens of global security and making use of all

the other tools of u.s. national security. diplomacy, intelligence methods, propaganda, and united nations. and so what happened when this came up, in spite of all the pressures on president obama to become involved unilaterally, he spent a good week putting together this global coalition, including arab states getting an arab league resolution, going to the united states and saying we want a tougher u.n. security council resolution. they got a great mandate. united states then proceeded to use its unique military assets to take out iraqi air defense, making it possible for nato to gain control of the air. >> david mack, now we see the culmination of it -- pardon me for cutting you off here, but now we see the culmination of it with moammar gadhafi being captured and killed. thank you very much for that.

we appreciate it. we want to move on now and go to tripoli in libya now an go to cnn's ivan watson. it is get to play out what's going to happen in iraq and also it is yet to play out how libya is going to form a democracy, what exactly the transitional council is doing as well. take us forward a day from when it was announced moammar gadhafi had been killed. >> reporter: well, the plan right now, don, is that transitional council is about to declare liberation basically. that's not entirely clear whether that's going to be on saturday or sunday. but they say they're going to have some kind of official ceremony in the eastern city of benghazi which is where this revolution all started. the reason the date of that is important is because the council has already signed to follow a timetable. basically the clock starts ticking upon the declaration of liberation that within eight months libyans should go to the polls in a national election to

elect a constitutional assembly. basically a new parliament that's going to be charged with writing up a new constitution and establishing a new government. that's why this day an the end, the downfall, the death of moammar gadhafi has been so important. they couldn't embark on this next step until the former dictator was taken out of the picture, don. >> does this help or hurt the transitional council by wait things went down yesterday? >> well, lot of questions coming out. right now we're into the second night of celebrations here in tripoli of moammar gadhafi's death. i'm hear people shooting up in the air back here, honking their horns. a lot of people here think this man was a tyrant and are happy to see him bloodied and in the end killed. harder to gauge are the silent libyans, the one who perhaps are afraid to speak out right now because there's so many rebels armed out in the streets. people who are telling me in

confidence, listen, i'm uncomfortable with the way this man died. i think he shall have been taken to court. or others who say, i respected him despite his faults. we've heard that there were people crying last night when they saw the images of gadhafi's dead body on libyan tv last night. there are also the international implications. the united nations high commissioner for human rates is calling for an investigation now into how gadhafi was killed, whether it was in fact in some kind of a cross fire or some kind of extra judicial killing and that could have implications for the men who brought him -- who captured him in the end in sirte yesterday. >> ivan, we're watching some very graphic images there to the right of your screen of moammar gadhafi dead, laying there on a stretcher on the floor. so listen, ivan. again, we have yet to see how this is exactly going to play out whether it comes to democracy because this is a region that hasn't really known democracy. it could take decades.

is there a sense at least from on the ground of optimism from the libyan people about this? >> you know, i talked to a guy who came out of friday prayers in a mosque and he said i do feel good about the future. yes, libya has never had political parties. yes, libya has never really had elections that anybody living memory, but anything this guy said is better than what we had before. so we got to take a libyan citizen at his word for that. >> there's concern about because of the different troops and different factions about a civil war on the ground there. are you getting a sense that things are working at least as normal as possible after this? because noe mmoammar gadhafi re hasn't been in power for quite a few months now. is everything running or just normal issues that come about? >> a little more than two months ago when gadhafi still ran this city, you had really long gas

lines here, power blackouts going off. it was pretty dire, the situation. part of that was due to an international blockade. now the gas is flowing at the gas stations. there is electricity again. telecommunications are still a mess. water is not running through the city purpose right now. that's a big challenge. and then you have the problem of all of these armed units, these militias that are running around that because of the situation before this, they basically had to operate separately. how can they get integrated, how can they get demobilized? a lot of unarmed residents of tripoli are telling me that they're really not feeling secure right now because there are so many armed men running around, you may be able to hear them, shooting their guns up in the air and that's going to be a big challenge, can these guys be disarmed, demobilized. i spoke with one fighter today and he was wearing the

epaulettes of a colonel or general or something. he told me he found them on the floor of an army base that the rebels had raided and he put them on for fun but he says i'm hoping to take this uniform off soon, put this gun down and go back to being a university student. that is what he was before. some of the other fighters we're hearing from are not ready to give up their weapons. they're living the dream right now. they've been freedom fighter os. how are you going to reinterxwrreintegrate them into civilian life? big challenge. >> you can see fireworks going off behind ivan. lots of celebrating going there. herman cain says he's 100% pro-life. >> it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make. not me as president. not some politician. not a bureaucrat. it gets down to that family. >> okay. so is the gop contender really pro-choice? consider that. it's "fair game."

up next. but first i want to tell you about this. two political junkies, let's test your knowledge. when it comes to abortion, 83% of democrats think that it should be legal. abortion should be legal under all or certain circumstances. so my question for you today is this -- what percentage of voting republicans believe that abortion should be legal? what percent of voting republicans believe that abortion should be legal? stick around. the answer might surprise you. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too.

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welcome back. before the break we looked at some cnn polling that showed 83% of democrats think abortion should be legal under all or certain circumstances. i asked you to guess how many republicans feel the same way. what did you guess? 20? 30? maybe 40%? you need to go a lot higher. 72% of vote offing republicans think abortion should be legal under all or certain circumstances. only 27% think abortion should be illegal. no matter what. so that polling leads to all guests.f "fair game" questions democratic strategist maria cardona and cnn contributor will cain. so will, 72% -- 72% of voting republicans think abortion should be legal under all or certain circumstances. you heard that. how do such a minority of republicans come to play such an influential role in choosing the gop nominee? >> i have to be honest, i found that poll pretty shocking. i guess the answer is because it is such an impassioned issue.

if you believe life begins at conception, those that are pro-life, it is the litmus test issue, top of the list, one of the biggest things you choose a candidate on so you'll make it a bag part of your platform. >> maria, talk about the newest influence in the republican party, the tea party. does that movement make it even harder for abortion rights supporters in the gop to be heard? >> yes, i do think it definitely has a lot to do with the difficulty in any republican really voicing their support for the pro-choice position. i also think that the pro-life lobby has always been incredibly important in d.c. and in national politics an they have always push candidates to use a point that will cain made to use it as a litmus. and if they don't pass that litmus they make it very hard for that candidate to get any support from the national level and from fund-raising which is always important. >> case in point, let's go to the latest gop candidate to face the wrath of abortion opponents.

he says i am 100% pro life, end of story. i will appoint judges who know that the constitution contains no right to take the life of unborn children. i will oppose government funding of abortion. i will veto fun for planned parenthood. why did mccain feel the need to release plans for funds for planned parenthood. why did he feel the need to release that statement? because he's been coming across as a pro abortion supporter. >> if one of your female, children, grandchildren was raped, you would honestly want her to bring up that baby as their own? >> you're mixing two things here, piers. >> why? because that's what it comes down to. >> what it comes down to, it's not the government's role or anybody else's role to make that decision. it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or mother has to make. >> okay.

so cain doesn't personally believe in abortion but he believes it's no one's business what another decides. isn't that what abortion rights people have been saying all along here, maria? >> absolutely. i heard that and i thought i was listening to a democrat, don. that's exactly what democrats believe. the pro-right folks and -- i'm sorry. the pro-choice folks, most of them democrats, obviously, they never want abortions. they never are wanting for there to be more abortions. we have always supported a woman's right to choice. the words that cain used are the within why it should be a woman's right to chose what happens to her own body. what is interesting here, don, is get government out of the way.

shouldn't they be pro choice as well? >> he responded saying, i didn't understand the question or i didn't get the answer quite right, he did it when he talked about guantanamo bay and whether or not he would negotiate with terrorists. he's done it with this. can he continue to do this or do you think he meant what he said or do you think he didn't understand the question? >> i do not want to have an abortion debate in two minutes on national conversation. it's an issue that is very important. when we keep saying it's a woman's right to chose, we don't have the right to chose to murder each other. the only debate that there should be is when life begins. that's it. as for herman cain, i have no idea what he's talking about because herman cain does not know what he's talking about. this does not resolve around abortion, whether it's an electrified fence or whether he

wants to offend somebody. he walks back statements. he says things that i don't know what he's talking about because he doesn't. >> and that's exactly the hypocrisy that all of the tea party and republicans are actually suffering from. either you want an activist government or you don't. republicans always say, smaller government, smaller government, let's get rid of government. government should not be involved in what happens to a woman's body. >> maria, hang on. to the question that i gave will, that i asked will, it sort of plays into the thing of him having a problem of articulating his positions. >> yes. >> do you believe he has a problem with antic lating the position or let me clarify that? >> this underscores again somebody that is not ready for primetime. this is the second or third time he's had to walk back his

positions because he knows that he's in trouble with a conservative base with whom he cannot get elected without them. it also shows me that this is the beginning of the wilting of a candidate under the national spotlight, somebody who was never reside to be in this to win this. >> maria, will, i'm so sorry. we're getting to close to the top of the hour. we appreciate it you this very much. that's "fair game" for today. you heard about 6 oh 0 minutes ago, all u.s. troops out afghanistan by the end of the year. what do troops think? we'll talk to them after this break. men and uh pandas... elbows mmm [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry, try it yourself.

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breaking news here on cnn. after nearly nine years, u.s. troops are going to be heading home. about an hour ago barack obama reported that they will be home in time for the holidays. i want to bring in paul rieckhoff who is joining me from washington. >> don, this is really good news for the troops serving overseas and for the families to know

that their loved ones will be home in time for the holidays. i think it's an historic day for the united states and for the people of iraq and it's really a poignant time for the veterans community. some gave part or all of their lives and the veterans in our office are talking about their service and remembering the folks that we've lost that brought us to this point. >> have you had a chance to speak to any of the family members or troops at all? >> we're getting notes coming in and it's buzzing around and folks in the reserve or national guard, members serving overseas in afghanistan right now and we're really just reflecting on the sacrifices. and i think it's especially important that americans think about all of these folks, over one million folks that have served in iraq over the last eight years and it's important to remember that as we come up

on a very historic veterans day on 11/11/11. we've got to remember those that have given so much. they need more than a pat on the back. they are coming home toll record level of unemployment, suicide rates are high, mental and physical challenges and we've got to get all americans to remember that just as we've supported them in iraq, we need to support them in the transition coming months. >> thank you, paul rieckhoff, veterans of america. remember, more than 4400 men and women have died in this war and we should remember that. i'm don lemon. i'll see you right after the break. brooke baldwin, as a matter of fact, will be here right after a quick break. 6 million people who've switched to the most highly recommended bed in america. it's not a sealy, a simmons, or a serta... ask me about my tempur-pedic. ask me how i can finally sleep all night. ask me how great my back feels every morning. did you know there's a tempur-pedic for every body? tempur-pedic beds now come insoft...firm...and

everything in-between... ask me how i don't wake up anymore when he comes to bed... these are real tempur-pedic owners...ask someone you know...check out twitter, or your friends on facebook... you'll hear it all...unedited! ask me how i wish i had done this sooner. ask me how this is the best investment i've ever made. tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied. than owners of any traditional mattress brand... to learn more, or find an authorized retailer near you visit tempur-pedic.com. tempur-pedic the most highly recommended bed in america. welcome back to cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. let's just stop and pause for a moment, take a minute to consider the words president obama spoke now, just about over an hour ago. he said the u.s. role in the iraq war is essentially over.

>> today, i can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in iraq will come home by the end of the year. after nearly nine years, america's war in iraq will be over. we will continue discussions on how we might help iraq train and equip its forces. again, just as we offer training and assistance to countries around the world. after all, there will be some difficult days ahead for iraq. and the united states will continue to have an interest in an iraq that is stable, secure, and self-reliant. just as iraqis have persevered through war, i'm confident that they can build a future worthy of a history as cradle of a civilization. here at home, the coming months will be another season of homecomings. across america, our servicemen and women will be reunited with their families. today, i can say that our troops

in iraq will definitely be home for the holidays. >> home for the holidays. you hear that? music to the ears. i know so many american families there and the withdrawal has been a promise since the president's campaign but today it is official. multiple cnn correspondents are working this story for us. let's begin with jessica yellin. it's official. the war is ending. >> reporter: that's right, brooke. and the president emphasized -- sorry. there's a lot of construction here. the president emphasized repeatedly that is he making good in this on his campaign promise. that was a theme throughout his remarks today. he and his aides that spoke for some 30 to 40 minutes after him, emphasized # that iraq is in a position to protect itself, that it is stable and ready to ensure its own security and that the u.s. and iraq will have a strong

relationship going forward but it's not a diplomatic relationship. keep in mind that there will still be a u.s. presence there. there will be a consulate and embassies and contracts there but white house aides say that they will be protected in dangerous spots around the world. >> and listening to the president speak, he mentioned that he spoke to the prime minister of iraq saying that they are on the same page. yet we know that secretary panetta did not reach the agreement. >> reporter: that's right. it's clear that al maliki announced that he would like there to be u.s. capacity and military officials said that they would like some presence, too. the disagreement was immunity

for u.s. soldiers. the u.s. wanted to guarantee that u.s. soldiers would be granted that immunity. that was not reached so all u.s. troops are coming home. the president bust over this in his remarks and just didn't mention it. and so he said that the u.s. and iraq are on the same page. >> final question to you, and i'm paraphrasing, he said the tide of war is receding in afghanistan and he addressed that we have problems here domestically, we need to focus on that. what did that signal to you? >> reporter: that signals that he wanted people to know that the war is winding down under him, not ramping up. and that it's his priority to start spending as much as he can, money, here shoring up the u.s. economy and helping improve american's lives and not on

nation building. quite simply, brooke. >> jessica yellin, our senior corresponde correspondent there at the white house. now i want to go to you, chris lawrence, about the immunity that was referred to, keeping the 3 to 5,000 troops there. explain immunity, will you? >> well, if you look at the very first lines of the constitution, it says no law will conflict with islam. that is a very simple line but has a lot of implications, down to the mundane. say if a muslim-american soldier were to convert to christianity while he was in iraq or if an american soldier were to be critical of islam during the course of his work in iraq, it could pull some problems. all of this -- you know, those are mundane. but if you think of bigger

issues, you think back to 2006, five american troops were charged and later convicted of raping and murdering a teenage girl in iraq. there's a small number of troops who have engaged in very egregious crimes. but without immunity, they would have been subject to iraqi laws and tried in iraqi courts under an iraqi prosecution, which is a very different scenario and that's something that the u.s. military and the u.s. government as a whole just could not stomach that kind of a deal. >> the president mentioned a season of homecomings, saying that our troops will be home for the holidays. do we know, when we're talking about these 39,000 troops, do we know what is next for them once they are home? >> well, three probably just go back into a normal cycle of

deployment. you know, many would go back to their home bases. there was one particular brigade that cnn spoke with about a week ago. they were supposed to be one of the last brigading to pull out of iraq but they were actually coming home early and some of their family members told cnn the reason they were given by the military was because iraq and the u.s. were not able to reach a deal and so their deployment was cut short early. of course, you have the 39,000 still there. and obviously right now the priority will be making sure that they get home, most of them get home by the end of the year. >> and taken care of once they get home. >> yeah. >> once those 39,000 are gone and we look at iraqs and iraq's neighbor, how might it embolden iran? >> well, you can see he where the administration is definitely selling this as a win. but look at the bigger context and look at what has been said by senior officials over this past year.

the's ambassador to iraq said in july that he called it a tremendous concern and his predecessor, robert gates said, most of the u.s. troops being killed were being sophisticated by powerful weapons from iran. well, if iran had that sort of tremendous influence in iraq, while there were tens and thousands of american troops there, how, then will that influence be diminished when all of those troops are gone? i think the administration would have to answer that question in order to truly sell this as a winning scenario. >> yeah. it's a concerning question, chris lawrence. thank you so much. reporting from the pentagon. a little bit more of our breaking news here in a moment, including an interview with one of the very first soldiers on the ground in the iraq war sdplozone. he's going to join me live. a lot more to cover in the next two hours.

watch this. moammar gadhafi captured alive but somehow minutes later the dictator's life comes to a bloody end. now an investigation continues to pour in. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. he's not the first tyrant to meet his end and many are warning, he's not the last. gadhafi's death fueling new protests across the middle east as nato decides what's next for libya. after dozens of wild animals terrorize a town, more questions about exotic pets. cell phones and cancer? don't worry about it. we're going to tell you why but there's a big but in this new study. a guy racing to the hospital gets pulled over for speeding

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i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. where he know just a little bit more today about the killing of moammar gadhafi. the more we know the truth, the more we find about brutal. this is moammar gadhafi's body. it's in a cold storage unit in

misrata more than 24 hours since his death. he has not been buried according to i islam law. turn away if you don't want to look. once again, it's moammar gadhafi. he was alive at the time of the capture and who is in control of moammar gadhafi's body? is it a problem? >> well, it does appear that his body is on ice, you could put it. it's in some kind of a cooling unit in the city of misrata and the government of libya is in

control of his body and they say that they are postponing his body now until later because they want to leave it open, the option for representatives of the international criminal court to possibly investigate the body. they've formed a forensic analysis but want to keep it open in case some international expert needs to take a look at that corps before it is buried. they don't want to bury it in a public place. >> so it's evidence so far. i want to go back and talk about yesterday. this is the drain pipe outside of sirte where gadhafi was apparently fighting and the fighters who found gadhafi may have found him by surprise. they didn't even know that he was there. and, again, warning. this is graphic. this is newly contained footage showing gadhafi wounded as he

was hauled to a car. the question becomes, what happened then? i want you to hear to the human rights watchdog group that sl there investigating as well. >> we know that he was taken from this drain with another senior leader, his military can chief was actually dying just as they found him. but as soon as he was brought to the road, enraged fighters, starting pulling on his hair and punching him in his head. they tried to put him on the front of one of their vehicles and drive him away. he fell off the vehicle but ultimately he was put in the back of one of their vehicles and taken away. he definitely left from this area alive. without any gunshot wounds to his head. >> ivan, if he left that area alive, there is the real possibility that moammar gadhafi was executed, correct?

>> reporter: that's one of the questions being raised, how in fact he died. if you take the national transitional council at his word, they say that he was taken alive and then they drove into a cross fire between pro and anti gadhafi fighters and that's how he was killed. they are calling for an investigation and i just talked to the special representative saying that it's time to look into how exactly he died and there's a suspicion that it could have been an extra killing. they seem to be from the port city misrata which endured a deadly seize by gal dauf fdhafi

and then saw their loved ones die, perhaps wanting to carry out vengeance against gadhafi himself. >> i see fireworkses over your shoulder. i'm assuming that still celebrations are continuing over the libyan tripoli night sky. ivan, let's take a it a step further. they are saying that physical gadhafi is executed, it's a blemish under the new libya. did the people see it that way? >> reporter: it depends on who you're talking about. you are seeing fireworks and gunfire into the air. it's a second night of celebration by people who are overjoyed by the man that they call a tyrant. not everybody agrees with him, though. some of whom opposed gadhafi but

say we didn't want him to go down this way. we didn't want it to be so bloody and so brutal. we wanted to see him before a court of justice. and then there are the other people who are too afraid to come out publicly and speak who were chanting gadhafi's name. they started crying when they saw the man who has dominated so many corpse for 42 years. >> ivan watson, thank you. coming up next, physically how does the end of the iraq war actually go down? not only is the u.s. pulling troops out, but tanks, equipment, weapons? and what happens when the last troops cross the border. where do tens and thousands of americans go now that the fight is ending.

the only way cnn could bring it to you, right here.

a. huge news today. breaking news today. historic news, president obama announcing that the war in iraq is ending. u.s. troops will be home by the holidays. a season of homecomings. i want to bring in the former retired army general. welcome to have you here. >> thank you. >> i thought about this, as the president was remarking on what it must be like for the final member of the u.s. forces to be crossing that border, leaving iraq. what is that moment going to be

like? >> well, it's going to be a fantastic moment for that unit, for that unit's -- for that young soldier's chain of command. currently it's a tremendous feeling knowing that you're going to go back home and be able to continue with your training and working with your buddy. so it's a day of high-fives all around but on a personal level. the question is, how do you integrate the level of focus? and the army, all of the services have a decade of experience and certainly decades before having gone to war but we know how to do this. the service will keep these young men and women focused. and it's getting ready for a broad range of mission sets that in many cases they haven't focused in on because in every case that has gone to war in iraq and afghanistan has known wrm they were going to go to and

the missions that was going to be required. now you've kind of opened it up a little bit and have al much broader range of possibilities. >> so, general, we're talking about 39,000 american troops but we're also talking tanks, equipment, weapons, how literally does that process work? what goes first? >> well, the individuals that do not own the maintenance requirements of that kit, of those tanks, of those aviation pieces, those folks will go and you can get them out of harm's way and get them moving. aum of that other hardware has to move to certain locations, inevitably, southern iraq, into kuwait, they will be fitted and shipped back home. the good news for the army is they will be then be able to invest on getting that equipment that really has been quicked around for the last decade, they will be able to bring that back. it's called resetting the force. and they will be able to do that over the course of months so that those units can get right back up to their readiness

levels. there are always requirements for units to be ready. we do a very bad job of predicting the fump. so units have to be ready to go and, again, with a very broad range of capabilities and possible mission sets. >> you say, pointing out this is good news, obviously the president speaking about an hour ago saying it's great news, it's a win, he's making good on his promise. although do you see any strategic loss here? >> i said it's good for private marks. if i'm leaving iraq, adios, i'm okay leaving. my point to you is, i think it's great for the individual soldier. i think it's a big mistake -- strategically, we put ourselves at very incredible risk t this sl two discussions here. maybe we need to reset and talk about that. >> how is it a strategic loss?

>> it's a big mistake. let me take it from the bottom up. from the standpoint of a military guy, it takes about eight to ten years to grow into noncommissioned officers. we've been assisting the iraqi military for about the last five, six years in real earnest to get their military in order. they have made magnificent strides. without ncos, the army is buckumplt s. it's going to take you a lot of time to do that and they are not really set yet. tough to have excess of about 400,000 to include security forces and it takes a long time to train a good cop. so we have to be prepared to be with a good ally and a good friend and make our presence known and available to the iraqis. they've stated that they don't want us. it's time for to us leave. and that's a big mistake strategically for the united states. >> so what does iraq look flik five years? >> well, as i told you, we've done a bad job of predicting the future.

i could see some fault lines that get increasingly broader over the course of time. now, the united states and i have no insight info here, but the united states is probably going to have a presence in kuwait with a lot of kin net particulars and maneuver forces with the ability to respond when suddenly there's a requirement for someone to say, america, would you please help us again. >> spider marks, thank you so, so much. >> sure. thank you. coming up next, joining me live in the studio, one of the first soldiers on the ground in the iraq war zone is going to share his emotional story. what it's like to see this war nearly nine years later end. don't miss this interview. [ male announcer ] this is larry... whose long day starts with arthritis pain... and a choice. take tylenol arthritis and maybe up to six in a day...

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insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. what sl it it like to be on the front lines of the war? this is joey herst whol began service in 2003 and worked on tanks and is also the guy that tells me what camera toll look

at. i found out your time in iraq, i asked you an hour ago to join me. we're going to flip the script on you today. >> yes. >> the news today, that the war is ending by the end of this year, you were at the beginning phase, this is the end. is it great news? >> it's fantastic news. i'm always one for the troops and especially when you are over there on the frontlines and you know duty, honor, and sacrifice, those are not words for us. that was our way of life and how we conducted ourselves. >> take me back to april of '02. >> it was april 2003. >> excuse me. >> i was there until september 2003, right as the invasion started and we -- i was stationed at ft. carson kcolorao and flew from there to kuwait and convoyed our vehicles into iraq. everybody remembers the

monumental occasion when the statute u of suddam came down. i was there two weeks later. >> were you frightened? >> i was. there were times when you thought, am i really going to make it home and you just realize that the mission comes first. >> what was your mission? what exactly were you doing during your time there? >> to prepare tanks and get them ready for the firing components and what made them operate. it's a pretty big need while you're over there. >> and you guys were the first groups really to come into iraq, first americans. how did the iraqis receive you? >> they were up in arms with us. i remember on many occasions when we would pullover on the side of the road to take a quick break or gl go into a market area, they would swarm us and can come and give us hugs and kiss us and say, we love you, god bless america, thank you. >> what about just the whole process of setting up there militarily?

you were there for the very beginning? >> yes. it was definitely a -- there was never one day that was the same. every day was different. one day we would be at a certain location and the next day we would be 50, 100 miles north of another location until we got to our permanent place, which is about three months after we went into the country. we went in and i was stationed at iraq, the abandoned air force base there. >> what is the one day, the one moment that you will forever carry with you? >> i will never forget when a friend of mine was killed in action. he was going down in the convoy and his humvee got hit with a roadside bomb and injured two people and he lost his life. sergeant williams, and he left behind a wife and two kids. you never forget that moment -- you listen for a bugle playing

taps and see -- you see what sacrifice really is. >> so as these final units leave, just in time for the holidays, just if you can, since you were there, put yourself in their shoes, the final unit crossing out of iraq. what is that moment like? >> it's just one of pure jubilation. i'll never forget the day i was told i was going home and i remember flying home and i remember being on the airplane and we were flying in a commercial jet and the captain came on the air and said, i just wanted to let you troops know that you've entered u.s. air space. welcome home. and someone was singing the stars spangled banner. you realize why you went over there and exactly what you did was for a good cause and for a good reason. >> thank you so much, joey hurst on so many levels. you work with people.

you have no idea. thank you so much wow. now this -- >> we wanted it to be transparent. >> herman cain getting heat for his 9-9-9 plan. guess what, he's changing it. and we'll speak to someone who interviewed moammar gadhafi three different times and his opinion on the possibility of gadhafi being executed. jim clancy is standing by as well. it gives me warmth. ♪ [ boy ] it gives me energy to help me be my best. quaker oatmeal has whole grains for heart health. and it has fiber that helps fill me up. ♪ [ male announcer ] great days start with quaker oatmeal. energy. fiber. heart health. quaker oatmeal. a super grain breakfast.

all right. i have jim clancy, our veteran correspondent here to talk about the death of moammar gadhafi. jim covered gadhafi for decades, interviewed him three different times. whether we liked it or not, he was a bit of an international icon. and my question is, given all that libya has known for 42 long years, will libyans miss that

kind of leader or think, okay, go back to normal now? >> you know, i don't know that they know what normal is. you realize today was the first day that they woke up for, what, three-quarters of the population, the guy that had run their lives, all of their lives, was no longer there. the very first day today. i think that they are looking for answers and they don't get -- whap kind of leader they don't want and they are not even sure of what they want. this is going to be healing a lot of the rootsz rifts that remain in libya, the economic rifts and they are going to have to try to solve that and equally divide up that oil money. they have to do it among themselves and reach an agreement. a consensus. >> and then i wanted to ask you

a little bit more about the death itself. there is talk that gadhafi was possibly executed. we heard a human rights group saying that he wasn't killed when he was put in misrata. you've been around a little while, mr. clancy. you i know you remember romania's communist dictator who tried to flee in an uprising and was caught and killed on the spot and also suddam hussein was was caught and then hanged. we know that being tried, that didn't satisfy the insurgents either way. that kept fighting. my question here in the west is, are we making too big of a deal about the way in which gadhafi died or was killed? do you think libyans even care? >> they do care. they care because of how it it reflecting on them.

but i can tell you that when those young fighters, no training whatsoever, full of emotion, family members, friends killed in this conflict, his fate was sealed, the moment they put their hands on him. wounded as he was, dazed as he was, he did not have long to live. they will talk about it. they will debate it. the u.n. will investigate it. i'm not sure it will make much difference. some troubling questions will be answered but never they would be. will we get an answer to pan am 18 103. >> do you know any more about how gadhafi died? >> i spoke to the ambassador to the united states today. he repeated the government line but he basically said that his fate was sealed, that the young fighters, you know, once they

took him into their hands, that was probably it. and there was a fire fight that human rights and the fighting wal and to keep him away. some of the reports are saying that he actually -- the wounded gadhafi fell off the truck, the hood of the truck when they were trying to transport him and somebody probably executed him at close range. >> jim clancy, thank you very much. still ahead, do cell phones cause cancer? an explosive study suggests that they don't. also, troops are leaving

iraq and thousands will be left behind including contractors and diplomats. we'll speak live with jill dougherty w dougherty. ♪

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[ dennis ] shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent. all right. jill dougherty is traveling with secretary of state clinton. with the announcement that the war is going to be ending by the end of the year, we're talking about 39,000 american troops. there is a difference between american troops and troops. contractors will be staying for training.

what will the department's role be in that? >> well, you know, let's look at it this way. the military pulls out and thin the state department does what it is supposed to do in any contract and that is going to continue. and the diplomats in baghdad, for example, there are 1700, 1,700 diplomats, business and development experts, law enforcement officers and all sorts of professionals, agriculture professionals from all sorts of agencies, but when they try to do their job, the security situation is still pretty dangerous and members that make it quite different and the biggest embassy in new york

and security contract ors who were going to protect them. they need about 4 or 500 other contractors to give them food, laundry, sanitation, and the numbers total and they knew that this was coming. this was going to have to move over into the state department's hands and even before the financing, they knew that it would be challenging and they say that they could do it but they knew it was going to be a tough job. >> 16,000 civilians really going to be there for security, et cetera. jill dougherty, thank you so much. now this -- a woman in your family

treatment so that you can write the ticket or whatever you want. >> a guy gets pulled over on his way to the hospital in the passenger seat, his ill wife. wait until she offers what to do and now there's an investigation. plus, as the search gets more desperate for missing baby lease sarks there is word that witnesses saw something in the strange that night and it involves a baby. we're getting that d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk.

here's a story that is most definitely generating a bit of out of rage during this month of october being breast cancer awareness month. let me set this up for you.

roxanna white has stage 4 breast cancer. her husband rushed her to the hospital. on the way, he was stopped for doing 44 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour school zone. listen to the dash cam video from the officer's patrol car. >> turned out, that mrs. white had blood clots in her lungs. the rosswell police department is investigating that stop but also saying that he followed

procedure. new developments in that search for missing baby lisa. police are following up reports from three different witnesses that saw an unidentified man carrying a baby the very night that baby lisa disappeared. they saw a man walking past their home right around midnight that night. she has asked that her last name not be used to protect her own family. >> we couldn't tell the race at that time: it was dark and the lighting is not very good to tell the race but we were able to see that he was kind of taller. i would say at least 5'8" or taller and really sland dender. the baby's complexion stood out. >> and what was the man's t-shirt? >> white. >> they have been digging around the home, around the foundation,

even using x-ray evidence. still no word as to what they have found there in the search for little baby lisa. and if you watched this show often, which i'm sure you do, you know i'm a big music fan and i have been taking guitar lessons on and off since high school. when i saw this oklahoma man giving the gift of music, i have to share it with you. that is coming up. underwater, a kayaker face-to-face with a 50-foot blue whale? wait until you see the rest of this video. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier.

and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion.

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a california woman risks her own life to rescue this truck driver from his burning big rig. this happened wednesday morning on highway 101 in san francisco. look at the pictures. clearly the pictures very, very strong. a 22-year-old saw the whole thing from her rearview mirror so she jumps out of her car, leaves her 5-year-old in the car andress excuse this 53-year-old man. fuel is leaking creating a wall of fire between them and the man stuck. >> my first instinct was to run over there, i put my arms under his arms and i dragged him all the way to my car. and i had my towel and coat over him and he was shaking and i just tried to comfort him until he was -- because he was in pain. >> she made all of the difference in the world because

the truck driver was on the ground, on the other side of the fire, so from our approach, we had to distinct wish the fire and probably wouldn't have seen him on the ground if nobody had stopped. >> the truck driver was treated for minor injuries at the hospital. she w he was released. a california kayaker had a pretty close encounter with a mighty large whale. take a look at this amazing video. he was kayaking off redondo beach. he was able to catch this on camera. it was heart-pounding excitement. coleman even jumped off his kayaker to get these shots of the blue whale. he doesn't recommend or endorse in any way or encourage anyone to try to swim with these

whales. the fishery service recommends that and be alert and disturbing a whale to stay 100 yards away from a whale and if you can't avoid a whale, do not move into its path. move faster than the whale or chase a whale. there you go. whale watching guidelines. you've heard that music can really soothe the soul. but what about easing the anxiety of being in a war zone? many troops in afghanistan like to play their guitar or take music lessons to try to relax but a lot of them don't have instruments. but a few more do thanks to a man here in oklahoma. when they learned of their plight, instead of selling them, he gave them away, far away. our affiliate has more. >> reporter: todd cook is the man behind guitar house, a tulsa music store and specialty shop. one of its customers is part of

the 45th infantry deployed in afghanistan. >> i can't imagine doing the job that they are doing. i think we should be able to do anything that we can to help them out. >> reporter: cooke's idea was to donate guitars, strings, and picks. >> we sent these and orchestra size and some of the soldiers already know how to play. others are taking lessons. the men and women say it helps keep their mind off the stress of being in a war zone. >> i think it brings them, you know, a little peace of home and gives them peace that they are able to forget about what they are doing right now, maybe just relax for a whang. >> it wasn't just the guitar house that made the donations. the company that made the donations also donated the guitars to the soldiers and a

glorious church paid for the shipping and handling to a tune of 2 to $300. >> why not give them some joy? they are away from their families. >> reporter: cookeisn isn't word about the cost. they are able to relax. >> it means a lot. i'm glad i can do something to them because i can't imagine doing the job that they are doing. >> in case you're wondering what kind of music that they are learning? classic rock and roll, hotel california, sweet home alabama. pretty amazing. hour two rolls on. take a look at this. let's begin with this story. i'm brooke baldwin. after nine years, troops in afghanistan are heading home. president obama announced that