when will enough people say stop this madness, we don't have to live like this? too many have died. we should say to ourselves not one more. >> just days after the masker at the uc santa barbara cam pus, where does the gun debate go now. what can be done to prevent's massacre. websites that preach men's rights. >> is senator richard burr playing politics with our veterans. we'll tell you what he said that's causing outrage from major national organizations. we start with breaking news from the white house where president obama will make a major announce want about the future of u.s. forces in afghanistan. nbc's peter alexander.

>> we're hearing from senior officials in the last few minutes. let's run down exactly what the numbers are. we expect to hear from the president today. the combat mission will end at the end of this year. there will be main about 9800 u.s. forces in afghanistan. at the end of the next year, 2015, it will be roughly half of that number. by the end of 2006, roughly the end of the president's presidency, it will be down to roughly embassy personnel and those to staff a security office. they said in the last five minutes or so to use their language that this is a moment of momentum in afghanistan where they say the afghan security forces have been stepping forward as have the afghan people, specifically referring to the successful election there a week ago, and a runoff that

will take place in on june 14th. all of this requires that the bsa, the bilateral security agreement is signs, and the two candidates in that run off are believed likely to sign it. the president communities this decision to hamid karzai this morning by phone. now to california where days after yet another mass shooting in the u.s., we find ourselves asking some familiar questions. why does this keep happening. why can't we seem to do anything to prevent it. that question was on the minds of those that attended vigils. the victims of the santa barbara shooting spree that left six people dead before the shooter took his own life. tonight, a memorial service has been held at the university of

santa barbara campus. questions about why this country seems to helpless in the face of mass murder will be on the minds of people that attend tonight's memorial. a father just beginning to grasp the unimaginable loss of his son wants answers. >> what kind of message does it send to the world when we have such a bunch of idiots in government. i can't tell you how angry i am. what has changed? is have we learned nothing? so where the hell is the leadership? who is standing up for those kids that died. in an elementary school? why wasn't something done. >> mr. martinez' grief is pa painfully familiar.

they too asked why wasn't something done. months after that massacre, senators showed overwhelming support for backward checks failed to pass appeal. apparently it is possible, at least in australia. in 1996 after a gunman killed 35 people and wounded 18 others, australians collectively decided shot to follow what then prime minister john howard called the american way on guns. they banned automatic and semiautomatic weapons and had a gun buy back for high powered and rapid fire rifles. last year, john howard wrote a new york times opinion piece saying "i went after guns, obama can too." he said in the 18 years before the 1996 reforms, australia

suffered 13 gun maskers with each more than four victims causing a total of 102 deaths. there has not been a single masker in that country since 1996. and while so-called ordinary violent crime in most parts of the u.s. is down since the 1990s, when it comes to the premeditated suicide massacre type, we appear to be stuck. barrett points out our unique problem. he calls it the second amendment tradeoff as it has come to be interpreted in the 21st century. access to firearms in exchange for the danger of mass shootings. in the end when we all gather after all of the frustration, grief, and tears, the questions and conversations about gun control, mental health, video games, is the real question are

we stuck? our next was part of gabrielle giffords staff. that dad, when you saw him asking those painful questions, where he said we haven't learned anything. we don't do anything after all of these mass shootings. is he right? do we simply move on? or are we stuck not being able to do a single thing to stop mass shootings? >> it's enormously frustrating to watch these shootings unfold, not only the mass shootings that go through the public, but the communities and families every day. behind me here in capitol hill, there is no reaction. there is talk, sure, there is good ideas, clearly laid out plans that would do a lot to reduce this crime and improve public safety, but nothing has happened. it's extremely frustrating to

see mr. martinez' reaction. the only thing that we can say is we should feel optimistic in some sense. if the public is more involved and doesn'ts to talk to this issue and their public officials, there are issues that can address some of this. there is a matter of needing to continue to put pressure on elected officials. >> i want you to hear some of those, listen to what he had to say. >> we thought after newtown -- >> doing background checks of

people on the internet. why, in your view, is congress unable to do that? >> it's crazy. people talk about background checks and they say it's a contentious issue. i think it is every but in washington dc. badgering is becoming extreme soldiers for this rhetoric. it's just not true, and it's putting our public safety at risk here. that's what americans for responsible solutions, the foundation founded by gabby and mark, are trying to do. they want to bring a moderate discussion to this issue. >> i would like to know what part of their time is spent training and gun lobbying.

>> they do. >> people for extreme gun ownership anywhere, taking their gun everywhere. they say this has to be a gun issue. it has to be a mental health intervention. i want to read you part of an article about all of the times they tried to stop him. friday was not the first time the mother tried to prevent her 22-year-old son from hurting other people. in april, li called rodgers therapist after seeing youtube videos. he saw a therapist nearly every day while in high school. if intervention like that, calling the police who interviewed this young man more than once, if that can't stop a mass shooter, i feel hopeless, what do you think? >> it's a very difficult issue. what we need is two things when it comes to mental health. there is 12 states that report fewer than 100 records of their seriously mentally ill citizens.

that has to change. a lot of states did a better job of it, but there are still 12 states that don't report their records to the background check system. the second thing is we need a recourse for friends and family of loved ones who might be suffering from a mental break of some kind, or some situation that becomes an emergency, like what can you do on the nights and weekends when you're really worried about one of your loved ones? who can you call? we don't know the best answer, but there are some ideas. maybe a way that you can go to a court or judge and receive a restraining order around gun violence. it is very difficult and it involves communities coming together, and parents trying their best when they have a son or daughter that's having an issue. >> yeah, thank you so much. we appreciate your time. >> thanks for having me on. coming up, we're keeping an eye on the white house rose garden where in about half an

hour president obama will make a statement about the future in afghanistan. when we arrived at our hotel in new york, the porter was so incredibly careful careless with our bags. and the room they gave us, it was beautiful. a broom closet. but the best part, / worst part, was the shower. my wife drying herself with the egyptian cotton towels, shower curtain defined that whole vacation for her. don't just visit new york. visit tripadvisor new york. with millions of reviews, a visit to tripadvisor makes any destination better.

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this week, the hashtag yes all women was trending. and it is still trending. we're learning about the 22-year-old man that went on the deadly shooting rampage this weekend. as we have been reporting, hours before the attack. elliott rodger recorded a video that he titled "elliott rodgers

retribution." rodgers was also a frequent post on puahate.com. a forum known for it's misogyny. pua is known as pick up artists. however, the men at puahate take their frustrations out on women instead of the scanners. now one of the posters is taking the hate further. claiming six lives would have been saved if there was a societal mechanism for men to learn game and masculinity and that more people will die unless you give men sexual options. elizabeth plank is joining us along with mark. and i want to start with you

because you posted stuff about these so-called men's groups. how big is this movement. how broad are they, and are violent posts frequently soes t associated with them? >> there is a whole world known as the manosphere of these sites. the thing most noticeable about them is they have extreme. there is certainly legitimate complaints. men with problems with custody battles, family courts, and so on. this is a world that has produced a number of mass killers. some people as old as me remember way back in 1989 when this war on women really began. a particular montreal man, who walked into an engineering class

at a university in montreal. ordered all of the men out at gunpoint, and murdered 14 women, one after another, because they were studying engineering and threatening men. >> very quickly, mark, you said in 1989, was there a trigger that happened at that particular time that you think started this off? why 1989? >> i think that was a time when the feminist movement was very much kind of concurring the country in a sense. the feminist narrative was winning. and held back in all kinds of ways. so it was a part of a reaction that continues to this day, to the changing roles of women in families and men in our western societies. you know. >> and elizabeth, it is kind of jarring to talk about that kind

of a movement, and we're talking about in nigeria and men kidnapping girls because of their advancing in society. one of the things you saw in the manifesto was language like alpha. apparently this kind of language is pretty common on these websites. it's lingo for a dominant male. they have a piece that talks about this, and they have incel, involuntarily celibate. what is that about? >> i think it is this backlash, and i'm glad mark brought up the shooting in montreal that was 25 years ago. there's so many similarities. it's depressing to think we're fighting these battles three decades later.

this kind of violence is seen in these forms, seen in the way that we talk about women, it is entitlement, really, we talk about women that have sexual agency, or women that put men in the friend zone. >> this yes all women hashtag attracted backlash. this yes all men backlash. why are you putting men in the friend zone, and like that is a bad thing to do like women have no right to talk to a man unless they're offering him sexual companionship. is that the response you saw, or was i just seeing all of the crazies. >> i had the crazies in my mentions, i spoke to someone who had to report some of the tweets because they got very violent. and the mra that no one stood up

for women saying we don't endorse this kind of behavior. and as you mentioned the only comments we saw coming out of the forums was if only you had come to us. clearly this kind of violence is justified. this kind of violence against women is valid. >> lastly, mark, this is something -- the organization attracts hate groups. you're also tracking these groups and is that because of the propensity to take it to violence. >> that's exactly why we looked at this world. it was a little known world. we pegged it to the self emulation of a man. he said men should rise up. he had been in a custody battle for ten years that began when

his 4-year-old daughter licked his hand, while he was putting her to sleep. he slapped the girl in the face, drew blood, and was reported to the police by his wife. and that's why all of mistrouhi troubles stemmed from. in the santa barbara shootings, it was their fault. the fault of the feminists. >> we appreciate you giving us a peek into this weird and frightening world. thank you. less than 30 minutes from now, president obama will make a major announcement on the future of troops in afghanistan. jessica johnson felt over her ahead when she took over her dad's security guard business five years ago. with a little confidence and hard work, she grew the company from 16 to 150 employees and

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president obama to make a major announcement about troop levels in afghanistan. meanwhile, as troops from other wars come ohome, and va officias plan to give testimony about cooked books and waiting times, some republicans think they found a wedge for a useful issue. many veterans groups have heavily criticized him. burr called out veterans groups that appear before his committee, and unlike the american legion had not called for the retirement of the secretary. protecting their respects within the agency and securing their access to the secretary and his inner circle.

now the groups bu are, r called out are pushing back hard. he is not the only politician seeking advantage from the v.a. scandal. others are using it to roll out an attack on obama care. rand paul tried to make the claim that it's a preview to what the american people can expect was made on the american people. >> i think what's happening to the veterans is a gift from god to show us what happens when you take layers and layers of bureaucracy and place them between the patients and the health care provider. >> joining me now, washington post political report er. i guess we should be thankful.

i want to rethe response from some of these organizations. it was the veterans of foreign wars and others. they said senator, this is clearly one of the most dishonorable and grossly inappropriate acts that we have witnessed. your allegations are ugly and mane-spirited in every sense of the word. going after the veteran's groups, how is that resonating on capitol hill? >> you know i don't think it's resonating at all. i talked to several veterans last week when this story was bubbling up. the president obama of course came out on wednesday. they had a wait and see opportunity. with these hospitals for many, many years. and may have seen some of the problems up close and in their own lives. so at this point, a lot of them are waiting and seeing what comes out of these reports and

seeing what kinds of actions the president takes as a result. but i do think what will be interesting to watch is the republicans on one hand will score points on this. i think one of the things that will be most interesting to watch is what some of these democrats do. you see democrats and senate races. people like charlie chrisley. it is a heavily military state. do you see them call out and call for him to step down. it will be interesting to see if other democrats in the senate right now also call for his resignation, and what sort of political cover and maneuvering they have. >> that's why it's an interesting tactic. you do have this partisan patina

to it. by picking a fight with other major national veteran organizations it seems like senator bu are,rr muddied the w. didn't he open the door and give them a reason not to? >> in some ways i think you're right. it's unclear why burr wants to do this, why you want to pick a fight at this time with veterans of any sort. they're the one that's are so rightfully up in arms about this. the idea that they are not outraged enough. it is sort of odd, they have pushed back on that. i do think what i'm looking for is what democrats are going to do. i do think you're right that burr in some ways has muddied the water by bringing in these veteran groups and calling them to task. >> and the other aspect to this is this attempt to bring the

affordable care act, obama care, into the picture. an interesting piece from the urban institute. they looked at uninsured veterans and medicaid. 400,000 uninsured vets have incoming under the line. but they would qualify for new coverage options if they state expands medicaid. they live in states where they are indicating they're not intending to expand medicaid in toward. if the states were to expand medicaid, one in four uninsured spouses could get medicare. isn't medicaid just waiting for them in the depths? >> that's right, especially if you look at a state like texas, right? lots of military folks and

veterans there. that's a state where they have not wanted to accept that medicaid money. i think in the next weeks we're going to see a lot of scrutiny until a lot of the decisions that republicans and democrats made in terms of what they have made. there was a bill to extend funding, open a number of hospitals, and that went down in the senate. you had republicans, some democrats come out and express outrage over this. i think you're going to see more scrutiny has to what decision ises they make. i think the obama care think is od. obama care is about private insurance, right? extending private insurance opening up the exchanges so people can participate in these private exchanges run by private insurance. the v.a. is very different, but you have had the president now say perhaps it should be the veterans are able to, you know, have more private insurance and

rather than just relying on the v.a. i think this is a conversation that will keep going. >> thank you so much for being here, appreciate it. >> i'm next, the president set to make an announcement on troops in afghanistan. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, like me, and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened.

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>> you're looking at live pictures from the rose garden. the u.s. combat mission will be over by the end of this year, but u.s. forces will remain in the country beyond that day president joining me now is larry forbes from the senior of american progress. we always love to have you on, larry. how likely is it in your estimation that no matter what we hear today, that we will have agreement from afghanistan. from the president of afghanistan, on our status of forces agreement. >> it's going to happen because

both candidates say they want to keep americans there, and the president said without that agreement we can't keep troops there past the end of the year. the question they're supposed to stay -- >> and the question for people who feel this war has gone on, it is now the longest war in the united states history. is why keep any troops in afghanistan at all. >> they're not going to be doing combat and i think that is important. the combat mission is over the they're go to leave 9800 americans, 2,000 from our nato allies, and they're going to insist on the training of the afghan forces, they will cut that number in half, and by 2016, and then they will be out. >> we had that v.a. scandal

that's gone on simultaneously to this begins of the war in iran and iraq. how much stress has that put on the system and does it need to be more closely examined? is it a system that is overall failing? >> unlike previous wars people are having mental difficulties and mental wounds because we didn't give the troops enough time at home when we deployed them and they had multiple deployments. half of the people getting out of the service now are claiming mental disability which we never had, and the other -- >> i mean there are a lot of people when you talk to family members of folks that served in afghanistan that there is a

sense that people have not paid a great deal of attention to this first war post 9/11, is there a sense among troops when you talk to people that are in the service that this war has gotten shortened not only because of the troop levels, but really just in the sentiments of the american people? >> i think it was really, the forgotten war until president obama came in. you may remember admiral mullen said in iraq we do what we must, and in afghanistan we do what we can. bring the time they increased troop levels americans were tired of war. the casualties have not been as high, a little over 2,000 as compared to twice as many in iraq. we never got the same level.

>> please stay with us, i want to bring in jim now, what are we expecting to hear, ask there anything beyond what was previewed for us? >> i have not seen an advanced text, but administration officials, and they gave numbers which i'm sure you have gone through, and the u.s. military i talked to said given the parameters, this is pretty much exactly what general dunfer, the current supreme alley commander there wanted. about the 9,800 to 10,000 number. and they knew those numbers would be cut dramatically as they will be in half by the second year, and by the third year, the only u.s. military forces remaining will be in the

embarras embassy. but there was one point, besides the progress that they claim the afghan military has taken. one of the milestones was the elections that occurred in april. this will be the first time there has been a democratic transition of power in afghanistan. but they said, you know, in terms of the afghan military, they kept the violence to an absolute minimum, almost negated any violence in the elections. what i thought was more important is not only did the military step up, but the afghan people stepped forward. and voted in large numbers. it is as if the people themselves have decided, you know, this democracy thing might work. and that, according to white house officials, was one of the clear pivotal moments in. the president's decision to

reduce the number of u.s. military forces there in afghanistan. >> while we wait for the president to come out, to the point that you just made with the afghan people coming to the table, deciding to embrace the change, when you talk to your military sources, to what extent do they owe the change in strategy that happened when this administration came in. there was a point in which the military and white house came in. to what extent do they owe the upward momentum to the change in strategy. >> obviously, there was a change in strategy. this is america's longest war. the u.s. military had no intent to remain in afghanistan -- >> jim, sorry, the president of the united states has taken the podium. as you know this weekend i travelled to afghanistan to thank our men and women in uniform and our deployed

civilians on behalf of a grateful nation for the sacrifices they make for our security. i was able to meet with our commanding general and ambassador to review the progress that we have made. today i would like to update the american people on the way forward in afghanistan and how this year we will bring america's longest war to a responsible end. the united states did not seek this fight. we went into afghanistan out of necessity after our nation was attacked by al qaeda on september 11th, 2001. we went to war against al qaeda and it's extremist allies with the strong support of the american people and the represents in congress. with the international community, and our nato allies, and with the afghan people who welcomed the opportunity of a life free from the dark tyranny of extremism. we have now been in afghan longer than many americans

expected. make no mistake, thanks to the skill and sacrifice of our troops, diplomats, and intelligence professionals, we have struck blows against their leadership, we eliminated osama bin laden, and we prevented attacks against our homeland. we also supported the afghan people as they continue the hard work of building a democracy. we extended more opportunities to their people, including women and girls. and we have helped train and equip their own security forces. now we're finishing the job we started. over the last several years, we have worked to transition security responsibilities to the afghans. one year ago, afghan forces assumed the lead for combat operations. since then, they continued to

grow in size and strength while making huge sacrifices for their country. this transition has allowed us to steadily draw down our own forces. from a peak of 100,000 u.s. troops to roughly 32,000 today. 2014, therefore, is a pivotal year. together with our allies and the afghan government, we have agreed that this is the year we will conclude our combat mission in afghanistan. this is also a year of political transition in afghanistan. earlier this spring, afghans turned out in the millions to vote in the first round of their presidential election. defying threats in order to determine their own destiny. and in just over two weeks, they will vote for their next president. and afghanistan will see it's first democratic transfer of power in history.

in the context of this progress, having consulted with congress and my national security team, i have determined the nature of the commendment that america is prepared to make. our objectives are clear, disrupting threats posed by al qaeda, supporting afghan security forcing, and giving the afghan people an opportunity to succeed as they stand on their own. here is how we will pursue those objectives. first, america's combat mission will be over by the end of this year. starting next year, afghans will be fully responsible for securing their country. american personnel will be in an advisory role. we will no longer patrol afghan cities, towns, mountains, or valleys. that is a task for the afghan people.

educational background second, i made it clear that we're open to cooperating on two missions, training afghan forces and supporting the security center. at the beginning of 2015, we will have approximately -- let me start that over because i want to make sure we don't get this written wrong. at the beginning of 2015, we will have approximately 9,800, 9,800 serving.

by the end of 2015, we will reduced that presence by roughly half, and will have consolidated our troops in kabul. one year later, by the end of 2016, we will be at a minimum for security assistance in kabul. even as our troops come home, the international community will continue to support afghans. but our relationship not be defined by war. it will be shaped by our financial and development assistance and our diplomatic support. our commitment to afghan is rooted in the strategic partnership in 2012. this remains consistent with the discussions we had with our nato allies. just as they have been all the

way in afghanistan, we expect they will be with us going forward. third. we will only sustain this military present after 2014 if they sign the bilateral security agreement that our two governments have already negotiated. it is essential to give our troops the authorities they need to fulfill their mission while respecting afghan sovereignty. the two final afghan candidates in the runoff election for president each indicated they would sign this agreement promptly after taking office. so i'm hopeful that we can get this done. the bottom line is that it's time to turn the beige on more than a decade in which some of our foreign policy was focused on the wars in afghanistan and iraq. when i took office, we had nearly 180,000 troops in harm's

way. by the end of this year, we will have less than 10,000. in addition to bliringing our troops home, this new chapter will allow us to redirect some of the resources may by responding to the changing threat of terrorism while addresses other priorities around the globe. i think americans have learned that it's harder to end wars than it is to begin them. this is how they end in the 21st century. not through signing ceremonies, but through decisive blows to our adversaries. security forces trained to take the lead, and ultimately full responsibility. we remain committed to a sovereign, secure, stable, and unified afghanistan. toward that end, we will

continue to support afghan led efforts to promote peace in our country through reconciliation. we have to recognize they will not be a perfect place. and it is not america's responsibility to make it one. the future of afghanistan must be decided by afghans. but what the united states can do, what we will do, is secure our interests and help give the afghans a chance, an opportunity, so seek a long overdue and hard earned peace. america will always keep our commitments to friends and partners that step up, and we will never waiver in our determination to deny al qaeda the safe haven they had before 9/11. that is embody iy yied by the w who serves in afghanistan now

and in the past. these are mostly young people who did not hesitate to volunteer at a time of war. and as many of them begin to transition to civilian life we will keep the promise we make to them and all veterans and make sure they get the care and benefits they have earned and deserve. this generation is part of an unbroken line of heros that give up their comfort to serve half a world away. and to give people they never thought they would meet the chance to live a better life. it is an extraordinary sacrifice for them and for their families. but we should not be surprised that they're willing to make it. that's who we are as americans. that's what we do. tomorrow i will travel to west

point and speak to america's newest class of military officers to talk about how afghanistan fits in our strategy going forward. we will not only responsibly end our war in afghanistan, and achieve the objectives that took us to war in the first place, we will be able to begin a new chapter in the story of american leadership around the world. thanks very much. >> and that was president obama outlining the strategy going forward to end the war in afghanistan. u.s. troops to be reduced down to 9,800 or so by the end of the year. and essentially turning the security of afghanistan back over to that country to it's people, the president saying that the security of the afghan citizens will now be the hands of their government. it appears the president is

looking forward to a status of forces agreement. looking at a statement here from some senators, criticizing the president for setting a date certain. we'll have more discussion about that and you're watching "the reid report." i'm turning it over to the cycle which comes up next. the war in afghanistan technically wraps up later this year, but the president just announced a sizable appearance in the country through 2016. 9,800 troops until the president leaves office. that less than the approximately 30,000 troops we have there now. president obama did not meet with karzai during his surprise trip over the memorial day weekend.

he instead met with u.s. troops stationed there, many of who will remain if this agreement is forged. he also has an anticipated commencement address at west point tomorrow morning. let's get to the political impact of today's news with perry bacon. perry, you know this number, 9,800 seems very carefully crafted. he said it is less than 10,000 troops. regardless of the number he chose here, i think this will be criticized as every action that the president takes is criticiz criticized. >> you have already seen some senators, the lead of national security republicans in the senate criticized this, the notion that time tables should not be imposed, and they criticized him of doing this in iraq as well. the president wants to give a speech tomorrow about his

overall foreign policy vision and he wants to frame those comments last mont about singles and doubles, he wants to put that in a broader picture. he wants to say here is what i'm trying to do, and they want to get the news out of the way to make sure that the speech is views as a broad one. >> perry, you mentioned that reaction from the conservatives, but what about to the left of this. the president is talking about this as an end to combat negotiations, but they will be engaging in counter terrorism. is there an expectation that we would have been out sooner than this. >> i think so. he talked the times about being out earlier than this. you will see some democrats today. i think you'll see some of the left say that