carter, and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general joseph dunford. we want to go back to the breaking news from baton rouge, louisiana. the deadly police shooting of a black father of five outside a convenience store. this confrontation was apparently captured on cell phone video by an eyeness, not verified by nbc news, but it was a short time ago where we witnessed the emotional news conference and heard from the family of 37-year-old alton sterling who the east baton rouge coroner said died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back. >> the individual involved in his murder took away a man with children who depended upon their daddy on a daily basis. my son is not the youngest, he is the oldest of his siblings.

he is 15 years old. [ sobbing ] he had to watch this as this was put all over the outlets and everything that was possible to be shown. >> wow, it's just heartbreaking to see this and know what this family is going through right now as they are putting up this brave front while taking on police accountability. i want to talk to our msnbc chief legal correspondent ari melber. i know you've been on the air talking about this over the last hour. let's break down the facts of what we know. we have the eyewitness video not a independently verified. we know there were police cam and dash cam video, and also there was a convenience store video. so what has been made public other than the eyewitness video? >> that's right. as you mentioned, there are basically three sources of video

here, government in the police dash and body cams, independent in the cell phone video we've seen and the store's video that we have not seen. if we put up the cell phone video, what we see -- and we'll put that up on the screen, basically the officers responded to a 911 call, reportedly anonymous about an individual selling cds outside, having a gun. they have an altercation. you see them there basically restraining him on the ground. that's what you see. you don't necessarily see on this particular video him pulling or having a gun out and brandished in contact with the officers. you see the struggle. and then basically what happens after this, after the moment we're seeing right now, the shots ring out, multiple shots, and that skon firmed by the police and they've released information on that. that video turns away so you don't see everything else. then according to an independent witness, the store owner told local reporters after this, after the video that you're seeing, later a weapon, a

firearm was pulled out of mr. sterling's pocket by the police after he was deceased. that's one of the key questions here, and not every witness is always right. nbc has not confirmed every piece of this. that witness is giving a version of events partly corroborated by this particular video that says you have an altercation of someone who at least isn't holding the weapon. on the police side i want to be clear. according to police, they were responding to a call of someone with a weapon and they believed they were in this kind of altercation. this one thing i want to add in closing, the only thing police have put out in writing is a couple of lines that doesn't say much, reading from it so people know the police side. they basically say officers made contact with alton sterling. an altercation between sterling and the officers ensued. sterling was shot during the altercation and died at the scene. police say two officers have been placed on administrative

leave per standard procedure, this is an ongoing investigation. >> additionally nbc news is reporting from the baton rouge police department again talking about the call, uniformed officers responding to a call early tuesday morning about a black male in a red shirt who was selling cds and reportedly threatened the caller with a gun. clearly in this eyewitness video you can see a man who is being held ton ground by police forcibly wearing a red shirt. but back to the idea or the police accountability of a weapon being drawn from the person they considered to be a suspect, ari, what have police said about where this fits in, other than they found the weapon in his pocket or he drew a weapon on officers? >> they haven't said. that means we're at a point in this process where we have some video that is a minority of what we believe to be the available video, so we can learn a lot more. we've heard more from the family's teerps and allies this

morning and not from police. i will say this, if the two officers are suspects in an investigation, they have rights, too. they have a right to remain silent, a right to have an attorney. the big question i think today as people see this incident and people look at this and are reminded of other incidents that may be similar or dissimilar based on what we learn is who is going to investigate this. as of this morning, we have baton rouge police saying their investigation. the call from the family, a call for an independent state inquiry. >> the family is saying they do not currently trust what the police department is saying so far. that's why they're asking for and independent investigation. >> i would go a little further and say their lawyer made the point in an interview on msnbc moments ago, they lawyer said, even if there isn't a reason for skepticism at this point, it's a

conflict of interest for police to investigate themselves. that's a point i make. some people say when you say conflict of interest, you don't trust someone. no. a doctor also has a conflict not to operate on their child. not because you don't trust them, but it's such a clouded an conflicting scenario. we've been covering hillary clinton's e-mails. ultimately it was separate law enforcement that looked at that as a law enforcement inquiry, not the state department investigating itself. >> ari, thanks so much. joining us now from baton rouge is chad saabatee from wvla. chad, you were at this news conference that just wrapped up a short time ago. talk about community reaction and how people there are responding to this. >> reporter: good morning, gentlemen. emotions are running high. you can visibly see it on the faces of the family members of

alton sterling. this is a local community that wants answers. that's the biggest thing from the attorneys, the local representatives, city officials and family members. they want answers from the baton rouge police department and mayor president kipp holding. we heard the mayor calling for the resignation of mayor kip holden for the resignation of police chief carl da dabadie. it has gone well this morning. no signs of altercations, scuffles. it is a tragedy. 37-year-old alton sterling, baton rouge native fatally shot by baton rouge police. a lot of questions. you referenced the video cameras, the police body cam, the dash footage as well and also the surveillance video from the recent stores. tonight the protests will continue, and they will remember alton sterling with a community

vigil. that will be at the crime scene at the sss foot mart. it is a tough part of town and a lot of mixed community and a lot of reaction. obviously, gentlemen, it is a passionate community and they just want answers. they want answers from their elected officials and they want justice, justice for a native son who was fatally shot by local police. >> chad saabadie from our local nbc affiliate. we'll be coming back to this story as we work up more details. want to fill you in on the other breaking story we'll be following at this hour. we learned president obama will be making a statement shortly about u.s. troop levels in afghanistan. nbc's ron allen is at the white house. we know the president is going to have two other people with him. let's talk about what more details you can give us. >> reporter: thomas, we believe secretary of defense ash carter and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is also going to be

with president obama. the decision the president is going to make is whether to reduce troop levels, currently at 9,800 or so down below 5,500 or so. this is a very contentious decision that the president we believe is going to make. we don't know exactly what the statement is going to be about. we have been anticipating now for several weeks that the president was going to make a statement about troop levels because there's been a review going on there for several months by the commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan. the president has wanted to end this war since he came into office. 15 years in afghanistan now for the u.s., america's longest war. the formal combat role ended there in 2014. as you know, sin then and continuing to this day, the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate. there are some estimates that suggest the taliban has control of more territory now in afghanistan than ever before. so from the hill and elsewhere, perhaps inside the administration as well, the president's been under pressure to maintain at least 9,800

troops in afghanistan. the concern is that a vacuum could be created. the concern is afghanistan could continue to deteriorate and leave a place for terrorists, for militants to continue recruiting, training and that afghanistan could become yet another breeding ground as it has been in the past. the concern, of course, is heightened by the rise of the islamic state in iraq and syria and elsewhere, and an affiliate in afghanistan as well. typically now, given the way the bombings that have happened in the last week or so and the concerns about terrorism worldwide and the continuing fight against isis, the administration insists they're making progress, they're eroding the core of isis, as they put it, in iraq and afghanistan. yet the capability of that organization apparently is still intact. witness the recent bombings as orchestrated, and certainly the attacks it continues to inspire around the world. the concern now is what the

president will do about afghanistan and the fear it could become yet another base, a significant base for isis or other militants. so we understand the president is going to make the statement very shortly. we'll hear what he has to say. again, the expectation is that he will reveal what his plan is for troop levels in afghanistan going into the end of the year. the president wanted to cut troops by half, to some 5,500 from the current level of about 9,800. >> ron allen at the white house. again, the president speaking at 10:25. we'll have that live. we've just gotten confirmation that fbi director comey will be called to the hill. paul ryan said his findings were mystifying about the fact that they were able to reveal so much information about the fbi vision into hillary clinton's private e-mail servers and yet would recommend to the doj not to file any charges or pursue any criminal action.

luke russert is standing by on capitol hill. let's talk about how quickly this meeting is going to take place. we know republicans have expressed a lot of unanswered questions that they have about what this fbi investigation concluded. >> reporter: good morning, thomas. i'm here where the house gop leadership is about to have their weekly press conference. we expect paul ryan and other gop leaders to talk about comey coming to the hill and the hillary clinton e-mail investigation that's left a lot of republicans quite upset. i've got to tell you, this is breakneck speed for this type of hearing to take place. comey making the announcement yesterday that hillary clinton would not be charged for her handling of e-mail in her time as secretary of state. but now comey is going to have to come to capitol hill and answer tough questions from republicans wanting to know why is hillary clinton seemingly getting special treatment in their opinion. jason chaffetz releasing a statement saying, quote, the

fbi's recommendation is surprising and confusing, the fact mat attorney makes clear secretary clinton violated the law. congress and the american people have a right to understand the depth and breadth of the fbi's investigation. expect that to happen tomorrow. also coincidentally donald trump is coming to capitol hill. democrats say this is another example -- i have to sit down because the speaker of the house is about to go. >> as luke is pointing out, we're about to have the briefing from paul ryan and gop colleagues here. we'll go back when paul ryan begins. i want to go quickly to msnbc political correspondent kasie hunt who follows the clinton campaign in atlantic city. this is where clinton is going to be later today. kasie clinton may endure legal questions but public opinion

matters. have you heard if and when clinton will directly address comey's findings? >> reporter: thomas, this is a very difficult question, problem for the clinton campaign. if you know how the campaign makes these kinds of decisions, we talked a lot about it when clinton was struggling against trump back in the spring. her organization is pretty sizable. they're very methodical in how they handle these kinds of things. they know hillary clinton is going to have to respond to this in some way beyond that statement they put out. that organization now grappling with that question, trying to figure out the best way to proceed here because the reality is, while comey did clear her legally speaking, he offered a real indictment politically. it's something that's going to underscore those trust numbers that she has with the american people. our most recent poll shows that many more americans, 41% of

americans think donald trump is honest and straightforward in how he approaches things. they don't think that of hillary clinton. she knows that's a deficit she has to address. she did it on the campaign trail in chicago a couple weeks ago now. they point to that as evidence that she understands this problem and she's going to have to fix it going forward. but this certainly doesn't help, especially when it is so easy to cut those clips of comey's press statement yesterday against statements that she has made about her e-mails. and to see while he may have said there's no intent here, no reasonable prosecutor would bring charges in a case like this, he did say that when she sent and received the material was classified. it directly contradicts the defense that she's offered, thomas. >> kasie, real fast, i want you to put on your other cap.

the sanders camp is giving a press conference at 10:30. this is not expected to be anything involving an endorsement of hillary clinton, correct? >> reporter: this is expected to be related to the college plan that hillary clinton is also rolling out today. it's viewed as a concession to sande sanders. he campaigned on the idea that college should functionally be free, that people should be able to go to college here. it's something that's very important to him, something they've negotiated quite a bit about. we're expecting to hear positive things from the sanders campaign about that. we aren't expecting to hear an endorsement. we aren't a expecting to him him drop out of the race in the wake of this e-mail announcement from comey. it raises the question just how many times how many times can one politician sort of, maybe, endorse another one. it sounds like he's going to come out and say positive things about her, still not an endorsement. sounds like we're going to the

convince. >> kasie hunt, thank you so much. a lot of fast moving parts we're keeping watch for you this hour. president obama speaking from the white house in roughly ten minutes. this is about an announcement on u.s. troop levels in afghanistan. we'll bring you those remarks as soon as the president steps into the roosevelt room there. we'll have that and much more. again, bernie sanders giving a 10:30 press conference about the college plan he's worked on that would go out as a policy from hillary clinton. stay with us. ng simple, smart ck choices... with quicksilver from capital one. you're earning unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, everywhere. like on that new laptop. quicksilver keeps things simple, gary. and smart, like you! and i like that. i guess i am pretty smart. don't let that go to your head, gary. what's in your wallet?

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welcome back. we are moments away from president obama making a statement from the white house. this statement, we're told from our sources, is going to focus on the on going presence of u.s. military troops in afghanistan.

nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins me. what more remains about our presence in afghanistan and what is the president looking to clarify here? >> reporter: well, this is a surprise announcement. i wasn't expecting it, didn't get any heads-up about it. i can tell you it's going to boil down to one of two things, more troops going in, or are the troops coming out? there are currently about 7,000 american troops in afghanistan. when you add up the entire nato contingency, it's about 13,000 foreign troops. as of this year, the u.s. troops have become more involved in the direct combat operations. they got authorization in january to fight isis in afghanistan. so the war in afghanistan which was launched after september 11th have also been called the endless war.

every year it seems a few more troops go back, the goal posts keep getting pushed a little further back. what i'm looking for in this speech, is he finally going to say, this is it, this is the end, the last american troops will be out of afghanistan and pick a date? or will it be the opposite and say troop levels are rising and goal posts are being pushed back even further. i can tell you a lot is riding on this war. if the goal posts get pushed back further, it will be a key objective of is presidency, to end american commitment in foreign wars, we'll have gotten that much further away. >> richard, explain the correlation. when most people think of afghanistan, we think of al qaeda and its terrorist network, not so much about isis and their territorial occupation between iraq and syria. explain how deeply rooted isis is in afghanistan? >> it's a bit of a, be careful

what you wish for. there was al qaeda in afghanistan. afghanistan is where the 9/11 attacks were masterminded. they were plotted and carried out in germany and the united states, but bin laden and the other key leaders were in afghanistan hosts of the taliban. the u.s., of course, went to war, scattered al qaeda and then ended up getting involved in a long battle with the taliban for many, many years. when you fight, you scatter al qaeda and then you fight the taliban, in this case a power vacuum was created and isis managed to find a foothold in that vacuum left by the taliban. so isis does haven't a major presence there, but it's a presence that has been growing over the past couple years. >> has isis been able to effectively tap into disconnected portions of al

qaeda to almost reenforce what the u.s. has done to dissipate or dismantle al qaeda and it's basically reformed itself within a mission or ideology of isis? >> reporter: i think that would be an oversimplistic way of looking at it. it's not the same people. there's a generation gap between the al qaeda members, even the taliban members and isis. the al qaeda fighters, the original 9/11 al qaeda core are quite old. a lot of them are in prison. a lot of them are dead at this stage. isis grew out of 15 years of constant conflict. it grew out of a corrupt government in afghanistan. it grew out of a continuing u.s. military occupation. it grew up out of the war climate that was left to fester

in that country for so long. no doubt they were able to build upon the base established by al qaeda and the taliban and pakistan. it was already a primed environment. but i think it's more the constant state of lawlessness and conflict that allowed a new and you could say more sinister -- less responsible terrorist group to establish a foothold. >> also, as you pointed out, with the president having run on the withdraw of troops in places like afghanistan, do you really think it's likely the president is going to talk about, as you pointed out, this cycle of troops going back and forth. just now i'm being told there are two senior defense officials say president obama will announce approximately 8,000 u.s. troops will remain in afghanistan after the end of this year. that's a conflict from where it

was supposed to draw down to 5,500. that troop enhancement, richard, how does that speak to the level of work needed in afghanistan. >> reporter: it's a relatively minor change. it was supposed to go down to 5,000. it's going to go to 8,000 which is higher than the current number here. it's symbolically very important. it means he did not get to end the war in afghanistan. he didn't get to bring the troops home. in fact, in one of his final acts about afghanistan, he's sending more troops into that conflict. at the same time more troops are going back into iraq and at a very, very small rate, slow rate, more troops are going back into -- i should not say more troops, but troops are going into syria. if that information you just said is correct, if the announcement is not that troops are going down, but troop levels

are staying where they are and, in fact, going a little higher, that will be a tremendous disappointment, and i would watch to see his mood as he expresses this. >> richard, when we talk about what it would take in terms to extinguish or decimate the threat they feel necessary based out of afghanistan, as we're saying, these two senior defense officials saying instead of withdrawing down to 5,500, it will be enhanced to 8,000 or keeping troop levels at a higher number, is that really enough to do the work that needs to be done? or does there need to be a major surge of u.s. forces to effectively accomplish a set mission? >> reporter: well, i think that's why the president will be flanked by so many military personnel. >> i'm sorry to interrupt. president obama is walking in right now with ash carter and general dumb ford. let's listen in.

>> more than 14 years ago after al qaeda attacked our nation on 9/11, the united states went to war in afghanistan against these terrorists and the taliban that harbored there. over the years and thanks to heroic efforts by our military, intelligence community, diplomats and development professionals, we pushed al qaeda out of its camps, helped the afghanistan people topple the taliban and helped them establish a democratic government. we dealt crippling blows to the al qaeda leadership, we delivered justice to osama bin laden and trained afghan forces to train their own forces for their own security. given that process, a year and a half ago, december 2014, america's combat mission in afghanistan came to a responsible end, compared to the 100,000 troops we once had

there, today fewer than 10,000 remain. compared to their previous mission helping to lead the fight, our forces are now focused on two narrow missions, training and advising afghan forces, and supporting counterterrorist operations against the remnants of al qaeda as well as other terrorist groups including isil. in short, even as we've maintained a relentless case against those who are threatening us, we are no longer engaged in a major ground war in afghanistan. but even these narrow missions continue to be dangerous. over the past year and a half, 38 americans, military and civilian, have lost their lives in afghanistan on behalf of our security. and we honor their sacrifice. we stand with their families in

their grief and in their pride. and we resolve to carry on the mission for which they give their last full measure of devotion. this is also not america's mission alone. in afghanistan we're joined by 41 allies and partners, a coalition that contributes more than 6,000 troops of their own. we have a partner in the afghan government, in the afghan people, who support a long-term strategic partnership with the united states. in fact, afghans continue to step up. for the second year now, afghan forces are fully responsible for their own security. every day nearly 320,000 afghan soldiers and police are serving and fighting, and many are giving their lives to defend their country. to their credit and in the face of a continued taliban insurgency and terrorist networks, afghan forces remain

in control of all the major population centers, provincial capitals, major transit routes and most district centers. afghan forces have beaten back attacks and pushed the taliban out of some areas. meanwhile, in another milestone we recently removed the leader of the taliban, akhtar mohammed monsie monsieur. never theless, the security situation in afghanistan remains pre tear yous. even as they improve, afghan security forces are still not as long as they need to be. with our help, they're still working to improve critical capabilities, such as intelligence, logistics, aviation and command and control. at the same time the taliban remains a threat. they've gained ground in some cases, continued attacks and suicide bombings including in kabul. because the taliban distribute

rattly target innocent civilians, more afghan men, women and children are dying. and often overlooked in the global refugee ice sis, millions of afghans have left their homes and many fleeing their country. as president and commander in chief, i made it clear i will not allow afghanistan to be used as safe haven to attack our nation again. that's why i constantly review our strategy with my national security team, including our commanders in afghanistan. in all these reviews, we're guided by the facts, what's happening on the ground. to determine what's working and what needs to be changed. that's why at times i made adjustments, for example, by slowing the drawdown of our forces and more recently giving u.s. forces more flexibility to support afghan forces on the ground and in the air. i strongly believe it is in our national security interest,

especially after all the blood and treasure we've invested in afghanistan over the years, that we give our afghan partners the very best opportunity to succeed. upon taking command of coalition forces this spring, general nicholson conducted a review of the security situation in afghanistan and our military pr posture. it was good to get a fresh set of eyes. based on the recommendation of general nicholson as well as secretary kaert and chairman dunford and following extensive conversations with my national security team as well as congress and the afghan government and our international partners, i'm announcing an additional adjustment to our posture. instead of going down to 5,500 troops by the end of this year, the united states will maintain approximately 8,400 troops in afghanistan into next year through the end of my

administration. the narrow missions assigned to our forces will not change. they're remaining focused on supporting afghan forces and going after terrorists. maintaining our forces at this specific level based on our assessment of the security conditions and the strength of afghan forces, will allow us to continue to provide they lord support to allow afghan forces to continue to improve. from coalition bases in gee lal bad, kandahar, we'll be able to support afghan forces on the ground and in the chair and we continue supporting critical counterterrorism operations. i'm reaffirming the enduring commitment to afghanistan and its people, the decision i'm making the day can help our partners and allies maintain their own commitments. tomorrow i head to war sol where i'll meet with coalition partners and afghan president ghani and chief executive abdullah. many of our allies and partners

have already stepped forward with commitments of troops and funding so we can keep strengthening afghan forces through the end of this decade. the nato summit will be an opportunity for morale lies and partners to affirm their contributions, and i'm confident they will. because all of us have a vital interest in the security and stability of afghanistan. my decision today also sends a message to the taliban and all those who have opposed afghanistan's progress. you have now been waging war against the afghan people for many years. you've been unable to prevail. afghan security forces continue to grow stronger, and the commitment of the international community including the united states, to afghanistan and its people will endure. i will say it again. the only way to end this conflict and to achieve a full drawdown of foreign forces from afghanistan is through a lasting political settlement between the afghan government and the

taliban. that's the only way. that is why the united states will continue to strongly support an afghan-led reconciliation process and we we call on all countries in the region to end safe havens for militants and terrorists. finally, today's decision best positions my successor to make future decisions about our presence in afghanistan. in january, the next u.s. president will assume the most solemn responsibility of the commander in chief. the security of the united states and the safety of the american people. the decision i'm making today ensures my successor has a solid foundation for continued progress in afghanistan, as well as the flexibility to address the threat of terrorism as it evolves. so in closing i want to address directly what i think is on the minds of many americans, especially our troops and their

families who have borne a heavy burden for our security. when we first sent forces into afghanistan 14 years ago, few americans imagined we'd be there in any capacity this long. as president, i focused our strategy on training and building up afghan forces. it has been continually my belief that it is up to afghans to defend their country. because we have emphasized train ing their capabilities, we've been able to end our major ground war there and bring 90% of the troops back home. even as we work for peace, we have to deal with the realities of the world as it is, and we can't forget what's at stake in afghanistan. this is where al qaeda is trying to regroup. this is where isil continues to try to expand its presence. if these terrorists succeed in gaining areas where they can

train and plot, they will attempt more attacks against us. we cannot allow that to happen. i will not allow that to happen. this september will mark 15 years since the attacks of 9/11. and once more, we'll pause to remember the lives we lost. americans and peoples from around the world will stand with their families who still grieve and stand with survivors who still bear the scars of that day. we'll thank the first responders who rush to save others: perhaps most importantly we'll salute our men and women in uniform, our 9/11 generation who have served in afghanistan and beyond for our security. we'll honor the memory of all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice including more than 2,200 american patriots who have given their lives in

afghanistan. as we do, let's never forget the progress their service has made possible. afghanistan is not a perfect place. it remains one of the poorest countries in the world. it is going to continue to take time for them to build up military capacity that we sometimes take for granted. given the enormous challenges they face, the afghan people will need the partnership of the world led by the united states for many years to come. but with our support, afghanistan is a better place than it once was. millions of afghan children, boys and girls, are in school. dramatic improvements in public health have saved the lives of mothers and children. afghans have cast their ballots in democratic elections and seen the first democratic transfer of power in their country's history.

the current national unity government continues to pursue reforms including record revenues last year to strengthen their country. over time, help decrease the need for international support. that government is a strong partner with us in combating terrorism. that's the progress we've helped make possible. that's the progress that our troops have helped make possible, and our diplomats and our development personnel. that's the progress we can help sustain in partnership with the afghan people and our coalition partners. so i firmly believe the decision i'm announcing today is the right thing to do for afghanistan, for the united states and for the world. may god bless our troops and all who serve to protect us. may god bless the united states of america.

>> president reagan at the white house, brian williams here in new york. the subject was afghanistan. let's go to ron allen in the white house briefing room. ron, will this be told, will this be reported as a more limited drawdown, more limited decrease? >> reporter: yes, a more limited decrease. a lot of ways to look at this. first of all, 15 years later the united states is still in afghanistan and no one would have thought that 15 years ago. president obama wanted to end this war, wanted american troops out of afghanistan by the time he left office. the situation obviously is not safe enough, so there are some 10,000 troops there now. he wanted to bring the number down to 5,500. he has said there will be 8,400 or so which is something of a compromise. word is the military and some republicans, john mccain,

lindsey graham and others, have bun pushing for a more robust american presence there. the afghan army has been taking a beating by most accounts there, although the president there tried to put a positive spin on the situation in afghanistan. yes, there are no longer 100,000 american troops there, yes, the afghan national arm is in charge of many population centers like the capital kabul to some extent. there's a lot of violence in the country. it's not a stable place. the president noted it's a very poor place. afghanistan is also one of the most stark places you'll ever travel to, a place where many armies have found graves because they haven't been able to deal with the terrain in that place. it's a very difficult environment. this is arguably perhaps the last major decision president obama will make about afghanistan. 8,400 troops is something of a compromise. the question is where will this mission be when he leaves

office. america's involvement, the longest war in american history will continue when president obama leaves office and when whoever secedes him takes over. >> jack jacobs is also with us, a medal of honor resip ynt, decorated vietnam veteran. i realize i dated us both by saying president reagan at the white house. president obama, of course, at the white house. how do you think this will be received? it was the president who reminded us we're coming up on the 15th an verse versery of 9/11, the 9/11 generation. >> it's interesting that afghanistan is starting to look a great deal like vietnam did before 1964 when the preponderance of our forces, just about everybody who we had

in vietnam, were trainers, special forces training other special forces, vietnamese special forces, mobile forces designed to train forces to protect vietnam and use jeet meis forces to do it. here we are more than 50 years later, pretty much doing the same thing in afghanistan. it's interesting, also, that the president -- it's hard to believe that it's been about ten years since the president was campaigning the first time around. we recall he said iraq, bad war, afghanistan is where we should pay attention. and he did. then about midway through his term he decided that he didn't want to be anywhere, didn't want to have american troops engaged anywhere and we were going to pull out. cooler heads prevail. i think his national security team said you can't do that for a number of reasons, the least

significant of which is afghanistan is not secure yet, and then was moved to lengthen the period of time our trainers were going to be there. remember in 2015 he said, look, we're going to have 5,500 people by the end of 2016. then we'll be out of there, i want to be out of there by the time i leave office. of course, he's been convinced otherwise. i think both richard engel and ron allen said something extremely perceptive, and that was that this is basically a compromise. the president would love to be out of tre on the 20th of january. in fact, the mission is such that we can't be out of there. i think the military would like to see an even more robust presence, but the fact that general dunford was there in the room when the president was making the announcement indicates he's satisfied with

the decision that the president has made. the president made one other interesting comment -- he made a lot of enter interesting comments, but one particularly sbr interesting at this point, it will be easier for the next president to make decisions. if this president did what he wanted to do and get out altogether, it would be extremely door di for the united states to continue a mission by reinvigorating american forces back into afghanistan. leaving troops there satisfies both the military's requirement and also the political requirement so it will be easier for the next president to do whatever he or she wants to do in order to further the mission in afghanistan. a lot more to do, a lot more to do in training. we'll be there a long, long time i believe. >> jack jacobs, thank you for that. courtney kuby standing by at the

pentagon. courtney, in that building over the years they received word that 2,215 of our very best have been lost by that conflict. while it's hard to sum up the feeling or take a poll of such a fast complex there, how do you think this will go over in the pentagon and elsewhere? >> i think people will primarily be pleased. there were several things that have forecasted this announcement in the past several weeks. last month we had this pretty unprecedented open letter to the president written by several retired generals including general john campbell who just left at the head of the war in afghan stop, general petraeus, general john allen, numerous former centcom and former afghanistan commanders wrote an open letter to the president begging him essentially to keep 10,000 u.s. troops in there to maintain the presence, maintain the security they've been able to help the afghans stable.

the second thing, last year, 2015, we saw a dramatic uptick in violence in afghanistan, primarily by the taliban and the haqqani network. the taliban was able to take back large stretches of territory in the south, in the southwest, in parts of the east. and that really concerned military leaders last year and into this year. the u.s. and the afghans have made gains so far in 2016 that have been able to bring back, take back some of that land, some of that territory, some of those gains that the taliban made last year. but it was relatively clear that the president was going to have to leave more troops there than the 5,500. the third thing that happened recently that forecasted this announcement was several weeks ago the administration announced these new enhanced authorities for the u.s. military in afghanistan. that included -- and this was really significant at the time. it included the ability for the u.s. military to go after the

taliban in an offensive manner in a way they have not been able to do since december of 2014. what's important about this is, at the end of 2014, the so-called combat mission was supposed to have ended there. that included the afghans were supposed to be going after the talibans, the u.s. was spoeft to be in support, training, advising role. they weren't supposed to be going on offensive missions. this new authority gave them a little nudge of going in the more offensive route against the taliban, not just against al qaeda and the counterterrorism. >> kube, thank you. richard engel, having covered these dual wars. the president reminds us we're coming up on the 15th anniversary of 9/11. your reaction to this announcement today?

>> reporter: it must have been a very painful speech for him to make and a painful speech for american people to hear, the longest war in american history drags on. this president made it clear he wanted to end the wars in iraq and afghanistan. now in one of his final decisions, his final public statements on iraq and afghanistan, he's been sending more troops into both those countries, and also sending troops into syria now. it means the situation assessed by his military commanders is not stable enough to go down to that 5,500 level. instead, it's going to stay at 8,400 level if i remember the numbers correctly. it is not the kind of speech he wanted to give. it is not a positive speech. my reaction, when i first heard he was going to be speaking, i thought this could go either way. he's either going to make a big legacy speech and say the troops are leaving, or he's going to

have to bite his lower lip and say unfortunately more troops are staying, and that's what he did. >> richard, having spent so much time there, you know the accomplishment of that kind of clear and hold policy as our troops for so many years, so many of them have gone across the countryside, have paid such a terrible price to look back in nothing but sadness to see your work ruined, your sacrifice ruined and reversed. that is so tough for american fighting forces. >> reporter: that hasn't happened much in afghanistan. it has happened very clearly in iraq. the iraq war, there was the surge. you had 140,000-some-odd troops there battling day in and day out, clearing towns in western iraq, neighborhoods in bagdad. then they left and saw isis take

over, shiite militias take over, corrupt officials allow these projects to go to rock. i think the legacy of what happened in iraq is hanging over very clearly this decision for afghanistan. afghanistan has been getting worse. you have these three competing enemies that compete with each other, al qaeda, the taliban and isis has been encroaching, all vying to make afghanistan their home. i think it was with a look over the shoulder to iraq that the president decided he couldn't in good conscience go down even to the troop withdraw number of 5,500 that was planned. >> thanks as always to our chief fornt correspondent richard engel and all who participated in this coverage of the president's appearance and announcement from the white house. a break for us. our coverage will continue on the other side. ♪ ♪

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the breaking news. fbi director james comey is going to be appearing on the hill tomorrow to give some answers to those within the gop house that are puzzled by the findings of his fbi investigation and mixing that with the recommendation to not have the department of justice pursue any criminal charges against hillary clinton. kelly o'donnell is standing by. kelly was there yesterday when director comey made the findings announcement. kelly, this was so swift. we remind everybody about the timeline. it was just august 2015 we were able to get confirmation that the fbi was opening its investigation or had started its investigation. what specifically is comey going to be responsible for tomorrow in front of these house gop leaders? >> i can tell you, thomas, a couple of key chairmen of house committees, jason chaffetz both

have a responsibility of justice and the fbi. they have a direct connection here. it is routine and expected that they would be able to call someone of director comey's stature to answer to something like this. what's interesting, thap both spoke with him on the phone yesterday after his presentation that got so much attention, and when asked when he could appear, it was director comey who offered tomorrow. clearly he understands the importance of getting this discussed and aired out publicly, quickly, also mindful of, if he does not answer additional questions, how this could become even more a part of the political conversation that could question his judgment. we have heard some in the republican party already doing that. he has a reputation that has been appreciated by many, but there is criticism about his judgment on this point from republicans. so he will appear tomorrow. he will answer questions, and we don't have any guidelines about how long that will take or what questions will be asked, but it

will be a key hearing to watch. >> we know speaker ryan called his findings and recommendations mystifying. we've also been following breaking news out of baton rouge louisiana and the demands for justice after a deadly police shooting at a convenience store where a 37-year-old was killed. we just heard from family members of alton sterling in this hour who was shot and killed after a confrontation with police early yesterday morning apparently captured on cell phone video. this has not been independently verified by nbc news. i'm joined by a crime reporter from the advocate newspaper. maya, you've been watching this story. what are you hearing from police and their response to allegations from the family and they attorneys from their press conference earlier? >> reporter: interestingly, police haven't given a press conference yet. they plan to do so at 11:00. that's something leaders were

angry about. the police have not yet released the names of the officers. >> maya, the names of the officers, when we say how many are involved, what have they confirmed from the police department? >> reporter: the police confirmed there were two officers involved, that's been from the beginning. they also confirmed from the beginning that they shot and killed alton sterling. that's never really been in dispute. >> maya lau who reports for the advocate newspaper in baton rouge. we'll continue to follow that story as well as bernie sanders giving an address regard. my colleague tamron hall picks up our coverage now. good morning everyone. i'm tamron hall coming to you live from our msnbc headquarters in new york. we continue to follow that breaking news out of louisiana. just earlier this morning an

emotional news conference took place. the family of a black man shot to death by police in baton rouge are demanding answers. alton sterling's teenage son broke down in tears in front of cameras as his mother described what the shooting has done to their family. >> the individuals involved in his murder took away a man with children who depended upon their daddy on a daily basis. my son is not the youngest. he is the oldest of his siblings. he is 15 years old. [ sobbing ] he has to watch this as this was put all over the outlets and everything that was possible to be shown. >> sterling's family and supporters are calling for the