>> reporter: good morning, jeff. the whole point of this day of the nato conference is to try to emphasize this idea that they're going to formalize this transition of combat and nato, basically meaning u.s. troops taking the lead on the combat mission. they call it milestone 2013. this is an agreement that afghan security forces take the lead combat role by the summer of 2013. this is an attempt, frankly, to appease a lot of some of the other contributing nations to nato, most recently, frankly, france, who want to pull their troops out sooner, who are dealing with the same war fatigue in their public that we see in polls here. so this is an attempt by the nato -- essentially to buy time, to get member nations to say, don't rush to the exits here, give time. we've got a plan in place. but it is fascinating -- in the

history of war, you don't schedule an end to wars. but that is, of course, what nato is attempting to do. >> there's a subplot going on here as well. the white house invited pakistan's president to this summit. but then the president refused to meet with him. what's the white house saying about that? >> reporter: this is all over this issue. pakistan basically shut down one of the supply routes over the khyber pass in order for nato to get supplies to afghans that were using this. pakistan shut it down in november, upset by the death of soldiers killed by u.s. air strikes. there have been negotiations, first pakistan wanted a public apology. the white house refused that. now they're talking about more basically charges, more per vehicle. instead of 200 bucks a vehicle, they want something like $5,000 a vehicle and nato said, no. the whole invitation here to the president, the hope was by inviting him here, he would hurry up and cut the deal, agree

to a deal. then they'd give him a meeting with the president. that didn't happen. they gave him a meeting with secretary clinton. we have a ways to go on that issue. >> chuck todd in chicago watching everything for us today, chuck, thank you. we want to bring in john yang who's outside a police station where demonstrators are still being released. many of them arrested late last night. expecting large crowds today, john? >> reporter: jeff, the main focus today is going to be boeing corporate headquarters in downtown chicago. boeing, a big defense contractor, high on the list that's issued every year of big corporations that pay little or no federal taxes. it's going to be a big target today. boeing has put a protective material on the windows of their skyscraper in downtown chicago. and they have urged employees, they say they'll be open for business but they've urged employees to work from home.

that's led the protesters to declare victory already saying they have effectively shut down boeing. yesterday, police say they arrested at least 45 people in the protest. they are being released here at the north area headquarters of chicago police department. they're being greeted by fellow protesters who spent the night here outside in solidarity for their colleagues inside. and as they come out, they're talking to us about their experiences. >> aside from the officer who arrested me who treated me with absolute disregard and did not treat me with any sort of dignity or respect, all the other officers were kind and warm and friendly. >> reporter: almost all those arrests came at the end of a march, about 2,000 people marched from grant park in downtown chicago to the mccormick place, the convention center where the nato summit is being held. at the end of the event, there was a rally at that end point.

afterward, most of the 2,000 marchers left peacefully. a hard-core group of about a couple hundred stayed on. the police tried to clear it. some trying to press their way toward mccormick place. with the clashes of police, baton-swinging and stic stick-swinging. the officers responded only when they were assaulted. four officers were injured. local hospitals have treated at least seven protesters. the protesters say the police overreacted but superintendent mccarthy says they showed great restraint. >> and the police say, don't blame us, blame the protesters, they're the ones who assaulted the police officers. we can expect an added police presence there today, too, right? >> reporter: oh, absolutely. there is a massive police

presence here today as there has been all weekend. 12,000 police officers on the street, not only chicago police but officers from milwaukee, from philadelphia, from charlotte. you've got the national guard, the illinois state police and, of course, federal law enforcement officers all here during the nato summit. >> john yang keeping a close eye on that for us today. john, thank you so much. from the high anxiety of keeping peace with the demonstrators to the high-stakes diplomacy at the summit itself, how will the expected nato alliance endorsement to end the decade-long war in afghanistan impact the u.s.? want to bring nbc news military analyst and retired four-star general mccaffrey and mark ginsburg. thank you so much for joining us today. ambassador, i want to start with you. what's the end game for the president soud? >> the most important is to ensure he has a baton hand-off

to karzai in 2013 and to be sure they can stand up enough afghanny troops to ensure the united states would be able to stop what would be offensive military hostilities in afghanistan and to transition from what is a counterinsurgency campaign to more of a counterterrorism campaign in afghanistan. i think the reality on the wall, jeff, is that once the french decided to pull the plug on their troops, leaving the united states is the last country in nato to keep the lights on in afghanistan was not a position the president wanted to be in. >> general mccaffrey, in your unique position, having sat in these meetings but apparently and reportedly the president made this decision about the withdrawal without much input from the military's top brass. what kind of friction exists already between the military and the white house on this issue and what kind of friction happened because of this decision? >> well, probably very little

friction. at the end of the day, generally allen sitting on the ground in afghanistan has a real problem. we're coming out. we've told the entire world that. even getting out of there is going to be a tremendous challenge now. the u.s. logistics has been miraculous to even keep the war going over the last several months. and pakistan closed off its supply routes. so we're on the ropes. our allies are leaving. an election is coming up in afghanistan. the american people don't support this war. 18,000 killed and wounded u.s. $10 billion a month. i don't think you can put a very optimistic face on the end game in afghanistan. >> what do you do, though, if the taliban resurngresurgeence

overtimi overtiming? >> the army is fairly effective. we've done a pretty good job there. but how do you hold together a country involved in an ethnic struggle, how do you deal with pakistan, which is four separate nations loosely under the control of the army is beyond me. we're 870 miles from the sea. the politics of this is going the wrong way and we're coming out. >> ambassador, is it safe to say the afghanistan basically more or less ended with the killing of osama bin laden? >> i wouldn't go that far largely because we still have terrorist organizations operating on both sides of the afghanny/pakistani border. the haqqani network.

they're still a threat that terrorist activities are going to be orchestrated against the united states from either these countries, somalia, you name it. we have to maintain spebl forces operations in afghanistan and pakistan. but for all intents and purposes, the so-called petraeus surge, the surge that the president bought into, the effort to try to pacify the southern part of the country has largely failed, the taliban is resilient and the fact of the matter is that the ground war that we hoped would change the nature of the conflict has failed to achieve its goals. and as i couldn't agree more with general mccaffrey, the problem here is to basically provide the president with an opportunity to leave afghanistan without his republican opponents accusing him for hightailing out and leaving the country in ruins. that's what the president is trying to juggle here. >> ambassador and general, thank you so much for your insights this morning.

appreciate it. in other news, al megrahi will be buried in libya today. al megrahi denied responsibility for the 1988 bombing killing all 270 people aboard, including 189 americans. he was found guilty back in 2001 but released in 2009 by scottish officials because he believed he would die of cancer in three months. he ended up living at home for three more years. emily's just starting out... and on a budget. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate.

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welcome back. 14 minutes past the hour. this morning, the obama campaign is launching a new attack on mitt romney's career at bain capital. a new five-minute ad featuring workers who lost their jobs when

their company went bankrupt in 2000. >> to me, mitt romney takes from the poor and the middle class and gives to the rich. he's just the opposite of robin hood. >> this was the worst day of my life. >> you can tell by the way he acts, the way he talks, he doesn't care anything about the middle class or the lower class people. >> but on nbc's "meet the press," corey booker, one of the president's biggest supporters, denounce this had kind of attack. >> if you look at the totality of bain capital's record, they've done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses. this kind of stuff is nauduating to me on both sides. it's nauseating to the american public. enough is enough. stop attacking private and stop attacking jeremiah wright. it's going to be a big campaign about the issues that the american public cares about. >> there was angry reaction from obama supporters. so just hours later.

booker walked back on some of those communities on youtube. joined now by david corn and casey hunt. good to see you guys. >> good morning. >> so it was -- joe scarbrough said booker had no choice. what do you make of that? >> i'm sure he heard directly from the obama campaign because it cut right against the message that they've been pushing last week and this week, which is that mitt romney was a vulture capitalist when he was at bain. it wasn't his job to create jobs but to maximize profits for investors and occasionally that went laying off people at the companies that he bought while bain would make tens of millions of dollars in fees for managing these places.

so it cut against and threw up all this dust in the air. just this morning, the obama campaign is scheduled to have a campaign call with reporters to promote that video that you just showed about one of these cases that went very badly. it was used back in the 1994 campaign when romney tried to unseat ted kennedy and the kennedy folks used that very, very effectively against mitt romney. >> does booker have a point here? it's enough of the negative campaigning? >> well, it depends. if mitt romney's out there saying, i'm a job creator, i don't think there's anything wrong at looking at that record and seeing whether or not you really did create jobs or do something else. so it's negative in the sense that it's not flattering towards mitt romney but it certainly seems fair and within the bounds of normal political discourse. >> casey, what do you make of that, stepping back on his own words hours later and going on youtube? >> there are a lot of democrats

who agree with corey booker. but it's clear here that chicago was not okay with it. he's got an independent, high enough profile that he was able to come out and say this and end up making news. but, again, like you just showed, had to walk it back because we've seen the obama state after state, company after company take this, mitt romney destroyed local jobs as opposed to creating them. it's been such a fundamental part so far of what we've seen from the obama campaign, it's not tenable for them to have somebody off message as booker was over the weekend. >> john mccain praised booker for this. thank you mayor booker for the straight talk this morning. but booker did walk back on some of his criticisms. >> let me be clear, mitt romney has made his business record a centerpiece of his campaign. he's talked about himself as a job creator and therefore it is

reasonable and in fact i encourage it for the obama campaign to examine that record and to discuss it. i have no problem with that. >> did booker do the right thing? if he believes that and you have to believe he does, what he said on "meet the press" originally, why make a video like that? >> the clip of the video you just showed is the piece of it that the obama campaign wants everyone to see. that video that booker made is considerably longer than just the clip that the obama administration has been circulating. his walkback is a little bit less aggressive than it looks if you just watch the quick little clip. they really need to push back on this because he is walking right into the message that the romney campaign is pushing on this. the romney campaign wants voters to think that these attacks on bain are character assassination, not a fair examination of romney's record in business. >> david, super pacs have been

getting a lot of the blame from negative ads. the romney super pac raised nearly $4 million in april. the obama super pac raised $1.6 million. how big of a concern is this to the obama administration? that's a big disparity of numbers there. >> it's a tremendous concern. if you look at the overall numbers including campaigns and parties and other independent groups out there, mitt romney is playing even or he's in some regards ahead of barack obama. and for him to get out there and complain about the bain ads as being character assassination when he quite effectively used super pacs during the campaign to go after the character of newt gingrich, rick perry and anybody who threatened him, rick santorum, shows that there's a lot of hypocrisy on all sides here. but we're going to see this campaign, thanks to the citizens united decision, you'll have a handful, a couple of dozen billionaires, literally, to be

determining the shape of this campaign more than they've ever been able to do so. and it's going to be primarily to the advantage of mitt romney. and i think chicago has a lot of reasons -- i think citizens have a lot of reasons to be worried about this hyperinfluence of big money politics. >> this week, senator marco rubio will introduce mitt romney this week. over the weekend, he accused the president of abandoning the ideal that is got him elected in 2008. >> because he cannot win on his record, the president has decide that had he must divide us in order to win. so today on issue after issue, cause after cause, the strategy that this white house and his party is employing is a destructive one that pits americans against each other. rich versus poor, men versus women. >> is that a message that could stick? it could resonate with latino and independent voters and give

him a real problem in november? >> potentially. marco rubio is one of the best messagers that romney has in the republican party, whether he ends up being the running mate or continues to be somebody who can speak in front of these audiences. he really excites conservative audiences. 245 south carolina dinner is the party faithful, that's typically a lead-up to presidential cycles. and if you look at the schedule that rubio is keeping, not only is he potentially speaking on behalf of the party and of mitt romney but he's in des moines, he's in south carolina. that's a primary schedule for maybe a year like 2016. >> thank you both. >> thanks, jeff. 22 minutes past the hour now. a rite of passage this weekend for many college students in this country and graduating, among those the class of 2012 at george washington university, some 5,000 graduating students and their families gathered on the mall in washington.

and there's a familiar face. our own brian williams receiving an honorary degree in an inspiring commencement address. >> please take us somewhere, please keep us moving, push us, lift us up, make us better. remember this, as i leave you, again, as of today, you've achieved what i could not. congratulations, god bless, go achieve some more. mariah is the founder of citrus lane. customers sign up for a subscription and once a month get a surprise package of baby products. instead of hiring someone, she did her own market research. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on

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breaking news, president obama speaking now at the nato summit in chicago. want to let you listen in. >> two years ago in lisbon, our nations agreed on a framework for transition in afghanistan that would allow us to responsibly wind down the war. we agreed that this transition

to afghan lead for security would begin in 2011 and that it would conclude in 2014. at the same time, we said that we would seek a long-term partnership with afghanistan and the afghan people. over the past two years, we've made important progress. our forces broke the taliban's momentum, more afghans are reclaiming their communities, afghan security forces have grown stronger and the transition that we agreed to in lisbon is well under way. this past week, we saw more progress. we very much welcomed president karzai's announcement to the third group of areas to begin transition. this means that 75% of the afghan people live in areas where afghan forces will be moving into the lead. today we'll decide the next

phase of the transition, the next milestone. we'll set a goal for afghan forces to take the lead for combat operations across the country in 2013, next year. so that isaf can move to a supporting role. this will be another step toward afghan's taking full lead for their security as agreed to by 2014 when the isaf combat mission will end. today's also an opportunity to ensure our hard-won progress is preserved and the strategic partnership agreement that president karzai and i signed in kabul ensure that is as afghans stand up, they will not stand alone. today we can agree on nato's long-term relationship with afghanistan beyond 2014, including our support of afghan security forces. so we have a lot of work to do. again, i want to thank all of my

fellow leaders and our partners for being here, our nations and the world have a vital interest in the success of this mission and i am confident because of the leadership represented here as well as the leadership of our outstanding armed forces, that we can advance that goal today and responsibly bring this war to an end. mr. secretary general? >> thank you very much, mr. president. >> president obama speaking at the nato summit in chicago. just to briefly explain what he was discussing. u.s. forces, he says, broke the taliban momentum in afghanistan. he also says -- and he's been saying this for a couple of days now, is that the afghans need to take control of their own security forces by 2014 but that the u.s. and nato will fully support them in that role and will continue that long term. he also says the world has a vested interest in the stability of afghanistan. but once again, president obama

speaking in chicago at the nato summit. in other news, what's the jury focusing on right now as they deliberate john edwards' fate? we'll explore that next. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at nissan, our ideal is innovation. 5 all-new models over the next 15 months, including a completely reimagined altima. welcome to our most innovative year ever. nissan. innovation for all. ♪

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you on the ground. do you think the prosecution presented a case that could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that edwards is guilty? >> i think the prosecution's problem is the reasonable doubt problem. there's a lot of testimonial evidence in this trial. it's a very difficult case for prosecutors. they don't have any direct evidence and even the circumstantial evidence is related to testimony by people who have told 20 lies for one truth. and it makes the government's burden very hard to carry. it goes directly to the jury's ability to find the charges against him without reasonable doubt. i think that is the biggest challenge and is probably filling the jury's time. >> mistake or smart not to call john edwards to the stand or rielle hunter or cate edwards? >> i really think the defense made the right call there. the last thing you want to do is end your case with a scathing cross-examination. and with john edwards, no matter what you think of him, he's told

a lot of lies, some of which he told on public media, they could impeach him on prior statements. i don't think the defense want to end on that note or on cate edwards or who knows what rielle hunter would have said? they made a decision to end their case on a matter they could control, which was a question of whether the law covered the activities that edwards was charged with. >> and, saul, john edwards is a well-trained politician, could do well probably on the stand dealing with tough questions. but was it smart? as he lied too much? almost that his smoothness was hurt him? >> it's a totally right call. this is an appalling prosecution. they're prosecuting something that isn't even a regulation violation much less a criminal violation. even if he's convicted, the universal feeling is that it will be reversed on appeal, as it should be. >> more men or on the jury than

women. does that help mr. edwards, do you think, saul? >> i don't think it makes a difference here. you've got one very smart juror here because before they even started deliberating, a juror raised his hand and asked the judge to define what it meant -- for purposes of the campaign to define what that meant. that's the heart of the case and the government's problem. no government entity of any kind had before the edwards indictment ever interpret this had kind of conduct as for the purposes of a campaign. >> it's coming down to who the jurors should believe? you have edwards who cheated on his sick wife and the prosecution's star witness, former edwards aide andrew young who stole some of the campaign money. sit hard for the jurors to separate edwards' affair with the case they're trying to deliberate here? >> i think it is a challenge. i think the government knew it would be a challenge and they put those facts together for the jury, really muddying up the

waters between edwards' personal behavior that you might find repugnant and the criminal charges. the jury has to be able to sort through all of that testimonial evidence. i think it's a good sign that the jury is taking their time, they're going through the evidence. they've had for 12 exhibits from the trial, all of which relate to the bunny mellon money. it indicates to me they're really taking apart the case, which is what they need to do. it's a serious set of charges. >> catherine, your prediction? >> i don't have a prediction, jeff. it's too hard to predict. you see the people's faces and they react to certain evidence, it's a tough case for the government. and the jury would have to make strong findings regarding credibility in order to find in favor of the government in this case. >> he'll never spend a day in prison. if he's convicted, it will be reversed on appeal. >> you heard it here. thanks so much. the war against women appears to be raging on and the

republicans show no signs of backing off. critics argue last week's passage of the house bill seriously weakens the violence against women act, designed to protect victims of domestic and sexual abuse. i'm joined by carol hunter and karen floyd. i'll ask you first, the house bill omits protections for gay and immigrant abuse victims. republicans claim democrats included hot-button provisions to politicize the issue. what's your take? >> i think it's ridiculous. it's to provide protection for all its citizens to find that freedom. it's strange to me the republican party is dismantling those things at this point.

it seems very odd. >> karen floyd, the senate bill was bipartisan. health care for victims were consulted in the shaping of this bill. how can republicans criticize democrats for politicizing this issue? >> when i was a young prosecutor, i learned over and over again that you would have a very strong case and what would happen -- we just heard this with the edwards case -- there would be a muddying of waters. and so what's essentially happened is there are these iconic issues that have literally been pulled together and people are saying it's a war against women and it's completely inaccurate and reputable. >> no. it's totally accurate and what it's saying is that the republican party -- >> it's not. >> -- has no issue on financial issue, they don't have anything to do with the economy. so they're looking for these other social issues, moral issues to throw in front of people as a smoke screen. i think the waters are muddied,

absolutely, but for what purpose. >> let me tell you, the fact is americans have 12.5 million individuals that are without work. 350,000 people have given up. we have -- if you look at the 25-year-old and youngers, only 53% of their youngsters can actually find job, they're either underemployed or unemployed. that's what the american people want to here. they don't want to hear about pitting one against another. >> john boehner says the democrats have, quote, entirely created this. >> right, right, right. you go to arizona, you go state by state -- it's very clear that this has been a very pointed attack on the rights and freedoms of women and others in this country. it absolutely makes no sense except that what you just point out is absolutely right. they don't have an answer for

the joblessness, they don't have an answer for the unemployment rate in this country or the financial crisis here in. so this is a great out. >> ms. floyd? >> an out -- i stand to correct you. the fact of the matter is, the republican party isn't the one talking about war against women. we're talking about jobs. we're talking about the economy. we're talking about things that really matter. and what's happened is very similar to the lesson i learned as a young prosecutor, the democrats are pulling out these ancillary issues and trying to pit groups of individuals against each other. and you heard it when you heard senator rubio speaking the other night. there's a real problem because rather than building together and focusing on issues, this idea of causing conflict between americans has taken precedent and it's wrong. >> let's leave it there with the karens. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you for having us. making news this morning,

live pictures from inside the courtroom where dharun ravi is this morning. the 20-year-old could face up to ten years behind bars. we're watching that live for you. facebook is falling on its face this morning. mandy drury here with what's moving your money. and facebook is sharply lower after going public last friday. mandy, what's going on here? >> they opened below their $38 issue price this morning. the stock fell up to 13%. but who is really to blame for the view that, let's be honest, fell flat on friday. the debut was marred by that big delay in opening on the nasdaq. that's going to be looked into by the s.e.c. as it fell on friday towards that $38 mark, shares were purchased on the open market.

it could eventually result in financial restitution for investors who did not get shares at their desired price. and by the way, ob saturday, mark zuckerberg married his girlfriend, priscilla chan. that's a nice little $19 million ring on her hand. >> was that done on purpose to protect his money? >> i think some of the legal people behind the scenes are saying this was a wise move, as long as they had a prenuptial agreement. when you have that much money at stake, i think it's a wise move. >> i'd marry the guy. >> i would marry the guy. >> whatever he wants. cnbc's mandy drury, thanks so much. >> thank you. "the avengers" continues to dominate at the box office. it took in another $55 million. it has now brought in more than $1 billion worldwide. but believe it or not, it's not the biggest film yet.

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>> great to be with you this morning. >> great to have you. what's the message house democrats are sending with that bill? >> it's a good fight-back message to say we are advancing the right to vote, that this is an opportunity to fight back against the most aggressive legislative assault against voting rights in over a century. >> isn't it a little bit too late at this point? 14 states are about to pass voting restrictions since the start of 2011. >> it gives new energy to those of us who are fighting in courtrooms and in legislatures across the country. it's a way to build bridges to new voters and it's a way to send a message that we're not going to accept the restrictions on voting rights of vulnerable citizens around the country. >> some say this is not about voter suppression but about eliminating fraud. >> we are all for integrity of the elections. but also for allowing more people to participate in our

elections. these laws that restrict voting rights are not about preventing fraud. they're about preventing voting. we want more citizens to participate to make this -- our nation stronger. >> what plans does your group have when it comes to the november election? >> we are certainly on the ground already working with groups to ensure that voting rights are protected. we'll do it in the courtrooms. we'll do it on the streets. we're working with groups that are forming now to ensure that people who register to vote actually make it on the voter registration rolls. we want strong training programs for poll workers and we want to make sure that everyone who wants to vote will have an opportunity to cast ballot that is count. >> how far are you prepared to go with this? you say you're going to fight in the courtrooms. >> we are already in the courtrooms. we want to just make sure that voting rights are protected and we will do it all the way until election day to ensure that people who want to vote will

have opportunities to cast ballot that is count. >> thanks so much. appreciate it. >> thank you so much for having us this morning. you have probably heard the music world has lost another legend. the bee gee's robin gibb died after a long battle with cancer. the bee gees dominated the 1970s with six number one songs. gibb is being remembered on twitter. tv host mario lopez writes in part, our disco stars are off to perform the big club upstairs. and la toya jackson tweeted, you will be missed and we will keep your music staying alive. [ male announcer ] this is lois.

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good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts.

damage control, mayor cory booker attempts to clarify his remarks. did his youtube message do the trick? . and barbara boxer joins me live in studio. her take on the political war on women, why she accuses the gop and congress for slashing women's rights. and the rutgers student charged with invasion of privacy in the death of tyler clementi will learn his fate today. will dharun ravi be convicted? wigs good-bye, ring of fire and unlimited time off. let's go down to the wire. after seven seasons, kristen wiig says good-bye to "snl." she's got moved like jagger. you don't see it there. a big night for adele.

when it comes to fashion, check out what miley cyrus was wearing, or not wearing. nice and short. perhaps miley would have been more covered up in this. a beekeeper in poland allowed 30,000 bees to be placed on his body to see whether we could survive. he walked away with only two stings. really cool pictures from around the world of yesterday's ring of fire solar eclipse. the moon passed in front of the sun leaving only a golden ring around the edges. it was the first solar eclipse in the u.s. in 18 years. and imagine this job, all the vacation time you want. the ceo of a marketing agency says he wants to be free. they work when they want. the company has only 15 employees. don't send your resumes there. the buzzer screwed me up. that wraps up this hour of "jansing & co." i'm jeff rossen in today for chris jansing.

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good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts. topping the agenda this morning, chicago bracing for more violent protests on the final day of the nato summit which is being held there. take a look at this. the scene yesterday as police clashed with protesters not far from where president obama, the heads of other nato countries, other world leaders all meeting. dozens were injured and at least 45 people were arrested during otherwise peaceful demonstrations by thousands. more protests are planned for today. meanwhile, president obama and other world leaders are holding a second and final day of those meetings to discuss winding down the war in afghanistan, as well as security after u.s. and other nato troops leave. nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker joins us live from chicago and nbc news military analyst and medal of honor recipient, retired colonel jack jacobs

joins us live from alonzo. great to see both of you. those protests are laying the backdrop for what's taking place with these very real talks. where where are we on day two, the talks seem about about the progress and the transition out of afghanistan. >> reporter: hi, thoma the big news today is we're expecting an announcement from the leaders, that they're going to be handing over combat command to afghan security forces in 2013 with the ultimate goal of withdrawing all foreign troops by 2014. so essentially making that transition happen and really setting the time line into motion here. now, the obama administration has really been focusing on the fact that they are bringing this very unpopular war to an end. but military commanders stress, this is still a very dangerous mission. it is still going to require combat through 2013 and through 2014, even.