and martha raddatz, who has been to afghanistan dozens of times, including just last month, has more. martha? >> reporter: diane, behind all those numbers are human beings, and no matter what numbers the president announces tomorrow, it will be the beginning of the end of the u.s. troop mission in afghanistan. this is what a drawdown means in human terms. more scenes like this. more emotion. sisters jessica and kristen, searching for their brother, lance corporal michael acquaviva, as he arrived home. they search and search, and then --

for "nightline," i'm martha raddatz in washington. >> president obama's drawdown in afghanistan. thanks to martha for that. >>> just ahead, a verdict in the case of a self-help author accused of manslaughter in the deaths of three people in an arizona sweat lodge ceremony that was supposed to purify them. i was driving in northern california. my son was asleep. i really didn't see it coming. i didn't realize i was drifting into the other lane. [ kim ] i was literally falling asleep at the wheel. it got my attention, telling me that i wasn't paying attention. i had no idea the guy in front of me had stopped short. but my car did. -my car did. -thankfully, my mercedes did. [ male announcer ] a world you can't predict... demands a car you can trust. the e-class. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. so i took my heartburn pill and some antacids. we're having mexican tonight, so another pill then? unless we eat later, then pill later? if i get a snack now, pill now? skip the snack, pill later... late dinner, pill now

thank you, martha raddatz. >>> and, another major milestone to tell you about, just came in tonight. congresswoman gabby giffords is out of the hospital. she has been released, five months after she was shot in the head. the hospital says that, "we have no doubt that she will continue to make significant strides in her recovery." and she will go home in houston with her husband, mark kelly, continuing outpatient rehab near that city. >>> and, people in the small town of hamburg, iowa, are facing a huge fight tonight, trying to hold back the rising missouri river. a breach in the levee is threatened the 1,000 people who live there. a temporary levee is the only hope against the flood water. barbara pinto is in hamburg tonight. >> reporter: diane, this is ground zero in the battle to save this town. men and machinery have been working around the clock here to build this levee. all of this good iowa farm soil is now this town's last line of defense. the only barrier between hamburg and the wall of water headed this way. towns up and down the swollen missouri river are bracing for record

and here is martha raddatz, who traveled to yemen just months ago. >> reporter: we saw them ourselves during a resent trip to yemen. american special forces, darting from our cameras, but clearly training yemeni forces to kill or capture al qaeda terrorists. now that effort has been halted. the chaos in yemen is growing, with the president fleeing yemen after an attack. he is now fighting for his life with burns across nearly half his body. just yesterday, diane sawyer asked general david petraeus and robert gates about yemen -- >> reporter: what do we do about al qaeda now in yemen? >> well, i think we maintain the focus. >> reporter: a new special forces strategy? >> there's one already, i can assure you. >> when we find them, we take them out. >> reporter: but that key strategy, using armed drones, is now threatened as well. the chaos in yemen means intelligence gathering and coordination for the drones is far more difficult. and it is vitally important to america in its efforts to find the world's most dangerous terrorist, who uses his perch in yemen to influence terror around the

maybe more who sympathize wit l al qaeda. >> and martha raddatz joins us now tonight from washington.nd martha, wasn't lost on me when you pointed out that the head of counterterrorism happens to be the president's nephew. how long can the u.s. even count on the nephew helping? >> reporter: i can't manage the general will be around for long. the people of yemen wanted the president out of the country, they want all his family members to step down, too. but this does add instability to the situation. what the general is doing is very important. they have no idea who will follow him. and i cannot stress enough how important yemen is to counterterrorism efforts around the world. >> martha, we know you'll be following this. thank you. >>> in afghanistan tonight, a rare display of emotion from robert gates, as he thanked the men and women, the u.s. troops serving there. gates said the white house has yet to begin a formal discussion on how to proceed with the timeline for this summer's initial troop withdrawal. but tonight, he is talking about how it's time for him to move on. talking excl

here's martha raddatz. >> reporter: the president said u.s. troops have made significant progress in the fight against al qaeda. >> al qaeda remains dangerous, and we must be vigilant against attacks, but we have put al qaeda on a path to defeat, and we will not relent until the job is done. >> reporter: what's clear from his comments is that the focus in the future will be on counterterrorism, not a broader approach. >> of course, huge challenges remain. this is the beginning, but not the end, of our effort to wind down this war. >> reporter: and once the initial drawdown is over, it will continue. what has been the cost? in just 2011 the u.s. will spend more than $118 billion, and just since the surge began, more than 670 americans have been killed. 20-year-old matthew henegan, 11 years old when the war began, was one of them. i want to know what you said to the picture. when you went up there. >> i told him i'm going to miss him and going out will never be the same. >> reporter: is this the first person you've lost? >> yes. >> reporter: wha

martha raddatz has been following this closely. >> reporter: today, crowds rejoiced over news that thean who ruled this nation with an iron fist had finally left. a stunning departure. it comes after a rocket or mortar had hit the heavily fortified mosque inside the presidential grounds. the president, it was reported, had been badly injured. lies, the yemeni government countered. it was only a scratch. a television press conference was scheduled. hours passed and then only the president's voice. sounding muddled and sedated, it was clear it was the yemeni government doing the lying. badly hurt and in need of urgent care, president saleh was secretly flown to saudi arabia, and he will likely never return to power. what does he leave behind? the simple answer, a power vacuum. these protesters may want democracy, but it is tribal militias that are gaining ground here, and al qaeda is taking advantage of the chaos. why is what's happening so dangerous to the u.s.? this man, anwar awlaki, the world's most dangerous terrorist, american-born, he now lives in yemen. he trained the christmas d

here's martha raddatz. >>> reporter: robert gates has always been a straight talker, but he has saved his strongest words for last. with a blistering criticism of some nato nations that he said have promised much and delivered little. >> those who enjoy the benefits of nato membership but don't want to share the risks and the costs. this is no longer a hypothetical worry. we are there today and it is unacceptable. >> reporter: the secretary got specific. libya. while every one of nato's 28 members voted in favor of the mission, less than a third have taken part in the strike operation. >> many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the u.s., once more, to make up the difference. >> reporter: in fact, gates said that u.s. taxpayers are bearing more than 75% of the cost of nato defense spending. and afghanistan? >> nato has struggled, at times desperately, to sustain a deployment of 25,000 to 40,000 troops. >> reporter: and those countries that do participate? many have caveats to reduce risk. for example, spain's 1,500 troops are not allowed to fire a weapon except i

martha raddatz reports. >> reporter: crowds rejoiced over news that the man who ruled this nation had finally left. a stunning departure. it comes after a rocket or mortar had hit the heavily fortified mosque inside the presidential grounds. the president it was reported had been badly injured. lies, the yemeni government countered, it was only a scratch. a television press conference was scheduled. hours passed then only the president's voice. sounding muddled and sedated, it was clear it was the yemeni government doing the lying. badly hurt and in need of urgent care, the president was secretly flown to saudi arabia and he will likely never return to power. what does he leave behind? the simple answer, a power vacuum. these protestors may want democracy, but it is tribal militias that are gaining ground here and al qaeda is taking advantage of the chaos. why is what's happening so dangerous to the u.s.? this man, the world's most dangerous terrorist, american born, he now lives in yemen. he trained the christmas day underwear bomber and is inspiring so many others to harm americans.

martha raddatz recently traveled to afghanistan and filed this report. >> reporter: the calls for politiciansn washington for a substantial and rapid drawdown of u.s. forces, echo only faintly in the rugged mountains of eastern afghanistan. soldiers and marines to generals and front-line troops worry much work remains to be done here. >> i think in certain selected areas that we'll be here for a while. >> reporter: lieutenant general david rodriguez is just completing a tour, running the day-to-day operations of the war. he says american troops will be required for quite some time. >> i can see people here past 2014. it will take a while for that to really build the capacity enough that they can do it on themselves. >> reporter: we recently visited a small out post in the valley that had been under mar tar fire just before our arrival. we were with major general john campbell along the treacherous border with pakistan. >> in all of the mood, how do you convince people that you should keep going here? >> i tell them to take a look at the progress we've had over the last year. i tell them to lo

and martha raddatz, who has been to afghanistan dozens of times, including just last month, has more. martha? >> reporter: diane, behind all those numbers are human beings, and no matter what numbers the president announces tomorrow, it will be the beginning of the end of the u.s. troop mission in afghanistan. this is what a drawdown means in human terms. more scenes like this. more emotion. sisters jessica and kristen, searching for their brother, lance corporal michael acquaviva, as he arrived home. they search and search, and then -- >> the most amazing thing in the world. you feel like rock stars walking through here. >> reporter: so, what does tomorrow's announcement mean in the long run? when president obama took office, there were only 34,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan, given that iraq had been the focus. by the end of 2009, the president nearly doubled that number. today, with the surge of 30,000, there are nearly 100,000. tomorrow's announcement means that number will go down. what does it mean for america's bottom line? since 2001, more than $288 billion spent, a decrease of

martha raddatz is in washington with more. >> reporter: the pentagon's top general wanted a slower withdrawal but president obama said a faster pace is warranted. the president tonight said u.s. troops have made progress in the fight against al qaeda. >> al qaeda remains dangerous and we must be vigilant in the task. when we have put al qaeda on a path to defeat, we will not relent until the job is doneward ways clear from his comments is the focus in the future will be on counterterrorism, not a broader approach. >> of course, huge challenges remain. this is the beginning, not the end, of our effort to wind down this war. >> reporter: once the initial draw-down is over, it will continue. >> after this initial reduction, our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace. >> reporter: success on the battlefield. but what has been the cost? in just 2011, the u.s. will spend more than $118 billion and just since the surge began more than 670 americans have been killed. this 20-year-old, 11 years old when the war began, was one of them. i want to know what you said to the picture when you wen

covering the week, market market of -- martha raddatz of abc news. nia-malika henderson of "the washington post," pete williams of nbc news and -- >> covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill." produced in association with national journal. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875, we've been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to meet them. through the years, from insurance to investment management, from real estate to retirement solutions, we developed new ideas for the financial challenges ahead. this rock has never stood still. and that's one thing that will never change. prudential. corporate funding is also provided by boeing. additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to pbs stations from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evenin

martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >>> german chancellor angela merkel returns home with a special souvenir. president obama awarded her the presidential medal of freedom, highest civilian honor, presentation at the state dinner in the white house rose garden. merkel grew up in east germany, the president praised her for overcoming the past and a brighter future. >> airlines are doing a better job of not leaving passengers stuck on the tarmac hours on end. the government says the delays have largely disappeared. after new rules went into effect a year ago. the department of transportation has threatened to fine the airlines up to $27,000 per passenger if they were kept on the tarmac for longer than three hours. and who hasn't been there, done that. >> absolutely. well, basketball players aren't flying anywhere yet. staying in dallas. nba finals will go to at least game six. thanks to last night's heroics by the dallas mavericks. mavs down again in the fourth quarter. they outscored the heat 21-9 over the final ten minutesch desperation shot by miami wasn't even close. tossing up so

martha raddatz reports on the president's primetime address and also his plans for troop reduction. >rter: the president said u.s. troops have made significant progress in the fight against al qaeda. >> al qaeda remains dangerous. and we must be vigilant against attacks. but we have put al qaeda on a path to defeat and we will not relent until the job is done. >> reporter: what's clear from his comments is that the focus in the future will be on counterterrorism, not a broader approach. >> of course, huge challenges remain. this is the beginning. but not the end of our effort to wind down this war. >> reporter: and once the initial drawdown is over, it will continue. >> after this initial reduction, our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace. >> reporter: success on the battlefield. but what has been the cost? in just 2011, the u.s. will spend more than $118 billion. and just since the surge began, more than 670 americans have been killed. 20-year-old matthew henegan, 11 years old when the war began, was one of them. >> i want to know what you said to the picture when you w

martha raddatz has the details. >> reporter: this is what a draw-down means in human terms.ore emotion. sisters jessica and kristin searching for their brother lance corporal michael aflaviva as he arrived home. >> aflaviva! >> reporter: they search and search and then -- >> most amazing thing in the world. you feel like rock stars walking through here. >> reporter: so what does the announcement mean in the long run? when president obama took office there were only 34,000 u.s. troops in afghanistan. given that iraq had been the focus. by the end of 2009, the president nearly doubled that number. today, with the surge of 30,000, there are nearly 100,000 in afghanistan. the announcement means that number will go down. what does it mean for america's bottom line? since 2001, more than $288 billion spent. a decrease of just 30,000 troops would save $30 billion. and what does it mean in terms of human sacrifice? more than 12,000 have been wounded. and 1,500 americans died. these two soldiers flown home just this morning. it seems everyone we have met in afghanistan has lost a bud

let's bring in martha raddatz for more. the white house says that the president hasn't made a final decision yet but the military advisers want a smaller pullout and another camp including the vice president and his political team urging a steeper, faster withdrawal. >> reporter: very familiar sounding, george, as you know. this, of course, is all about the surge troops. 30,000 troops they're looking at and how fast they withdraw them. the military is given a range of options, how many, how fast, the pentagon is backing a plan for just 5,000 troops being removed this year. there's other plans to remove 30,000, all 30,000 within a year, others want 15,000 by the end of the year, 15,000 by the end of next year, but i believe you'll see all 30,000 out by the end of 2012, george, and that will leave still about 70,000 troops in afghanistan. >> right, and the president would give the military commanders flexibility perhaps in what to do next year, but trying to set a goal for this year, do you expect him to go beyond the 5,000 t

as the alone administration considers troop withdrawal from afghanistan, we talk to martha raddatz of abc news and karen de young of twopt. "the washington post." >> what they have now, they have those 0,000 extra troops, the surge troops, and they can they take out 5,000 by the end of july? 10,000 by the end of july? and how rapidly do you do that over a period of 12 months, 18 months, and i think that's what president obama wants to come out and say, look, we can do this a little faster here if we have more through the end of the year as secretary gates wants and as admiral mullin want and then you can start gradually taking them out. >> rose: weontie this evening with the story about the great news of stan musl, with bob costas of nbc sports and tim mccarver of fox sports a george vecsey of "the new york times." >> even thoughtan the man is a great nickname and the stance was distinctive there's just not one momen ther aren't the controversies or the specific achievements, all time home run king, 56 game hitting streak -- he just kind of slipped through the cracks. >> and we conclu

obama administration, on pakistan and afghanistan, and abc news foreign affairs correspondent, martha raddatzge, you are a small proponent of withdrawing and pulling back. are you satisfied and convinced that a deadline with no conditions which is next summer to withdraw the surge troops will not materially affect the gains that have been made. which everybody is talking about? >> such as they are. and that's not clear what the gains are. there's one u.s. service man or woman for every two afghan soldiers at this point. there's an 18% desertion rate. in the afghan army. which means you have to recruit 25,000 more afghan soldiers just to stay even. the soldiers are no match, can't defeat, 20,000, 10-1 ratio, 20,000 talibans. >> bing west, said to fight on in some capacity that we have to do might involve 1700 american s deaths, the question is, to what strategic end. i've not heard a satisfactory answer. >> vali, the end seems to be in president obama's own words, enough kinetic contact to break the taliban and bring them to the negotiating table. that's where the end would be, around the nego

martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >>> german chancellor angela merkel returns home from the u.s. staying in dallas. nba finals will go to at least game six thanks to last night's heroics by the dallas mavericks. the mavs were down again in the fourth quarter. they outscored the heat 21-9 over the game's final ten minutes desperation shot by miami wasn't even close. tossing up some air. mavs win 86-83. series tied two games each. ame five is thursday night. boy, these have been all tight, exciting games. >> really good series. >> yeah. >> you know it's really nice to watch the series. everybody thought the heat would take it. here come the mavs. >> it's been competitive. shoutout to the postman. >> postman of center creek, california, that is. doing the same route for nearly a decade. so he certainly recognizes, something about it that is offered along the way. he did. of >> yeah, young called the police when he noticed a 68-year-old woman's mail wasn't being picked up. she had fallen and couldn't get up for two days. p.m. >> how about that. she is fine. young is called a hero. he

martha raddatz has been tracking that overnight. martha? >> reporter: good morning, robin. 40 militants now on the loose in yemen. 40 al qaeda militants. this is considered the most dangerous country in the world towards the united states. the president there had to flee to saudi arabia. he was badly injured last month. there is chaos there. al qaeda has training camps there. and this has happened before. militants escaped. and u.s. officials strongly suspected the yemeni government. they were on the verge of civil war. and this is more instability. robin? >> it is and so much going on there. what can you tell us about that american-born terrorist, anwar awlaki. he is still on the loose out there. >> reporter: he is on the loose. there was a near miss. a u.s. drone almost killed him just days after osama bin laden was killed. but he has since disappeared in the chaos. it is getting worse there, robin. >> such a hot spot. thanks for coming in. all right, martha. thank you. >>> let's turn to josh elliott for the other stories developing. >> g

. >> let's bring in martha raddatz and bianna golodryga for more on this right now. and, martha, let me begin with you. the president says this is the beginning of the end in afghanistan. and this is a significant shift in strategy. >> it really is, george. from everything the president said and the calls i've been making this morning, it's clear that u.s. troops will now focus more on counterterrorism rather than a full counterinsurgency plan. what that means is more targeted raids, rather than the more intensive plan to protect and support the afghan population. that takes more time, more money and more troops. and there has been real success with those targeted raids taking out so many al qaeda leaders, as the president pointed out. but this drawdown is rapid. 10,000 troops by the end of this year and 23,000 more by september of next year. >> and, martha, it was not the preferred approach of the military. what do they think the risks are of going this quickly? >> reporter: well, i think the biggest fear is that the taliban will return to places that are in pretty g