[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Now, even as out combat mission ends later this year, I want everybody to know, in this country and across the region, America's commitments to the people of Afghanistan will endure. With our strategic partnership, we'll continue to stand with Afghans as they strengthen their institutions, as they build their economy, as they improve their lives men and women, and boys and girls. I've made it clear that we're prepared to continue cooperating with our Afghan partners on two security missions training and equipping Afghan forces and targeting counterterrorism targets against al Qaeda. And once Afghanistan has sworn in its new president, I'm hopeful we'll sign a bilateral security agreement that lets us move forward. And with that bilateral security agreement, assuming it is signed, we can plan for a limited military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014. Because after all the sacrifices we've made, we want to preserve the gains that you have helped to win. And we're going to make sure that Afghanistan can never again, ever, be used again to launch an attack against our country. So our combat mission here will come to an end. But our obligations to you and your families have only just begun. The al Qaeda leadership may be on the ropes, but in other regions of the world al Qaeda affiliates are evolving and pose a serious threat. We're going to have to stay strong and we're going to have to stay vigilant. And fortunately, we've got the best-led, best-trained, best-equipped military in human history.
[Candy Crowley, Cnn Anchor:] The president of the United States on this Memorial Day weekend at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. He said he came to say thank you for your extraordinary service. Certainly something well-received.
[Obama:] Now, I'm going to shake every single hand in here, although I may not be able to take a selfie with everybody. But I'll shake every hand. All right? It may take a little time, so be patient.
[Crowley:] The president of the United States promising to shake the hand of everybody there. It may take him some time but we're pretty sure he'll be back in the United States for the Memorial Day services. He is in Bagram he said to thank these troops for their extraordinary service, actually to thank a generation, he went on to say. This was clearly an entry and exit speech. He harkened back to 911, having visited the museum on that site, the beginning of American involvement in Afghanistan, certainly the rationale for it. This was a war that this president always said he thought was the right war. His criticism was always left to the war in Iraq. Now, it is up to him, at the end of this year, we expect combat troops all U.S. combat troops to be out as the U.S. hands over defense of the court to Afghan forces, both military and police. The president talked about decimated leadership of Afghan I'm sorry, the Taliban in the mountains. He talked about, again, especially in light of the scandals of the V.A., the U.S. obligation to take care of the veterans when they become veterans on their way home. I want to bring in Adam Schiff, congressman from California. He also is a member of the intelligence committee and just recently appointed by Democrats to sit on the select committee for Benghazi. Thanks for being here. Let me start here with this appearance. There is a full circle feel to the president's speech today.
[Rep. Adam Schiff , California:] There really was. As you pointed out, he talked very provocatively about the events of 911 that got us into the events of Afghanistan. He talked about bringing a combat mission to an end. But I think he also laid out in part the case where some continued presence there, the necessity to maintain the counterterrorism operation and part of having an intelligence presence there means having the security of the troops to protect that intelligence presence. I think that's going to drive a lot of what we do in the future but I think he's also there in part not only to thank the troops but to celebrate that first round of an election, as he said, the first democratic authority in the country's history. We're seeing some pivotal events going on in Afghanistan right now.
[Schiff:] Well, you know, I think it's two different questions when you ask about the Afghan police and troops. I was just in Afghanistan myself about two weeks ago meeting with General Dunford. And the Afghan troops themselves I think are very battle ready. They are dedicated fighters. I've been told in prior troops, the problem with Afghans is not having to push them into the fight but having to hold them back. The bigger challenge militarily is going to be logistics. This isn't the most talked about part of a war strategy. Just the logistics of keeping the forces maintained with equipment, material, making sure that they have the bullets in the right place, those things that are commonsense to us but battles are won and lost on logistics. And that may be what we need to do to help them once we drawdown our troops. There's a major problem with corruption and I don't see that being fixed any time soon. That may be the biggest challenge that the government faces and that is, can they do something to deal with a corruption problem because nothing yet has moved forward on that front.
[Crowley:] As you know, no deal was made with Iraq when we left. So, everybody came out. No residual force there to assist or train. Do you see the lack of any kind of agreement with the new president, whoever it turns out to be, would be disastrous for the progress that Afghanistan has made?
[Schiff:] Well, I think that if there's no new agreement and if we go to what is called the zero option overnight, then it's very possible that the government just collapses and you have an Iraq-like situation or even worse, you might have a Syria-like situation a year or two down the road. But even if we stay, there's no guarantee of success. And if you look at Iraq, you know, a lot of the blame is being place on the fact that we didn't get this security agreement that allowed us to have a presence. But even in the absence of an ongoing presence in Iraq, Iraq's current trajectory wasn't inevitable. It was a result of a lot of mistakes made by Maliki in basically sidelining the Sunni population, and giving growth space to al Qaeda. Even if there's no guarantee of success in Afghanistan, the new government is going to have to deal with a corruption problem. They are going to have to give the Afghan people confidence in the government itself and we can't do that for them.
[Crowley:] But no question in your mind that this is it, the U.S. is getting out, we don't get a forces agreement in the end of
[U.s. -- Schiff:] If we don't get an agreement that would protect our troops, then we're out.
[Crowley:] Legal agreement
[Schiff:] And but I think under any circumstances, our combat troops are out by the end of the year.
[Crowley:] Congressman, before we go, I want to talk to you about this hellacious shooting and stabbing actually in California. It is not your district, but it's California. And, you know, looking at it, we're already seeing one of the fathers came out and it would break your heart, saying this is about the NRA and sleazy politicians, he didn't use that word, but it was very tough on politicians. Is there any way to avoid these kinds of conversations that you know, guns, but let's talk about mental health? Nothing ever seems to happen after these things.
[Schiff:] It is it's just a horrendous incident that took place. You're heart goes out to everyone affected, including this mentally ill person. And we see time and time again, you have this overlap of mental health problems and too easy access to guns. And I was asking myself just today in hearing these stories about this beautiful where my wife went to school, what does it take what does it take to get the congress, the government moving? You would think after something as serious as Newtown, we would not need anything to get motivated. We are taking steps to deal with the mental health issues but obviously we've made very little progress and it shows in these tragedies.
[Crowley:] And it is after each one, baby steps are not enough, are they?
[Schiff:] No, they're not. You have the impression of the fabric of the country being torn a bit each time there's a tragedy like this. And we have a responsibility to try to mend that, fabric in our country, and that means much more comprehensive mental health and it means reduce access to firearms by people who are very sick.
[Crowley:] Congressman Adam Schiff, thank you for coming by and talking to us about these big stories today. What you all are seeing on the right hand side of your screen is the president is shaking the hand of everyone at Bagram Air Force Base before he gets on Air Force One and returns to Washington. I am going to toss it to Atlanta where Fredricka Whitfield is going to pick this up. So, carry on, Fred, I think the president is going to be there a little while.
[Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] I think so. I love that he said I'm going to take the time to shake everyone's hand but I may not have the time to do a selfie with everyone. So, we see that there is certainly going to be, you know, some very memorable moments made there at Bagram Air Field with a surprise by the president here and, you know, troops have always said, you know, whenever there is this kind of surprise visit by the president, it's a great morale booster. Candy, you're going to stick around. We're going to talk about more about what this means and what meaning this may have, not just for troops those who are getting this visit but, you know, the bigger picture as this administration is still being questioned about its handling of the V.A. and those various investigations moving forward. So, on this eve of Memorial Day, the president making a surprise visit to the troops in Afghanistan at Bagram Air Field. He landed at the Air Force, along with national security adviser Susan Rice and senior adviser John Podesta. The president also brought along a surprise guest for many there, country music star Brad Paisley, who did give a convert there for some 32,000 troops and, of course, we just heard from the president who spoke moments ago.
[Obama:] And once Afghanistan has sworn in its new president, I'm hopeful that we can sign a bilateral security agreement that lets us move forward, and with that bilateral security agreement, assuming it is sign we can plan for a limited military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014, because after all the sacrifices we've made, we want to preserve the gains that you have helped to win. And we're going to make sure that Afghanistan can never again ever be used again to launch an attack against our country.
[Whitfield:] So, this is the president's fourth trip to Afghanistan and this trip coming on this Memorial Day weekend. Also, coming just a few days before the president has committed to laying out his foreign policy agenda and it also comes at a time where Afghanistan's second round of presidential elections is just right around the corner, June 14th. So, let's begin our coverage with Michelle Kosinski at the White House, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, and Candy Crowley there in Washington. So, Michelle, let me begin with you. This was a troop that had been in the works the plans have been in the works for some time now but why now this weekend?
[Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Yes, for about two months, the National Security Council said that they have been looking for a window of time that would be safe, appropriate and wouldn't interfere too much with the Afghan election, because we know that that country's future is also in a sense tied to U.S. foreign policy, in terms of what kind of role the U.S. would have. So, the National Security Council deputy adviser said that the president didn't want to meet with the presidential candidates or the outgoing president, even though they had spoken recently, because he didn't want to be seen as influencing that, that he didn't want to get involved in the politics of the country but wanted to thank the troops. I thought what was interesting is he got this huge cheer when he said to the soldiers there, "For many of you, this will be your last tour of duty here," but he got even bigger cheers when he said, "Very soon, our combat mission will be over and we're going to be bringing it to a responsible end." He did say, though, that he did hope for a bilateral security agreement, which both of the presidential candidates in Afghanistan, in this runoff election has said that they are amenable to. He said, "Let's preserve the gains that you," speaking to the soldiers, "that you have made. And he listed those gains. So far what we haven't heard is when a decision will be made as to what kind of force the U.S. will keep there and what exactly the scope of it will be 5,000 troops, 10,000 troops. The president didn't get into details. His advisers aren't getting into those details, but they have said that those decisions will be made very soon and the president wanted to meet with troops face-to-face before that happened, Fredricka.
[Whitfield:] And, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, help us understand how meaningful, how important this is for the troops in particular there on the ground, when the commander in chief just kind of parachutes in, so to speak, surprising them and giving these a word of encouragement and then laying out briefly plans ahead whether for this country or for the U.S. continuing commitment to the vets.
[Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, I don't think it can be any more important for the troops. You know, these young troops, many of them on multiple tours of duty, spending months, years away from home, their families spending so much time apart from them and on Memorial Day, it's such an opportunity to for everyone to pause and remember the sacrifices that are made. But at this time, on this Memorial Day, we are now really just a few months away from potentially the duty of the 911 generation really wrapping up by the end of the year, in fact, the combat mission will be over in the Afghanistan one way or the other. The troops that will be left if there is a security agreement will be conducting training and advising Afghan forces and there will be plenty of discussion of whether the Afghans are up to it or whether the Afghans can really maintain security control over their country, whether the Taliban and al Qaeda can get back into Afghanistan and get a toe hold. But I think what the president was doing today, is what we've talked about so much now11 generation that began that service on that warning and now, some 13 years later or so, really, it's beginning to wrap. And as Michelle was saying, he got huge applause talking about bringing it to responsible end. He also got huge applause when he talked about the need for American employers to hire a vet, hire a vet, hire a vet. That's what the president said. The troops responding to that, they know that they are on their way home. These young troops they need jobs, they need homes, they need, you know, the economic support the big road ahead, the long- term perhaps for them now really starts Fred.
[Whitfield:] And, Candy Crowley, host of "STATE OF THE UNION," with a major foreign policy speech coming up to be carried by the president this week, does this is there a more perfect way to kind of set the stage, prompt him for his message by being at Bagram Air Fields?
[Crowley:] Of course not. And the fact is, obviously, the White House doesn't like the idea that somehow he did this to take everybody's mind off the V.A. scandal. Having said that, let's face it, it leads into a week where he will give a speech at West Point. And let's just push to remember that West Point is where the president announced the surge in Afghanistan, to try to bring things under control. Now, he is back in Afghanistan, talking about the end. This was clearly an exit speech. This was clearly, we're winding this down, here's our successes, here's why we went. I think it just flows very naturally into the president's speech at West Point.
[Whitfield:] All right. We're going to talk about more about that message and the possibility of, you know, the influence from that foreign policy speech later on this week. We're going to be joined also after a short break by a representative, Buck McKeon, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee. Thanks so much, Candy, Michelle, and Barbara. We'll check back in with you again. Live pictures right now of the president of the United States in a surprise visit, at least surprise, to the most of the world and to those there the U.S. troops at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan this holiday weekend. We'll be right back.