>> reporter: yeah, you can add to that senior u.s. official, you can also add to that chinese state media. now remember, andrew, that this has befr benever been reported. ever since chen guangcheng fled last week after 18 months on house arrest, that has never been reported in state media. that has all changed in the last few minutes. xinhua, state-run media, is now confirming this. chen has left the embassy of his own volition, and they're demanding the u.s. apologize to china for one of its citizens being allowed to enter the u.s. embassy in beijing. so china taking a tough line here, saying to the u.s. you should never have harbored chen guangche guangcheng, but also confirming that chen guangcheng has left the embassy voluntarily. we're hearing reports that he's been taken to a medical facility in beijing, where he's getting treatment, but also crucially being reunited with his family. remember chen guangcheng has been suffering ill health for some time now. speaking to his friends and supporters, they've been complaining for months that he was not getting the proper medical treatment while he was being kept under house arrest. one of the concerns after he fled was that he get the medical treatment that he so desperately needs and are concerned about ongoing health issues. the other concern was his family, what was going to happen to them when the authorities realized that chen had fled? we'd heard reports of clashes between the family members and security. the family was being locked down inside the village. we were just at the village 24 hours ago and saw evidence of that, a lot of security on the ground. we were followed. we were chased. we were ultimately chased out of the village itself. but now we're hearing that his family is also in beijing and he's being reunited with them at this medical facility. what's fascinating here is the time line. we're also talking about the visit of hillary clinton, the u.s. secretary of state. she arrived just today. there's been a flurry of activity the last couple of days between china and the united states of how to resolve this so it did not flare up during the critical meetings that secretary clinton would be having in beijing. now we learned that chen has left the embassy voluntarily, is getting medical treatment here in beijing, and has been reunited with his family. andrew? >> stan, does the mere fact that xinhua is publicly reporting this, telling the chinese people what's been happening, does that suggest that chen himself could be out of danger from any sort of backlash from chinese authorities on his escape from the house arrest and that decision to go to the u.s. embassy? >> reporter: we're getting into areas of conjecture here, but you can read something from this statement. while there's been an information blackout on the chinese side, it hasn't been carried on state media, social media has been blocked. search terms connected with chen guangcheng have been blocked on the internet. while that's been happening, we've been reporting it freely on international media. as you're aware, often when we report things the chinese don't want getting out, they block us. they simply black our stories out. we have not been blacked out. stories i've been doing the last few days have been running freely uninterrupted, and we've not been getting the normal push back that we're accustomed to receiving from officials here during a sensitive time. there's been a bit of a double gain here. on the one hand, trying to control the information to the wrong people, but allowing that information to get out in the international media, perhaps hoping or expecting the information would be reimported back into the country and people would learn secondhand. now we're getting firsthand reporting. confirmation that chen guangcheng was, "a," in the embassy, and confirmation that he's now left the embassy. that may give indication to his fate. what's also interesting is the other part of the message, andrew. that is, this drawing the line with the united states and demanding the u.s. apologize to china for allowing one of its citizens, the chinese citizen to enter the embassy, and to give refuge to that citizen in the embassy, someone that china has considered in the past an enemy of the state. we need to put this in context and let you know about chen guangcheng, those who haven't been following this closely. he's a blind activist, a self-taught lawyer, someone who testified against forced abortions in china under the one child policy here. he spent four years in prison after organizing demonstrations, allegedly disrupting traffic and damaging property. after coming out of prison, he's been held the past 18 months under lock and key 24/7 house arrest. only in the last week or so did he manage to escape and get into beijing, touching off the events we've seen unfold in recent days, leading to the fact now that apparently he's out of the embassy getting treatment, reuniting with his family at a beijing medical facility. >> stan, thank you very much for that update. stan grant joining us from beijing with the latest breaking news that chen guangcheng has left the u.s. embassy and is understood, as we know so far, is in hospital receiving medical treatment. to our u.s. viewers, you will now return to normal programming. for international viewers, stay tuned. "world business today" starts right now. tonight's breaking news, president obama's surprise visit to afghanistan. what he said to the troops there and what he said to the american people. tonight he's airborne heading home already. departing bagram air base tonight where he arrived just after night fall. reporters traveling with the president sworn to secrecy until air force one touched down at the air base that often comes under taliban fire. then he headed to kabul, where he and president karzai signed the strategic partnership agreement. it promises american support for afghanistan through 2024. ten years after the last american combat forces are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2012. excuse me, 2014. the president made some brief remarks, then headed back to bagram for a rally with the troops. more than 130,000 men and women from 50 countries serve in afghanistan. the vast majority, about 90,000, are american right now. a short time later, just about a half hour ago, mr. obama spoke to the united states, laying out his vision for ending america's longest war, saying afghanistan is where the war began and where it will end. here's a portion of his address. >> today i signed an historic agreement between the united states and afghanistan that defines a new kind of relationship between our countries. a future in which afghans are responsible for the security of their nation, and we build an equal partnership between two sovereign states, a future in which war ends and new chapter begins. ten years ago, the united states and our allies went to war to make sure that al qaeda could never again use this country to launch attacks against us. despite initial success for a number of reasons, this war has taken longer than most anticipated. but over the last three years, the tide has turned. we broke the taliban's momentum. we've built strong afghan security forces. we devastated al qaeda's leadership, taking out over 20 of our top 30 leaders. and one year ago, from base here in afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed osama bin laden. the goal that i set to defeat al qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild is now within our reach. we've begun to transition to afghan responsibility for security. already nearly half of afghan people live in places where afghan security forces are heading into the lead. this month at a nato summit in chicago, our coalition will set a goal for afghan forces to be in the lead for combat operations across the country next year. international troops will continue to train, advise, and assist the afghans and fight alongside them when needed. but we will shift into a support role as afghans step forward. as we do, our troops will be coming home. last year we removed 10,000 u.s. troops from afghanistan. another 23,000 will leave by the end of the summer. after that, reductions will continue at a steady pace with more and more of our troops coming home. as our coalition agreed, by the end of 2014, the afghans will be fully responsible for the security of their country. as we move forward, some people will ask why we need a firm timeline. the answer is clear. our goal is not to build a country in america's image or to eradicate every vestige of the taliban. these objectives would require many more years, many more dollars, and most importantly, many more american lives. our goal is to destroy al qaeda, and we are on a path to do exactly that. afghans want to assert their sovereignty and build a lasting peace. that requires a clear timeline to wind down the war. others will ask, why don't we leave immediately? that also is clear. we must give afghanistan an opportunity to stabilize. otherwise, our gains could be lost, and al qaeda could establish itself once more. as commander in chief, i refuse to let that happen. we emerged from a decade of conflict abroad and economic crisis at home, it's time to renew america, an america where our children live free from fear and have the skills to claim their dreams. a united america of grit and resilience, where sunlight glistens off soaring new towers in downtown manhattan, and we build our future as one people, as one nation. this time of war began in afghanist afghanistan, and this is where it will end. with faith in each other and our eyes fixed on the future. let us finish the work at hand and forge a sxwrujust and lasti peace. may god bless our troops and may god bless the united states of america. >> let's get some quick reaction now on the speech, the trip, the politics surrounding the bin laden anniversary and the reality of what's happening on the ground in afghanistan. with us tonight, gop strategist ari fleischer, white house press secretary for george w. bush, had an inside view to trips like this one, so does democratic strategist paul begala. full disclosure, he's leading the obama super pac right now. also gloria borger. i just want to get a quick headline from everybody about what they thought of this speech. ari fleischer? >> i think you've witnessed the power of income bensy, kincumb. this is what presidents can do. in the post-9/11 world, both parties are split about foreign policy. we have a strong feeling about fighting and winning, but we're tired of it and want our troops to come home. it's hard to see this being a significant issue in the election. >> paul begala, to you. >> when barack obama took office, there were 32,000 american troops fighting in afghanistan. now there are almost 90,000, and there were 160,000 fighting in iraq, and now there are just a very few. he has put a powerful stamp on america's military conduct in that region, and he is now responsible for every one of those troops who he saw today. >> right now the timetable. 22,000 troops to leave by the end of this summer. according to the president, sm 68,000 to remain until the end sometime around 2014. gloria borger, headline from you. >> i think what the president did in going over and signing this document was essentially a strategic embrace of afghanis n afghanistan, saying we're not going to decembssert you. we're going to be committed to you until at least 2024. he came with a plan, anderson. this is how we make the transition to the sovereignty of afghanistan, to having its own troops lead the way, quicker than some of us thought, in their own defense, and also talked about, interestingly enough, a negotiated peace in which he said we would start talking to the taliban. i think that's going to be quite controversial. >> david gergen? >> excellent speech. interesting how much more forceful and how much more of a leader he is on the foreign affairs front than on domestic policy. there's a man who had a plan going all the way back to the campaign. he said he was going to try to crush al qaeda and take out bin laden. he's done both. he did it tonight, not by taking praise on himself, but by giving credit to the troops, as he should. and extending the stay in the region. >> you called this an agreement to make an agreement. what do you maep? >> according to senior administration officials i spoke to this afternoon, there's going to be about a year when they basically negotiate the actual details, which include the money for the afghan national security forces and the number of troops on the ground obviously. a post of 2014, some of that's conditions based, but to get to a status of forces agreement, which is the real technical term for a longer -- this is what is described as a nonbinding executive agreement. i don't think that means very much in practice. it's not a treaty. >> it's more symbolic. >> but i don't want to discount the fact that this is an important milestone on a long process that has been going on for a while. i also think this says something pretty big about president obama. here's a guy that was an anti-war president, came in on that ticket. he tripled the number of troops in afghanistan. now he's saying they're staying for another dozen year. he quadrupled the number of drone strikes in afghanistan. he's fighting in yemen and somalia. he's been an unexpected president, i think, for a lot of people who thought of him as sort of basically a negotiator rather than somebody who was very comfortable with the use of force in certain circumstances. >> so much, though, of what he talked about tonight depends on the afghan national security forces being able to stand up, to go on patrol, to have operations. you and i have been out on patrol in helmand province and elsewhere in afghanistan with the afghan troops. i think you and i were on patrol with some afghan troops who stole cornvillagers, and the u.s. military, who was with them, made them give it back. >> i'm scratching my head to think of a really significant operation that the afghan military has conducted independently. in iraq you could point to that, where, for instance, they went down to basra and did a significant military operation in 2007. that's yet to happen with the afghan security forces. are they getting better? yes. but it's going to be a while. >> i want to play something that president obama said about al qaeda. let's listen. >> one year ago, from base here in afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed osama bin laden. the goal that i set to beat al qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild has now entered our reach. >> you've just written a book about osama bin laden manhunt. the president talks about al qaeda. there's not much al qaeda presence in afghanistan anymore. the taliban is still very much a presence, and we just saw two weeks ago, they're able to launch attacks in the capital itself. >> yeah, but i think these are spectacular attacks that don't necessarily mean -- i can't think of a single major city that the taliban or even big town the taliban has ever held. they can't do a tet offensive on kabul. the afghan national security forces who are relatively weak, and the taliban are a little stronger than they've been in the past. if we sort of left tomorrow, the taliban might take over a large chunk of the country, not because they're strong, but because the afghan national security forces are weak. so building those forces up and having the plan with the advisers going forward after 2014 is critical to make sure they don't have that success. >> david gergen, just yesterday, you wrote a column for cnn.com, asking whether the u.s. is overselling bin laden's death, hyping it for political gain. what do you think of this trip now? >> anderson, whether or not you like president obama, any veteran of the white house -- and ari would agree with this -- has to admire the professionalism that went into these last days. they had this major public relations offensive that built up to this climactic presidential moment on this long trip. all of that has been done partly for substantive reasons, and clearly a large part is for political reasons, looking toward november. i have felt, as ari felt, that they went overboard in their ad on going after romney. i thought they were excessive on a lot of this. but it does go with the territory. what i think has been left out of the discussion -- and peter would be very good on this -- and that is we have -- we are leaving one era where bin laden was threatening us, but we're moving into a new era that serious observers are saying, this is actually going to be more dangerous than it looks. pakistan remains volatile. it's building 12 nuclear weapons a year. you've got al qaeda -- islamic militants are taking more political control in the middle east in places like egypt. that has all been left out of this. i do think there's been a quality about what the white house has done and sort of say, well, basically, we're now safe, when we are not. and there is a lot out there in this new world that we really ought to be. that's where i think the republicans ought to go. what are we going to do about this new world into which we're emerging. >> gloria, was this good politics? >> was what good -- the trip? >> yes. >> everything is going to be seen as a political move. and given the fact they released the web video on the killing of osama bin laden, would mitt romney have gone down the same path and they got in a fight, they set themselves up for this trip. but -- so people are going to see it through a political lens. from their point of view, however, let me say that what the president was able to do this evening was to tell the american public that he is winding down two unpopular wars, iraq, afghanistan. 7 out of 10 americans want to get out of afghanistan. most of them want to get out tomorrow and not wait until 2014. so from the president's point of view, this works. >> we've got to take a quick break. more with our panelists. you mentioned mitt romney. we'll have some statement from him. we'll obviously bring that to you. a lot to talk about in our special coverage. let us know what you think. do you think the u.s. should get out sooner? what do you think of the president's address on facebook, google plus or twitter. up next, the fiery message to the troops the president gave and details about how the risky conditions on the ground, just how risky they still are. yoyou u wawalklk i intna coconvnvenentitiononalal ms ststorore,e, i it't's s rert ababouout t yoyou.u. ththeyey s sayay, , "w"weleu wawantnteded a a f firirm m bebn lilie e onon o onene o of " wewe p prorovividede t thet inindidivividudualalizizatat yoyourur b bodody y neneede. ohoh, , wowow!w! ththatat f feeeelsls r reae. itit's's a aboboutut s supuppope yoyou u fifindnd i it t momost. toto c celelebebraratete 2 25 5f bebetttterer s sleleepep-f-forof yoyou u - - slsleeeep p nr inintrtrododucuceses t ther ededititioion n bebed d st inincrcrededibiblele s savf $1$1,0,00000 f foror a a l li. ononlyly a at t ththe e slsleeer ststorore,e, w wheherere n we did not choose this war. this war came to us on 9/11. and there are a whole bunch of folks here, i bet, who signed up after 9/11. we don't go looking for a fight. but when we see our homeland violated, when we see our fellow citizens killed, then we understand what we have to do. >> president obama tonight at bagram air base ten and a half years after al qaeda attacked and american forces drove them out, a year to the day after navy s.e.a.l.s shot and killed osama bin laden. mr. obama working without a teleprompter, looking energized, his supporters would say, to be in the company of the troops. he thanked them for their service. >> when the final chapter of this war is written, historians will look back and say