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The syrian civil war is back atop the agenda even though u.s.-backed forces may be close to liberating raqqa, the syrian capital. it's what isis calls its capital, in fact. i want to bring in cnn correspondent barbara starr. ending the battle winning the war not the same case, barbara. >> reporter: not at all, brianna. the u.s. could win the combat phase of the war but it's going to open up a whole new set of challenges. u.s. marines in syria firing artillery at isis positions. unprecedented video, much of it shot from a drone overhead, underscoring the growing danger for more than an estima...

The obama administration is ending our combat phase but keeping troops in afghanistan. these are countries linked right next to each other. what is interesting is that this pakistan taliban which is separate from afghan tab ban -- taliban. zblrz what about the role of isis? where does isis figure into all of that? has it injected a new more viral strain of terrorism to the pakistan taliban? >> it may have. the first point to say is this is not about the religion of islam. it sounds like politically correct talk, but these guys are distorting this religion. things have gone viral to australia a...

The president held his first meeting with the new french president, francois hollande this morning in advance of their camp david summit. meeting this weekend. ahead, of course, of the nato summit meeting on monday in chicago. hollande promised in his campaign to get french troops out of afghanistan and he's recommitted to that today. a top issue for the leaders as they also grapple with economic turmoil in europe. >> we agreed that even as we transition out of a combat phase in afghanistan that it's important that we sustain our commitment to helping afghans build security and continue down t...

huge deal. set the scene. >> reporter: this is a big deal, wolf. a trip by the president of the united states to a war zone like afghanistan is extraordinary and this is only the third time that president obama has made this trip. it's been over a year. the last time he was there was in december 2010 and furthermore, at the presidential palace which is where he is right now for brief remarks with president hamid karzai and to sign the strategic partnership agreement with afghanistan to talk about the u.s. relationship with afghanistan beyond 2014. that's extraordinary. the last time ...

>> always a pleasure. >> the last time we had you on we were talking about the deadly shooting rampage at presumably the hands of a u.s. soldier. the general public sentiment we've got to do something about afghanistan and our presence there. do you think that general john allen can sell the idea of more troops or maintaining the same amount of troops to the president who can sell it to the american public? >> i don't think any one is talking about more kroops. once we get down toward the end of this year to the level of forces that existed before the obama surge, then the question becomes wha...