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President Obama's Afghanistan Plans; Helping Homeowners in Trouble; Bringing Jobs Back to U.S.

Aired November 30, 2009 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time for your top of the hour reset. I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM. It is noon at the White House, where President Obama has relayed the order to implement his new Afghan war strategy.

It is 9:00 in Seattle, where law enforcement agents are trying to track a man accused of gunning down four police officers.

And it is 8 in the evening in Tanzania, where a disturbing story is unfolding. Albinos hunted for their body parts. Let's get started.

First now to the White House for breaking news on President Obama's war strategy. CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining me live.

And Suzanne, I'll get out of the way here. You have all kinds of information to share on the president's new Afghanistan strategy.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, we got a lot of information from an off-camera briefing with Robert Gibbs just within the last hour or so.

Essentially, the president has made up his mind. He has decided on his Afghan strategy. He has officially announced that to his war council, and he has also given the orders to implement that strategy.

That happened yesterday at 5:00 in the Oval Office. That's when he met with his war council, his team.

At that meeting, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates; Chair of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen; Generals James Cartwright, David Petraeus; Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; and NSC adviser, Jim Jones. He also told this decision to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by phone before that meeting, essentially, that he has decided on the troop levels, that they are to carry out his orders.

Now, then he put a phone call in about 6:00 or so. This is secure video, teleconference call, to the key members on the ground in Afghanistan. That would be General Stanley McChrystal -- he's the top general there in Afghanistan -- as well as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry. Both of them informed of the decision.

And then, Tony, he reached out to world leaders, essentially to tell them, yes, he's made up his mind, there is a decision, not about specific troop levels, per se, but that he is grateful for their contributions, that he is moving forward, and that that order is being implemented.

He has already talked to, Tony, we are told, Italy's leader, Silvio Berlusconi. Today, he has also reached France's leader, Nicolas Sarkozy; Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev; British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He is also meeting with Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, here at the White House, to tell him, to personally thank him, as well as to give him an update.

We are told it's not the specifics of the plans, per se. Those specifics he wants to lay out to the American public.

That, tomorrow night. That's going to be at 8:00, a primetime address. But we are told we're going to be getting, about 5:30 or so, some excerpts, some language from that speech to talk about what his plan is.

Now, Tony, this is what they're saying the president is going to talk about. He's going to say, why are we in Afghanistan? He's going to explain the mission. He's also going to explain the process -- why did it take this long, these months and months, to make the decision? How has the mission changed or turned from what he first announced earlier in his presidency?

He is also going to say that it's not an open-ended commitment. And according to Robert Gibbs, he's going to talk about what he says are the limits, the limits on the resources when it comes to manpower, when it comes to budget.

We don't know how specific he's going to get when it comes to cost, but senior administration officials telling us, expect those troop numbers somewhere around 34,000, 35,000, with those NATO allies. About 5,000 contributing to that.

And about $75 billion a year. That this is going to be about an exit strategy and also some sort of expectation, some benchmarks, if you will, from the Afghan government to say this is what they need to do, this is what we expect them to do. There's a commitment on the Afghan side as well.

And final point, Tony, should let you know that the president will reach out clearly to the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan to let them know this is how we're moving forward, this is how we need your cooperation. It is a tough sell, Tony, as you know.

The latest polls showing the American public very much divided over this. A lot of skittish folks about this move forward, including members of his own party, high-ranking officials in the Democratic Party.

Tony, this is all about rolling this out, trying to sell this strategy not only to the American people, but to the international community -- Tony.

HARRIS: As you always remind us, the president will be speaking to multiple audiences.

Terrific reporting, Suzanne.

Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us.

Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Thank you.

HARRIS: The president will make his strategy speech regarding Afghanistan tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. CNN's special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern. And we will, of course, carrying it live for you, right here on CNN.

And we would like to make a personal appeal to you to watch the speech and share your thoughts with us. After the speech tomorrow, you can go to my blog at CNN.com/Tony, and leave us your thoughts there, or you can send us an iReport. That address is CNN.com/ireport.

A large portion of our newscast on Wednesday will be devoted to your reaction to the president's decision.

Big stories from the CNN wire now.

A man accused of gunning down four police officers inside a coffee shop has eluded capture. Police thought Maurice Clemmons was holed up inside a Seattle house. Clemmons was sentenced to 95 years for aggravated robbery and theft but was granted clemency in 2000.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DET. ED TROYER, PIERCE COUNTY, WASHINGTON SHERIFF'S DEPT.: The system works when it works. And when it doesn't work, there is usually a breakdown someplace. When we do the math that this guy was supposed to have 65 years in Arkansas, and he's only 30-something years old, the simple math is, somehow or another, some reason, he was out in our state when he definitely should be back there, and didn't even come close to serving his sentence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Federal officials say the Secret Service interviewed the White House party crashers this weekend twice. Authorities are considering charges against Tareq and Michaele Salahi. They got past Secret Service security to attend a State Dinner for India's leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED ROLLINS, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: They basically trespassed. They had no right to be there. The Secret Service has a tough enough task without having people dress up and pretend they're important.

These people want a reality TV show? Give them one. It's called "Dealing With the Federal Prosecution System in the District of Columbia."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Hey now.

State police in Florida say they'll move forward with their investigation into Tiger Woods' car crash without his cooperation. In a statement, Woods calls the accident a private matter and says the situation was his fault. He turned down a request to be interviewed by authorities yesterday for the third time.

The foreclosure crisis shows no sign of letting up, so the Obama administration is unveiling its latest effort to help people stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure.

Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is back with us, live from New York.

And Gerri, what's in this new proposal to help struggling homeowners?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, you know, we've been pouring over the details here which were just released within the hour. Essentially, the first thing the administration wants to do is increase the accountability of people in the industry, specifically servicers.

And Tony, if you'll remember -- this is going way back several months now -- servicers are the folks between the person who holds the mortgage and the investors. So, this is somebody who really controls the pipeline of people in trouble.

These folks now are being required to submit a schedule for making decisions on requests for these modifications of mortgages. They're going to have to tell consumers yea or nay. There have been a lot of complaining from consumers. That hasn't happened. Also, government liaisons are going to check up daily on how well these services are fulfilling their promises.

Now, as you know, Tony, there have been a lot of carrots in these programs, money for servicers who are working inside the program, $1,000 here, $1,000 there. Not anymore. Now we're starting to talk about fines, we're starting to talk about penalties for servicers who aren't meeting their obligations under the terms. I'm sure the bonuses are still available, but now there's also sticks with those carrots.

HARRIS: Got you.

WILLIS: Also, more resources, Tony, for borrowers on the MakingHomeAffordable.gov Web site. There you can go and actually download the forms you need to make application for this new loan.

Also, the government really trying to galvanize state, local, county governments to really help get people get into these programs. So you see a real push here, not just inside the halls of government, but also trying to get the private sector to come to the table. As you know, Tony, we've been talking about this a lot lately. The government had wanted to help four million people get out of loans that they found difficult to pay, but they've only been able to temporarily modify mortgages for some 650,000.

So, a lot of people are saying that's not a good batting average, you need to do better. This is the administration's response.

HARRIS: Well, what's the bottom line, Gerri, on the problems with the programs thus far?

WILLIS: Well, there has been a lot of complaining about paperwork delays. I know you've probably seen e-mails from consumers saying, hey, you know, I'm trying to get in the program, I can't get my lender, I can't get my servicer to respond, they're losing my paperwork. How many times did you hear that?

And on the other side, you should know, the lenders are saying, hey, we're not getting the information we need from consumers to do what we need to do. In some cases, folks don't have enough income now to make the payments that are required, even under the terms of the new loan. People are losing jobs, and this program just wasn't developed to accommodate that factor.

In some cases, people have too much equity or savings to really meet the guidelines. And some banks are saying, hey, you know, it's more money to me if I just foreclose on these people, get them out of the house and resell the house.

So, lots of hurdles to this program out there that we've seen over the months. Now we're seeing some changes, some real sticks in here for servicers to really pony up, get with the program and modify some of these loans.

But I have to tell you, Tony, the devil's in the details, as we've seen. We're really going to have to watch and see if they really get on board and start really working with the program.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

WILLIS: The administration is promising that they are really going to watch this now, scrutinize what's going on, hold their feet to the fire. But we'll be reporting, as always, on how well this is working out.

HARRIS: Terrific. That's good stuff.

All right, Gerri. Appreciate it. Thank you.

The best bargains after Black Friday. We're going to show you how to find the best deals today, Cyber Monday.

First, though, our "Random Moment of the Day." You want to be able to control yourself.

We're back in 90 seconds. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Manufacturing jobs have been disappearing from the United States for decades, but some companies are finding ways to save jobs and keep them here in the United States, even in these difficult economic times.

The story now from our chief business correspondent, Ali Velshi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For someone who runs a guitar string manufacturing business, Jim D'Addario is also a bit of a tinkerer. Over the past two years, he's cut inventory, streamlined factory floor operations, updated technology, and saved jobs at his Long Island-based company.

JIM D'ADDARIO, CEO, D'ADDARIO: We made a commitment in the '70s that we were going to make our products, our D'Addario Strings in America. And we're still committed to that. We've never sold one string that we didn't make here in New York.

VELSHI: D'Addario is one of a growing number of U.S. manufacturers that has adopted the Toyota waste reduction strategy popularly known as LEAN that relies heavily on automation.

More than half of U.S. manufacturers surveyed have implemented LEAN or plan to do so. Critics say the automation eliminates jobs. D'Addario says the replaced workers can be cross trained to do other jobs.

D'ADDARIO: We do not want to lay people off because LEAN has been effective. That's not going to help people embracing LEAN and it's not going to really help our company or our community. What we're trying to do then is we take those people and we train them to do something else.

VELSHI: Like work in the guitar strap division, part of a company D'Addario acquired several years ago. Those jobs were previously in China. Today, Long Island. Economists say other companies can also position themselves to bring jobs home.

PETER MORICI, LABOR ECONOMIST: LEAN manufacturing makes it possible to create products in the United States efficiently, cost effectively and so forth. Some manufacturing should be done in China. But too much manufacturing is being done in China that could be done more effectively in the United States.

VELSHI: Jim D'Addario agrees and hopes that other manufacturers will follow his lead.

D'ADDARIO: I think people are afraid to make the commitment to LEAN, to automation, to reinvesting in their factories because they have this stigma in their mind, they have this belief that you can't make it effectively and profitably in America and that's not true. I think people give up on manufacturing in America prematurely. It can be done.

VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Screenbuster bargains, online coupons -- deals are all over the place this Cyber Monday. So how can you find the best deals?

Our Josh Levs has advice on the best sites and the hidden deals. Plus, he has some tips on avoiding online scams.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. So my goal here is to help you strategize your Cyber Monday by having important tips and important links to use.

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to talk you through some. You don't need to write anything down, because at the end of this I'm going to show you where we have posted everything for you.

Let's start off with this graphic, because there are some points that we pulled off from a great site called DigitalTrends.com. The first thing they say is start early. Makes a lot of sense.

Now, look at the next two. No aggregate sites. Aggregate Web sites are these Web sites specifically for Cyber Monday, where they're listing tons of deals that you can take advantage of. But what they're saying is you should still check directly with retailers even after you've gone to the aggregate sites.

All right. Let's zoom to the screen behind me. I want to show you what we're talking about so this all makes sense to you.

There are so many sites to use. For example, this one here is Cyber Monday.com. It lists a lot of deals available on Cyber Monday.

This one here is Cyber Monday.net. And this one here is Cyber Monday.FM. So, all these different deals.

Now, what they're saying at Digital Trends is, check these out, but then go directly to the retailers.

So, for example, you see Best Buy listed here. Go to the Best Buy Web site. You might actually find something better directly on the Web site. It's possible.

All right. Let's get back to these graphics now. I want you to see a few more pointers from these Web sites that we've pulled together.

This is interesting. This comes to us from Forbes. And they're saying check out the coupon codes.

And we actually link you to some places where you can get coupon codes, which means as you're buying something at the very end, you type in a code, you pay even less. Plus, you can sign up for price alerts. If there are specific items you're looking for, they'll alert you when those things pop up.

This is another suggestion from Forbes. They're saying, you know what? For Cyber Monday, you pretty much have to use your credit cards.

So, why don't you call your credit cards companies and say, "Look, I'm going to be using my cards. How can I maximize my rewards?" Get yourself maximum points, maximum miles, whatever it is. Great piece of advice there.

And finally, this is very important. Look at this from WalletPop.com. You know, because so many people are buying so many things online, there are a lot of bad guys out there ready to take advantage of you. So what they are saying is beware of the scams.

There are people who wait all year just to launch scams on Cyber Monday. If a company seems to be contacting you online for information, saying, hey, we need to check your e-mail address again, or your credit card number, a bank account number, don't trust it. Instead, call the company directly. Also, make sure you've got up-to- date anti-phishing software on your computer.

All right. That's a lot of stuff to keep track of, we know. And I told you we're making it easy for you to find it in one place.

So, here is the graphic where we posted everything. It's all up on our blog for you, CNN.com/Josh. We also put it on Facebook and Twitter. It's JoshLevsCNN.

We hope those points will help out. Plus, you can send in your links if you know other sites that are working particularly well for you.

And good luck with Cyber Monday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.

Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

Seattle police have lost track of a man suspected of killing four police officers. Just a short time ago, they entered a house where they thought Maurice Clemmons was holed up, but he was not inside. Clemmons has been on the run since yesterday, when police say he opened fire in an ambush-style attack at a coffee shop.

Authorities have intensified their search for a suspect accused in the Thanksgiving murders in Jupiter, Florida. They are now offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Paul Michael Merhige. He is accused of killing four members of his family, including a sister who was pregnant and a 6-year-old cousin.

Classes are cancelled today after an explosion at a middle school in Newport News, Virginia. Eight construction workers were injured yesterday while trying to repair the roof. The exact cause of the blast not yet known, but police say workers were using propane gas to heat up the roofing tar.

We will get another check of your top stories in 20 minutes.

Bound for Afghanistan, but training in Indiana. We will take a closer look at the people who will make up the civilian surge.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The White House says President Obama has made up his mind on war strategy for Afghanistan. He has informed his war council, as well as several diplomatic officials. Tomorrow, the president makes it public.

He is expected to announce plans to deploy more than 30,000 more U.S. service members. That's in addition to the 68,000 troops already in Afghanistan. It would put about 100,000 U.S. forces on the ground in Afghanistan.

It will be a tough sell for the president as he redraws the battle plan.

Joining me live from Tucson, Arizona, with his perspective, retired General Don Shepperd.

Don, great to see you. And thank you. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly over e-mail over the weekend. I really appreciate that.

Let me start with a pretty basic question, but there's a lot in it.

What's the objective? What's the mission moving forward? Why continue and escalate in Afghanistan?

Yes, Tony, that's the question the American public is answering after eight years of war.

HARRIS: Yes.

MAJ. GEN. DONALD SHEPPERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): And two wars, as a matter of fact. The country is very war weary, they want to see us gone. The troops that are over there want to be gone, but they would like to see some measure of success.

I think basically what the president has to do is explain the importance of Afghanistan to the American public, and then he has to basically explain his new strategy, what he's going to do with these troops. He's going to tell us about the number of the troops that he's going to put in, and perhaps something about their missions, the changed mission of these troops, which is going to be clearly to train both the Afghan army and the Afghan police force.

And two wars, as a matter of fact. The country is very war weary, they want to see us gone. The troops that are over there want to be gone, but they would like to see some measure of success.

I think basically what the president has to do is explain the importance of Afghanistan to the American public, and then he has to basically explain his new strategy, what he's going to do with these troops. He's going to tell us about the number of the troops that he's going to put in, and perhaps something about their missions, the changed mission of these troops, which is going to be clearly to train both the Afghan army and the Afghan police force.

And I think you might hear something about a timeline also. You're going to start hearing the number 2013 with the idea being that we want to be on our way out by 2013 as we train these forces to take over Afghanistan.

HARRIS: Don, I know that you believe Afghanistan is important. Tell me why you think Afghanistan is worth it.

SHEPPERD: Well, basically the reason we're in Afghanistan now is it was a haven for al Qaeda, and what we don't want to see is we do not want to see al Qaeda inherent Afghanistan as a new training ground for al Qaeda and all their jihadist movements worldwide. That's one of the major things.

We also have a moral responsibility now. We've gone in. We've disrupted this country. We're kicked the Taliban out and we don't want to see Afghanistan degenerate into another Taliban-run country that is totally dysfunctional in this area. That just adds to instability in the entire area. We're for stability. That's what we're really trying to do, Tony.

HARRIS: OK. General Shepperd, 30,000 to 35,000 additional troops. Enough for now or enough to get the job done?

SHEPPERD: Don't know the answer to that question. It's really easy to put troops in. It's not easy to bring a war to an end. The rumor that we're hearing right now of what we expect to hear from the president is 30,000 to 35,000 U.S. troops. Another 5,000 troops from NATO.

Now, right now we've got about 110,000 troops in Afghanistan. Sixty-eight thousand of them being U.S. This will bring our totals to 150,000. In a country that is one-third larger than Iraq, a little larger in terms of population. So our number of soldiers in Afghanistan per populous is considerably below what it was in Iraq at the high point. And it also is a country with no infrastructure to speak of. No roads, that type of thing, that are useable. So this is a tough, tough problem.

Now, on the good news side, we basically have seen over history that an insurgency can be defeated in about nine years if you use the right strategy, bring security to the people, win the people over to the government that is in control. That's clearly what we're trying to do. Whether that can be done by 2013, whether it can be done at all, is to be seen. It's a high-risk strategy, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. And, Don, in your view, what does an additional commitment of 30,000 or 35,000 U.S. troops say to -- let's put it on the ground here, to local Afghans? What does it say to the government in Kabul? What does it say to the Pakistanis? Start wherever you want with that.

SHEPPERD: All right. Well, first of all, it says to the government in Kabul that we're in. That we're trying to bring this to a successful conclusion. We're trying to give you the time to create an army and a police force that work so you can take over your own country.

The other thing it's doing -- we've only got a couple of big cities in Afghanistan, Kabul and Kandahar. Irat (ph) being a smaller city. But basically, in the outlying areas, the populous, what happens to them is the U.S. soldiers, the NATO soldiers come in during the day, they leave, the Taliban come in at night, they wreak havoc in the countryside. What you're trying to do with these additional soldiers is create stability and safety for the population.

And the real key to safety in this country also is the police and the confidence that the people have in the police, the court system, et cetera. That's what we're trying to establish. We're trying to bring security in the outlying areas and also in the cities so they can take over their own country. That, to me, is a strategy we should be pursing. And I hope that's what the president says, Tony.

HARRIS: And when we have a little more time, we'll talk about the implications for this new strategy for Pakistan.

SHEPPERD: You bet.

HARRIS: Retired General Don Shepperd.

Don, great to see you. Thanks for your time.

SHEPPERD: You bet, Tony.

HARRIS: The U.S. is tripling the number of civilians serving in Afghanistan. They're part of a civilian surge that is a key part of the new Afghan strategy. Foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty followed along as some of these non-military volunteers went through training with the troops.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our Black Hawk helicopter flies low over fields and woods, destinations now in sight. The Miskatitak (ph) Urban Training Center. A half hour flight from Indianapolis, Indiana. This week, transformed into a village in Afghanistan. On the ground, 36 civilian trainees in camouflage jackets and body armor.

They're from the State and Treasury Departments, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Agriculture Department, all volunteered for at least a year in Afghanistan. Part of the civilian surge critical to the new strategy. Tripling the number deployed on the front lines. They're using their skills in law, agriculture, medicine, to help the Afghan people get the services they desperately need. Without that, they could turn to the Taliban.

The team's mission today, help solve a land dispute between two Afghan tribes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Mr. Harris, the senior representative of the State Department (INAUDIBLE).

DOUGHERTY: Real Afghans, some of whom don't speak English, play the role of provincial officials and tribal leaders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here I would like to welcome everybody from the bottom of my heart.

DOUGHERTY: The reading from the Koran, the translator, hot tea they're offered to drink, the soldiers from the Indiana National Guard. Everything detail as authentic as possible.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): How real is this?

BRENDAN O'BRIEN, STATE DEPARTMENT: I thought it was very real, actually.

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): Brendan O'Brien served in Kabul, Afghanistan, as council general. He's going back for another year as an information officer. This new training, he says, is critical to understanding how the military function. His life depends on it.

O'BRIEN: The military culture is almost -- it is a foreign culture. It's almost as foreign as the Afghan culture to State Department, to USAID, to the Department of Agriculture.

DOUGHERTY (on camera): Just as in Afghanistan, these teams are accompanied every step of the way by the military. They rely on them for security and for mobility.

(voice-over): At the same time, these civilians, unarmed, have to establish trust. The war, they say, can't be won only with guns.

In this vignette, an Afghan plays a role of a pregnant woman, as Maura Mack, a USAID health development officer, listens closely. Mack has never been to Afghanistan. She leave this December for Logar (ph) province. This lesson, she says, taught her . . .

MAURA MACK, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: The importance of building these relationships with the people, listening to them. The etiquette, the politeness, building that trust and rapport with them so that they really can share with you what their concerns are and be willing to work with us, because we need to work together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did they interact? How well did it go for you? What impressions do you have? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the one thing that nobody asked me was about what sort of diseases are very common in this province.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got on the birds (ph), took off, did a little ride. Kind of windy. Knocked us around a little bit.

DOUGHERTY: The Afghan staff, the trainees, the military give their feedback. Lessons that could make all the difference when these civilians take off for real to Afghanistan.

Jill Dougherty, CNN, Butlerville, Indiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And while we wait for the president's big announcement, we've been asking you to weigh in on Afghanistan. Here's some of what we've been hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALLER: They should start a lottery circle (ph) in Afghanistan and give the people money and give the people hope. Pamela from the Bronx. Thank you.

CALLER: My name is Dan from Saginaw, Michigan. I'm hearing a lot of people supporting this war. I'm wondering if any of those people in all those people have someone in the fight. It's much easier to want somebody else to die for what you believe in. Show some courage, join the military.

CALLER: Hi. My name is John. I'm from Newport News, Virginia. I keep looking at the source of this problem where Osama bin Laden, being a genius and a scumbag at the same time, sought to ruining our economy. He sought to terrorize this country. He's doing a beautiful job and we're playing right into his hands by sending our young men and women to chase him and get killed in the process to try to change a culture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, the president will make his Afghanistan strategy speech tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. CNN's special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern. We will carry it live for you right here on CNN.

And we'd like to make a bit of a personal appeal to you to watch the speech and share your thoughts with us. After the speech tomorrow, you can go to my blog at cnn.com/tony and leave us your thoughts or send us an i-Report. That address is cnn.com/ireport. A large portion of our newscast Wednesday will be devoted to your reaction to the president's decision.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

Crews continue to pull bodies from the river in Bangladesh where a ferry capsized Friday. Officials say the boat, which was designed to fit about 1,500 people, was actually carrying some 2,000 when it toppled from too much weight. At least 77 people were killed. Almost half of them children.

Serena Williams' tirade at the U.S. Open is costing her more than $82,000. A grand slam administration says in addition to the record fine, if Williams has another major office in the next two years, she could be barred from the following U.S. Open.

Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton is engaged to Goldman Sachs investment banker Marc Mezvinsky. The couple made the announcement in an mass e-mail to friends and family. They've known each other since their teenage years in Washington. Both attended Stanford University.

A major goal of health care reform is to reduce the system's overall cost. Bending the so-called cost curve. But that may require Congress to deal with the elephant in the room. How much is spent in the final days of life?

CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is in New York for us.

Poppy, good to see you.

Look, a lot of controversy surrounding this one. No one seems willing to go near this issue.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: No. I mean, it's an incredibly sensitive and controversial issue. I'm not surprised that a lot of lawmakers don't even want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. The truth is, you know, if you're in the hospital or a family member, you want all measures taken to possibly save your life, even if they're not going to meaningfully prolong it in the end.

But you've got critics, Tony, in this health care reform debate that are arguing, listen, all of that spending on end of life treatment, it has to be reigned in. Some even going as far as to say, if we don't reign it in, it could really make this country go broke.

So let's take a look at the numbers and show you what we're talking about. When you look at the cost, look at 25 to 30 percent of Medicare spending that goes to people in the last year of their life, that adds up to about $100 billion. And we should note, this is taxpayer money. Forty percent of that is spent in the last month alone on average of people's lives. So you understand the argument.

Now David Walker, he used to run the Government Accountability Office, essentially he was the top accountant for the government. Here's what he told us this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WALKER, CEO, PETER G. PETERSON FOUNDATION: Well, the one thing that could bankrupt America is out of control health care costs. And some of that, frankly, the patient wouldn't even want. If the patient knew what the options were, if they knew what the potential outcomes might be, they wouldn't even want it. And so it's the patient's rights issues, as well as a fiscal issue. And I think what we have to do is that we need to recognize the reality that ultimately there's a limit as to how much in taxpayer resources we can allocate.

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HARLOW: All right. Well, Walker also says, Tony, that doctors need to make decisions on treatment based on the medical evidence. What generally work, what doesn't, what's wasteful, what's not, and that is really what you should look at. But that's a very tough argument to make to anyone in that position -- Tony.

HARRIS: Absolutely. Poppy, all right, so definitely a hot- button issue. How is it addressed in the health care reform bills on Capitol Hill right now?

HARLOW: Well, you know, the House bill actually include it. It includes a provision that would pay for end of life counseling. Essentially a conversation between the patient and the doctor. A lot of people argue that could bring down costs.

And here's why. There's a March study, take a look at these numbers. They followed 600 terminally ill cancer patients. What they found out was the patients that spoke to their doctors at the end of their life, their average medical bill was about $1,800 in the last week. If you compare that to people that did not have this conversation, Tony, it was about $3,000. You see the difference there.

HARRIS: Oh, yes.

HARLOW: You can see more, of course, all those details on CNNMoney.com -- Tony.

HARRIS: Poppy, appreciate it. Thank you.

Four officers gunned down while sitting at a coffee shop. A manhunt is underway right now. We will take you live to the scene.

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HARRIS: Police are searching for the Seattle area man who they believe gunned down four police officers. Police thought they had Maurice Clemmons pinned down at a house in Seattle today. After a 12 hour standoff, they found no one inside. Police say Clemmons walked into a suburban coffee shop Sunday morning and opened fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DET. ED TROYER, PIERCE COUNTY, WASHINGTON, SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We are now learning, after the incident occurred, we're getting reports that he made some comments the night before to watch the news because he was going to kill a bunch of cops. Those people did not report that .until after the incident occurred. So we believe that he was just after police officers and, unfortunately, they were the four that were in that coffee shop when he went by and saw that they were there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: CNN's Patrick Oppmann is covering this developing story in Seattle and Patrick is on the phone with us.

And, Patrick, what is the latest here? Do police at this point have any idea of where Clemmons might be and what's next in the search?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Tony, even though they've cleared this one east Seattle neighborhood where he was sought and searched for the last -- for like 12 hours last night and early this morning, the tension still remains very, very high. The University of Washington, this morning, sent out an e-mail, which is near the site of the search, where the search was taking place. They sent out an e-mail putting students on notice and just warning students and faculty to be alert of -- not for any specific reason, but because this was happening in their area.

So people in Seattle are far from breathing a sigh of relief. Police are visibly frustrated. They're very disappointed after spending 12 hours, putting so many resources, so many SWAT resources into this one location to find out that Clemmons had apparently fled from the scene. They do believe that he was here last night. They even got what they call a good tip and said that they found evidence suggesting that he was outside a home very near where I am right now in east Seattle. But apparently was able to flee or managed to flee as they were setting up that perimeter. And they had a very extensive perimeter here last night. And when they closed in that, there was nothing there, Tony.

HARRIS: All right, Patrick Oppmann, covering the story for us in Seattle.

The four police officers were grabbing breakfast Sunday morning before the start of their shift. Because of the actions of one person, nine children have now lost a parent. Here's reporter Kyle Moore with CNN affiliate KING.

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KYLE MOORE, KING REPORTER (voice-over): Officer Mark Renninger was a dedicated family man. Mark's brother, Matt, a retired police officer told me, "Mark was a professional dedicated police officer who made the ultimate sacrifice. More so, he was a loving devoted father, husband, and family member who will be missed by many.

Pete Davis (ph) lit candles for the two officers he met. He spoke with Officer Renninger last week.

PETE DAVIS: I had the opportunity to stop and talk to him for a minute and thank him and tell him what a good job that they were doing here in Lakewood.

MOORE: Davis also knew Tina Griswold, a wife and mother of two children. She is a fourteen year police veteran and well loved by those she knew. She was rewarded a metal for saving a life this past summer.

DAVIS: She's a -- I know she's a super person that's loved by just tons and tons of people around here in Lakewood. That she was real active.

MOORE: Thirty-seven-year-old Ronald Owens was a founding member of the Lakewood Police Department. He has a daughter. This man knew him well and was to shaken to speak on camera, but did say Owens was a good officer who never took unnecessary risks.

Greg Richards was a husband and father of three kids. He was also a founding member of the Lakewood Police force. At the police station, officers are too upset to speak about the loss. The flag lowered to half-staff in remembrance of the worse loss this young department has ever suffered.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The accused gunman, Maurice Clemmons, was serving a 95- year prison term in Arkansas, but his sentence was commuted in 2000. Clemmons was jailed recently on several charges, including child rape, but was released on bond a week ago.

Targeting and hunting albinos. We uncover the horrific facts.

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HARRIS: The president will make his Afghanistan strategy speech tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. CNN's special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern. It will be carried here, the address, live on CNN.

And we'd like to make a personal appeal to you to watch the speech and share your thoughts with us. After the speech tomorrow, you can go to my blog at cnn.com/tony and give us your thoughts. Or send us an I-Report. That address is cnn.com/ireport. A large portion of our newscast on Wednesday will be devoted to your reaction to the president's decision.

Iran's cabinet has approved plans to build 10 more nuclear plants, saying they're for energy purposes. But there's fear it could be a major step toward building nuclear bombs. One Iranian official says Tehran approved the construction to send a strong response to a resolution passed by the IAEA in which it demanded Iran stop construction of a uranium enrichment plant.

It is one of east Africa's hidden horrors, the hunting down and killing of albinos for their bones and body parts. The story now from ITN's Martin Geissler.

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MARTIN GEISSLER, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): They are a simple, rather pathetic looking group of men, but they stand accused of involvement in a crime wave that has shocked east Africa. The mountains of Burundi (ph) have seen more of their share of horrors during the years, but what's happened here over recent months is one of the most sinister chapters in this countries bloody history.

Albinos here are blighted by the sun, poor eyesight and a lifetime of discrimination, but now they face a far more serious threat. In this part of Africa, dozens, many young children, have been murdered, skinned, and dismembered, all in the name of witchcraft. The authorities have been pitifully slow to act. These men, arrested in the past few days, are the first to be picked up.

"I told my friends they could get money from albino bones, so two of them killed a 16-year-old girl. They escaped and I've been caught."

"I dug up an albino's grave. I thought the bones would bring me luck. Now it looks like I'll go to prison."

Ten members of this tiny minority have been killed in one small region of Burundi the past five months. A shelter has been set up where many now live under guard for their own protection.

(on camera): Witch doctors have been prescribing their traditional medicines in the mountains here for centuries, but these crimes are a new phenomena. The killing spree started here just over a year ago. It's nothing to do with culture. It's simply a means for criminals to get rich quick.

(voice-over): Witch doctors don't like talking to outsiders, but I was taken to a mountain village in Burundi's highlands to meet Melkior (ph). In his hut, the 75-year-old summoned the spirits and mixed medicines with skills he learned from his grandmother. Generations of tradition are being disrespected, he told me.

"They come from Tanzania, these people. Some witch doctors there say albinos blood and bones can bring you luck, help you catch fish or find gold. But it's not true. Those who are doing this are just criminals."

We traveled to Tanzania and found the same problem on a far bigger scale. These people say they're being hunted and they're terrified. In an office in Daraz Salam (ph), Ziana (ph) showed me the dreadful evidence of these crimes, pictures too graphic to show up close.

ZIANA: The people, other people, have been (INAUDIBLE) having the hands or the legs of the albinos, but no punishment has -- have been taken place.

GEISSLER: In houses across this part of Africa, albino parents are preaching the same warnings to their children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to be very, very careful because those killers, they are looking for us.

GEISSLER: The sun used to be these people's biggest enemy. But, now, that's no longer the case. Martin Geissler in Tanzania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: We are pushing forward with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with that lady, Kyra Phillips.