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More Troops to Afghanistan; Is President Obama Keeping Campaign Promises About Afghanistan?; Battle Over Health Reform

Aired December 01, 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 now for your top-of-the-hour reset.

I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is 12:00 at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where tonight President Obama announces thousands more troops will go to Afghanistan.

Live from Capitol Hill now, where the U.S. Senate begins voting on dozens of amendments to its health care reform bill.

And we go to New York, where fashion designer Kenneth Cole uses provocative ads to make a statement on this World AIDS Day.

Let's get started.

New details coming in now on the military's accelerated marching orders. The commander-in-chief set to unveil his battle plan for Afghanistan just hours from now.

Live now to CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

And Suzanne, what can we expect from the president's speech tonight?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, I just talked to senior administration officials who gave me some details, some more information, about the speech. Essentially, that the president is going to call his aim, his goal here, to end the Afghan war within the remaining three years of his presidency.

That, of course, assuming that he is a one-term president, but that is his goal. He will make that very clear tonight.

He will also talk about the fact that his aim is to make sure that most U.S. forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan close to the end of those remaining three years, that there be a small contingency force that two remain behind essentially for stability of the region, for Afghanistan and Pakistan. And that he's also, Tony, actually going to explain to the American people when U.S. troop levels will peak and then when they will start to fall, when he actually expects to start bringing some of those soldiers home. That is the main thrust of this.

It is 30,000 additional U.S. troops that will be deployed within six months. There will be a total of -- bringing it to about more than 100,000 U.S. troops on the ground. He'll talk about international forces, NATO forces, as well.

And as I mentioned, a time frame for troop withdrawal. He will tell the American people when he expects it to peak and then to go down. And he's also going to talk about the expectations, the goals for the Afghan government to step up with their police force, with their army, as well as providing government services for their own people, that there are some very clear goals.

He has spoken with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, he was on the phone for about an hour or so last night, about 10:00 p.m. Eastern. He is going to talk about those goals as well. But that, Tony, is the gist of what he's going to tell the American people, and making it very clear that this is a very quick deployment, an accelerated timeline, a quick in and a quick out -- Tony.

HARRIS: Suzanne, I've got a question for you based on the discussion, the debate, about Afghanistan, as I have listened to it over the last few weeks now. Why does it appear -- at least to me -- that Afghanistan is a tougher sell for this president than George Bush?

MALVEAUX: One of the things that has been at the heart, really, of fierce debate inside this White House, inside this administration from day one, has been, what is the state of Afghanistan now? It is dramatically different than when President Bush presented it to the American people eight years ago.

Back then, it was very clear cut. You had -- it was the headquarters to al Qaeda. You saw the training video. You saw them basically working out, plotting and planning. Intelligence knew that they were plotting and planning against the United States and its allies. Osama bin Laden was at the heart of that movement.

Since then, al Qaeda has become more dispersed. It is around the world. You don't have Osama bin Laden as really the head of that organization. It is much less clear in terms of where the true enemy is, where the true enemy lies. And so that is a tougher sell to the American people.

President Bush, too, used 9/11, the attacks of 9/11, many, many times to justify going in to Afghanistan. It was a war that people understood.

Now, 9/11 a faint memory to a lot of folks. That is something that the president has to talk about. It is something that the president has been reticent to talk about, because they believe that the former President Bush used it to instill fear in people and fear mongering. That is not something that they want to be held up to account and to face that kind of criticism.

HARRIS: Yes. Well, I knew I was asking the right person.

All right. At the White House for us, Suzanne Malveaux.

Suzanne, appreciate it. Thank you.

And the president will make his Afghanistan strategy speech tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. CNN's special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern, and we will, of course, carry the speech live for you on CNN.

Watch the speech and then share your thoughts with us. After the speech, you can go to my blog at CNN.com/Tony, and let us know what you're thinking, what your reaction is to the president's decision, or you can send us an iReport. That address is CNN.com/ireport.

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

Checking the wire and the day's other big stories now.

The suspect accused of gunning down four Lakewood, Washington, police officers is dead. Authorities say Maurice Clemmons was shot and killed earlier today by a Seattle police officer on routine patrol. Clemmons was wanted in the ambush-style attack Sunday morning. The end of the ordeal brought some sense of relief as the community mourns the officers who were killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN DIAZ, INTERIM CHIEF, SEATTLE POLICE: These have been tragic days. And in the last 48 hours, it's been very difficult for the men and women in law enforcement throughout this region and for our community. We had the tragic death of four officers in Lakewood. I give my condolences to Chief Ferrar (ph), to the families of the officers.

It's been a very difficult time for everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The debate over health care reform goes into round two. The Senate reconvened about two hours ago to continue sparring over the Democrats' massive reform bill. Republicans call the sweeping overhaul a sham. Democrats call it an historic opportunity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: Not acting is not an option. Some of my Republican colleagues prefer to close their eyes and ears to this reality. They prefer to play politics than do what is right and what is necessary, are content to just say no about offering any constructive alternates and response. That's no way to lead, and it's no way to lead our country and our constituents back to health.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: It's pretty clear by now that the American people were sold a bill of goods when the administration and its allies here in Congress said their health care bill would lower costs and help the economy, because the plan that has been produced, that is before the Senate, won't do either. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, consider this for a moment. It looks like thousands of out-of-work Americans are about to lose their health insurance coverage. COBRA, the program that lets you keep your company's insurance when your job ends, is about to cost a whole lot more. That's because a federal subsidy in the stimulus bill is set to expire.

A consumer group says the typical family will see premiums zoom from about $400 a month to $1,100 a month. That cost is out of reach for many unemployed people.

Now back to the war in Afghanistan.

President Obama's new plan will have about 100,000 U.S. service members in the war zone by next May, six months from now.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is just back from Afghanistan, and he joins me live from New York.

Chris, good to see you again.

The president says one of our main missions in Afghanistan is to train the Afghan security forces, soldiers and police. How do we go about doing that, Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the ways is they just got a big pay raise last week or so, Afghan army soldiers and the police. Now they're going to be making about $165 a month in U.S. dollars. It doesn't sound like a lot to us, but in a country where a lot of people are living on a dollar a day, it could make a difference.

There's also going to be incentives, Tony, to the longer they stay, their pay would raise. If they go into high-risk combat areas, they would get extra combat pay.

All of this is designed not only to recruit more, but to retain more. Right now they're losing 20 percent, 25 percent of people who just quit. So, the goal is not only to recruit more, but to keep the ones they already recruited.

HARRIS: Yes.

And Chris, we face some big challenges in making this work, don't we? I mean, you've seen some cases where not all the Afghan forces are particularly reliable.

LAWRENCE: Yes. That's an understatement.

You know, just going along through southern Afghanistan, to some of these police checkpoints with these soldiers, you know, at one checkpoint they had taken the body -- the plates out of their body armor and they were using them to grill, to cook. You know? And the soldiers had to patiently explain that, well, you know, grilling bloody meat on your body armor is not the best way to take care of it.

At another, we saw uniforms laying around. And some of the Afghan police were high as a kite.

HARRIS: Wow.

LAWRENCE: But through it all, this team -- you know, there was this young lieutenant, Sean Ryan (ph), and Sergeant Sanchez. They would patiently go from checkpoint to checkpoint and never gave a halfhearted effort. I mean, they would go through the whole protocol of showing them how to detain people, how to restrain someone, all the techniques they would go through.

But the problem is that they told me they're combat paratroopers. They're doing the best they can, but they're not exactly experts in evidence collection...

HARRIS: Yes.

LAWRENCE: ... and techniques. So, what they could use is more law enforcement officials. So, the key will be not so much the numbers that come with this surge, but what kind of personnel come. Are there going to be people specifically trained to increase these numbers of Afghan police?

HARRIS: OK.

Chris Lawrence, our Pentagon correspondent, in New York.

Chris, appreciate it. Thank you.

Has President Obama kept the campaign promises he made about Afghanistan? We're going to check in with someone who's been checking up on the president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, on the campaign trail candidate Obama made some promises about Afghanistan. So, is he keeping them?

Our Josh Levs is keeping track.

And Josh, what are you finding?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems to be the right day to take a look at this, Tony. Isn't it?

HARRIS: Yes, I think so.

LEVS: Yes.

There was a major theme to the president's statements about Afghanistan on the campaign trail. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We definitely are going to need a couple of additional brigades.

We need more troops there. We need more resources there.

Part of the reason I think it's so important for us to end the war in Iraq is to be able to get more troops into Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: More troops, more troops. We wanted to see how specific he got, what specific promises he made and whether he's keeping them. And one of the best places in the world to look at this is this right here -- the Obameter. It's from PolitiFact.com, where they keep track of hundreds of promises he made on the campaign trail.

Joining us from PolitiFact, in fact, from the Obameter, Angie Holan, who has been following the president's Afghanistan promises.

Hey there, Angie.

ANGIE HOLAN, POLITIFACT.COM: Thanks for having me, Josh.

LEVS: All right. Let's do this -- this is what I want to do. I want to start off with a sound bite in which the president made a very specific promise about Afghanistan, and we'll -- then you'll tell us if he fulfilled that or not.

Here's the sound bite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: As president, I will deploy at least two additional brigades to Afghanistan to reinforce our counterterrorism operations and support NATO's efforts against the Taliban.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: Angie, the Obameter says?

HOLAN: The Obameter says, "Promise Kept." This happened earlier this year when Obama made a major speech to order those extra brigades, and they did go over. So we rated it "Promise Kept."

LEVS: Yes. Let me get on the screen here. "Promise Kept," and that's that first one.

Now, I'll tell you this -- the next one I found really interesting, because you talk about NATO, and here you don't exactly say the president has fulfilled this promise yet.

Talk to us about that one.

HOLAN: The NATO promise is to lift restrictions on NATO troops. These are troops that belong to other countries, our allies. And there have either been restrictions or reluctance to send additional troops. Now, we've rated this "In the Works" because the Obama administration is making efforts on this. There have been a lot of diplomatic efforts, and other countries have said that they're open. So, this one is "In the Works," not...

LEVS: It's "In the Works." "In the Works" from you guys means that you've seen him take some steps toward fulfilling it. He hasn't done it yet, but you think he's done enough that he's going in the direction of actually fulfilling it.

HOLAN: That's right. We have "In the Works," and then we have our other ratings when he actually gets to fulfillment, like "Promise Kept" or "Promise Broken."

LEVS: OK. We've got about a minute here. Let's zoom in here. I want to show everyone really quickly.

We're going to scroll through these so you can see -- you guys have a total of five. These are the next two.

You have training and equipping the Afghan army and increasing nonmilitary aid to Afghanistan by $1 billion.

Now, in each case there you're saying the same thing. You're saying it's "In the Works" because he's taken some steps towards fulfilling these two, right?

HOLAN: That's right. The aid is still pending in Congress, so he has to wait for them on that.

LEVS: Right. But he's working toward it.

Now, I want to end with this last one. We have a screen for you on this -- making U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti- terror efforts.

This one is really interesting -- if we can go to that graphic -- because this is about Pakistan and about Afghanistan. The idea being here, right, Angie, that the Taliban has at times used Pakistan to launch attacks in Afghanistan?

The president made a promise. How is he doing?

HOLAN: That's right. The administration often talks about Afghanistan and Pakistan as being part of the same issue.

We rated this one "Promise Kept." Congress passed the aid to Pakistan. And there are processes for the secretary of state to verify that they're helping fight terrorism in those border regions.

LEVS: Yes. You know, thanks for that. I keep a close eye on the Obameter. Two for five so far on the Afghanistan front, none broken.

As the president goes, that's not too bad, right?

HOLAN: It's not so bad. We've got three more years to go just about.

LEVS: OK.

Well, Angie Holan, we're all going to take a look at this, PolitiFact.com. Thank you so much for joining us today.

HOLAN: Thanks.

LEVS: And Tony, you know what? I always encourage people -- hey, the way I stand is really simple. People who are on the campaign trail should have to fulfill every promise.

HARRIS: There you go.

LEVS: We're going to keep an eye on those last three.

HARRIS: All right, Josh. Thank you.

LEVS: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: And we've been asking you to weigh in on what you think the U.S. should do next on Afghanistan. Here's what some of you are saying on our phone lines.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Warren (ph). I'm in Pasadena.

I do not think we should send more troops to Afghanistan and try to spend years and years there. And remember, there's no threat to our national security in Afghanistan. There's no reason for us to spend all that money and troops for something that doesn't really matter to us. Only our pride, so the generals can make more money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What incentive do the Afghanis have for them to take over fighting this war themselves when they know if we're going to do it for free for them? Why would they pay their own moneys when they are letting us do it? I believe that we need to let the Afghanis know that we'll give them a certain time to get their troops together and then we're going to pull out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. My name is Billy Freeman (ph). I am calling from Sarasota, Florida.

My thoughts on what the United States should do next; we should continue to help over there in Afghanistan and Iraq, because we cannot just go over there, make a mess, and leave it for them to clean it up. That's just not right.

Other countries will look at us differently. That's another thing that is not good. So, we are making a difference over there.

I talk to my friends that go over there. They said it is making a difference.

(END AUDIO CLIP) HARRIS: Boy, I'll tell you, we throw these questions out all the time, but you have really been engaged on this debate about Afghanistan and what to do next in that country.

You can still voice your comments. There's the number -- 1-877- 742-5760. And you can leave us a comment on the blog as well. Go to CNN.com/Tony, or you can send us an iReport. That address, CNN.com/ireport.

Still to come, as the Senate debates health care. Some new numbers are out showing just what the bill being debated would do to your insurance premiums.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And checking our top stories now.

New details about President Obama's plan for Afghanistan. He wants to end the war within the remaining three years of his presidency, and he is deploying 30,000 more U.S. troops to the war zone within six months.

CNN live coverage of the president's speech tonight starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The manhunt for an accused cop killer is over. Maurice Clemmons was shot and killed by a police officer early this morning in Seattle. Clemmons was wanted for the murders of four officers at a coffee shop Sunday.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford facing another round of hearings as lawmakers decide whether to impeach him. Today they are looking in to whether he acted improperly by using state-owned planes for personal and political reasons. Sanford has been under scrutiny since he admitted to having an affair with a woman in Argentina.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, senators are back at it today in the fight over health care reform. Debate resumed in the Senate this morning on the Democrats' plan to overhaul the health care system.

Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash -- I haven't seen you in a while, Dana -- live from Capitol Hill.

Dana, you know, there's been a lot of focus and a lot of talk among Democrats that this bill that's being debated now would lower premiums. There is a new Congressional Budget Office report out. What does it say?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the gist of what it says is that for most people who get their insurance through their employers, like you and I, it won't change very much. It says that the potential increase or decrease is one percent to three percent.

And for people who work in small businesses, who get tax credits, their premiums would go down. They actually would go down between eight percent and 11 percent.

As you can imagine, Democrats are seizing on that as a big benefit for their bill. But for middle income Americans who buy their insurance on their own and don't get any help from the government, they would actually have an increase of premiums by about 10 percent to 13 percent. So, you can see there are some sectors who this would help, some sectors who this would hurt, but for the most part, the vast majority of Americans get insurance through their companies, and it wouldn't change much.

HARRIS: How, is this debate going so far, Dana?

BASH: It's slow going, Tony. It really is.

They're on the second day right now. Still debating the first amendment on the Democratic side, the first amendment on the Republican side. This is going to take several weeks.

HARRIS: Yes.

BASH: It is going to be hard to see how they do this by Christmas.

HARRIS: All right. Our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, for us.

Dana, good see you. Thank you.

BASH: You, too.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Any new commitment to Afghanistan is going to cost billions. How should we pay for it? Our CNN Money team is looking into that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Want to take a moment and direct you to CNNMoney.com. Our Money team doing a terrific job giving you the very latest information, financial news, analysis. And the lead article at CNNMoney.com is "rescued by a part-time job." So, once again, if you need any help at all managing, navigating what's going on in our financial world, CNNMoney.com is the location.

Let's swing you now to the New York Stock Exchange for a look at the big board. Three hours into the trading day. A very nice, tidy rally going on right now. Triple-digit rally. We're up 122 points, three hours into the trading day. The Nasdaq, the tech-heavy Nasdaq, is up 32 points. Following these numbers throughout the day with Susan Lisovicz right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Over the past eight years, nearly $1 trillion has been spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now that price tag will certainly balloon even more. And this time U.S. taxpayers could directly shoulder more of the financial burden. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): America is $12 trillion in debt. Bank bailouts and stimulus spending have put taxpayers in the hole. And a troop surge in Afghanistan could mean more red ink. President Obama is expected to announce tonight that he is sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. According to White House estimates, the price tag for that could be as much as $30 billion a year. But a handful of Democrats want President Obama to impose a surtax to pay for it.

REP. JOHN LARSON (D), CONNECTICUT: Overall, over the last eight years, and then also you take a look at the cost of the wars, these are -- these are steep bills that we're asking future generations to pay. Don't you think we ought to pay for it as we go? And therefore I think involve the American public more directly in the actual cost of the war.

HARLOW: The surtax would add 1 percent to the tax bill of families earning $100,000 a year or less. In other words, about $100. It would increase for wealthier Americans up to 5 percent of their tax bill. Congressman Larsen and several fellow Democrats argue, quote, "if the president and the nation decide that the war is important enough to fight, then it ought to be important enough to pay for." But there is vehement opposition from other lawmakers.

REP. TOM PRICE (R), GEORGIA: I think that's as cynical as it is irresponsible. Now the fact of the matter is, the protection of the American people is the number one challenge, the number one task for the United States Congress. It ought to be a priority in our budgeting possess. There's all sorts of money that had been ill spent to date.

HARLOW: The government's former top accountant, David Walker, who is one of the country's best-known deficit hawks, supports a war tax.

DAVID WALKER, CEO, PETER G. PETERSON FOUNDATION: There's absolutely no question that this country is going to spend several trillion dollars with regard to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, both as relates to the cost of operations, as well as the cost after the war is over. That's significant, but it is insignificant as compared to the tens of trillions in unfunded promises that this country has.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And Poppy Harlow joining us live now from New York.

Good to see you, Poppy. You know, a war surtax, it is a pretty tough time to be asking Americans to pay more in taxes.

HARLOW: It's a great point, Tony. It's an incredibly difficult time for Americans to be spending any more money, especially paying more taxes. So this is going to be a very hard sell. You've got three Democratic congressmen putting this forward right ahead of the president's announcement tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on the expected troop surge.

As for how much, though, the tax increase, a war tax, would be for the average American family, if it were passed. We showed you a rough estimate of the price tag in that piece based on your income. But when you look at the bill, and here it is, the proposed legislation, the math, Tony, when you go through it is a little fuzzy. It talks about one solid number and then a percentage of an excess of income over that.

HARRIS: Oh, Lord.

HARLOW: So it's really a lot of it, we should be clear, is up to the determination of the president if that were in case what was passed into law.

Now, when we look at war tax, when was the last time we had this in the United States? Well, we actually had one briefly during the Vietnam War. But everyone will remember back to World War II when we saw the war tax framed as the victory tax. As for the current proposed war tax, if passed, Tony, it would take effect in 2011 or it could be delayed until 2012.

Tony.

HARRIS: All right, CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow for us from New York.

Poppy, good to see you. Thank you.

You know, people in the United States and around the world are weighing in on the situation in Afghanistan. CNN's Atia Abawi has been getting lots of feedback on her Twitter and Facebook accounts. And Atia joins me now from Kabul.

Atia, good to see you. What are you hearing?

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, I did decide to go to Twitter and my Facebook account just to see what people around the world are saying. And we did get dozen of responses. And here's a (INAUDIBLE) to the question that I asked, which is, what should the next step be for the U.S. mission on Afghanistan.

On Twitter, Lauratheexpat told me that it's to "devote the necessary resources and attention to do what we should have done in 2001 and then get out."

Katedoak said, "Afghanistan needs better infrastructure in order to combat its problems. That means greater vocational training by ISAF partners."

MiltonDeiroNeto said that "rebuild the country's infrastructure and support local projects, especially in health and education areas, would be a good start."

On Facebook, Aryan (ph) Nasir says, "first and foremost the U.S. must deal with the Pakistani ISI." That's the Pakistani intelligence organization. He says, "because we don't know whether ISI is a U.S. ally or enemy. The ISI has been playing games with the U.S. for the last eight years, helping one and fighting with another one when it comes to the Taliban. There is no need for U.S. troops once this problem is solved."

Again, I will be going out to the Twitter audience, to the Facebook audience, social media, just to see what they're saying. These comments are coming in from all over the world, including America. And I encourage your viewers to actually go ahead and message me on Twitter. I'm at atiaabawi.

Tony.

HARRIS: That's terrific. All right, Atia, and we're going to be counting on you heavily as we gauge reaction not only from our viewers here in the United States, but around the world to the president's announcement tonight. Atia Abawi for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.

And the president will make his Afghanistan strategy speech tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. CNN's special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern. And we will, of course, carry it live for you here on CNN.

And again, we've asked you to watch the speech and to share your thoughts with us. After the speech you can go to my blog, cnn.com/tony, and you can leave your thoughts there, or send us an iReport. That address is cnn.com/ireport. Again, a large portion of our newscast tomorrow will be devoted to your reaction to the president's decision.

A famous fashion designer is using his creativity to spark a worldwide conversation about AIDS. We will show you how he does it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And checking our top stories now.

President Obama's set to announce a three-year plan to end the war in Afghanistan. He wants 30,000 more troops on the ground there in six months. The president delivers his speech to the nation tonight. CNN's special coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The man suspected of killing four police officers in Seattle is dead. Maurice Clemmons was reportedly shot and killed by an officer this morning after he was spotted near a suspicious car. Police have been searching for Clemmons since Sunday when police say he ambushed four officers at a coffee shop. Britain is demanding Iran release five of its citizens without delay. London summoned Iran's ambassador today to make that point. The five yachtsmen were picked up a week ago today. Their racing boat lost a propeller and may have strayed into Iranian waters.

Today is World AIDS Day. Thirty-three million people are living with the disease worldwide. And while the number of new cases is down 17 percent since 2001, more and more women and younger people are getting infected. Our Alina Cho recently spent the day with shoe designer Kenneth Cole, who has been fighting for AIDS awareness and research for a very long time.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.

You know, Kenneth Cole was introduced to the AIDS crisis early on. As a fashion designer, he knew many people who were infected back when most didn't even know what AIDS was and many didn't care. Today, the world knows Kenneth Cole for his provocative, socially conscious ads, his way of making a difference.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice-over): Take a look at these eye-popping ads and by now they are instantly recognizable. The man behind them, Kenneth Cole. A fashion designer with a $1.5 billion empire and an even bigger conscience. His passion, AIDS awareness. Cole got involved early on, 1985, when few people cared.

KENNETH COLE, CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER KENNETH COLE PRODUCTIONS: The at-risk groups, we knew who they were. They were Haitians. They were intravenous drug users and they were gay men, for the most part in this country in those days. And I was a single male designer, so I knew everybody would just assume I was probably Haitian. But . . .

CHO: Using his platform as a businessman, seeming not at risk, this married father of three was able to raise awareness fast, through a series of provocative ads. Always pushing the envelope.

COLE: It was illegal to advertise condoms when we ran this ad.

CHO (on camera): Really?

COLE: Yes.

CHO: Wow.

COLE: And what we did was we aired brush off -- so you can't really -- there's no word that says condom here. So you don't know for sure what it was. It could be a graduation hat.

CHO (voice-over): Cole is the force behind this 1985 Annie Leibovitz photo, featuring some of the world's most famous models, with the tag line "for the future of our children."

Then there's this ad, circuit 2009, using another word for condom to sell rubber boots with profits going towards AIDS research. The need has never been greater.

KEVIN FROST, CEO, THE FOUNDATION FOR AIDS RESEARCH: The economic downturn leads people into behaviors that can put them at risk. That may be sex work because people have to pay to put food on the table. People who are despondent in a world where they cannot find work often sometimes turn to drug use, and that puts people at risk for HIV infection.

CHO: The second wave of the crisis. The designer famous for his shoes maintains what we stand for is more important than what we stand in. The goal, finding a cure for AIDS, which Cole hopes is not too far off.

CHO (on camera): When you look at this today, what goes through your mind?

COLE: It's -- we've come a long way, but -- but in some ways we haven't come that far. So . . .

CHO: Still a lot of work to be done?

COLE: Still a lot of lot of work to be done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: What you probably don't know is the man behind the ads is really the man behind the ads. Kenneth Cole writes many of the ads himself and says he never meant a pun he didn't like. A fashion provocateur in a different way. A way he says is bigger than himself.

Tony.

HARRIS: Alina, thank you. Appreciate it.

And today as we observe World AIDS Day, you can visit our Impact Your World page and learn more about this global challenge, the organizations working to make a difference and how you can get involved. That's at cnn.com/impact.

What does a U.S. exit strategy look like on the ground in Afghanistan?

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HARRIS: Boy, President Obama announces thousands more U.S. troops for Afghanistan tonight. He will also reveal a way home. His exit strategy. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen look at one angle of that strategy, training Afghan troops and police to fend their themselves.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Afghan soldiers search caves in the Gaza Khala (ph) village in southern Afghanistan, looking for Taliban weapons stashes. The man in charge of this operation, First Lieutenant Mohammad Nabi, of the Afghan National Army, who admits his men still have a long way to go. "It's like when a child is born," he says. "You have to teach that child and it could learn a lot."

It doesn't look like much, but what you see here is supposed to be a fundamental part of America's exit strategy from Afghanistan. The U.S. soldiers are stepping back, acting only as so-called combat advisors.

LT. NATAN TRIBBLE, U.S. ARMY: It's their operation. They plan all these missions out and we just go to help them out.

PLEITGEN (on camera): The U.S. says the key to making this project succeed is simple. The Afghans have to take more and more of the responsibility so that in the end they can operate without the Americans.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But the challenges are immense. Afghanistan's armed forces have almost no heavy weapons or armored vehicles, and the army and police are rife with corruption, drug abuse, and defections. Still, brazen words from the local army commander.

"I'm sure we can provide security for the people here and conduct operations on our own," he says.

Lieutenant Tribble is not so sure.

TRIBBLE: It's, like, just not safe, or you're just completely wrong, will (ph) I try and fix this.

PLEITGEN: On this operation, some villagers complain, saying the U.S. is no different than the Taliban. Claiming the soldiers enter villages, ask questions, and then simply leave.

And remember the searches in the caves? Instead of Taliban weapons, the Afghan soldiers found some frightened donkeys.

TRIBBLE: We got a lot of good information.

PLEITGEN: Still at the end of the mission, a positive assessment by the American lieutenant. And the recognition that while there is still a long way to go, this partnership program could someday be America's ticket out of Afghanistan.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Zabul province, southern Afghanistan.

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HARRIS: The White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, up early today to explain the president's thinking on Afghanistan. He talked about the buildup and the way out with CNN's John Roberts on "American Morning."

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JOHN ROBERTS, CNN'S "AMERICAN MORNING": This number of troops, about 30,000 as we believe to it be, is about 10,000 less than General Stanley McChrystal had wanted for Afghanistan. How did the president come to the determination that this was the right number of troops to send over?

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We came to that determination through, as you know, a series of deliberations and getting a strategy of how we go forward in Afghanistan. We're there, John, as you know, because al Qaeda plotted and attacked this country from Afghanistan on September 11, 2001. And we know they plot against our homeland even as we speak.

What the president will do tonight is announce an accelerated strategy to take on al Qaeda and its extremist allies, to ensure that the Taliban can't provide a safe haven for them to plot and plan. An acceleration of training for Afghan national security forces so that ultimately the men and women that will provide security for the Afghans are the Afghans themselves.

ROBERTS: Right. But, again, this number of troops, 10,000 less than what the general had -- had actually -- had wanted in his initial report about three months ago. Why did the president think this could be done with fewer troops than the general wanted?

GIBBS: Well, when the president explains what the strategy is, I think you'll see that through a series of these meetings, there have been discussions, the strategy in some ways has been changed. And I think we're also expecting that we'll get more significant contribution from allies that understand that this is not just one country's problems.

This is an international effort already on the ground in Afghanistan. It has to become more of an international effort as we go forward. What the president will announce tonight, though, is getting an accelerated time line into Afghanistan so that we can talk about transitioning our forces out of their quickly.

ROBERTS: And let's talk about the plan to get out in just a second. But, first of all, let me drill down on this issue of NATO. The president has been phoning NATO leaders asking for more troops. Britain has said that it would send 500 more troops. You were looking to France for a commitment of about 1,400, 1,500. France has so far said, no, no new troops. So will you be able to get what you want?

GIBBS: Well, look, NATO is working directly with our allies. They have a fourth-generation conference that will take place over the course of several days later, this week and the beginning of next week, and we certainly wait anxiously on NATO.

ROBERTS: All right. The president has said, Robert, that this is not an open-ended commitment. Is there a specific timetable for getting our troops out of Afghanistan? The president has said in the past he doesn't want to leave this to his successor.

GIBBS: And the president is very serious about that. And you'll hear him, John, tonight, talk specifically about when he thinks we can begin to transition our forces out of Afghanistan, put the Afghans in the lead of providing their own security. That's the only real way forward in Afghanistan.

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

You've got plenty of questions on Afghanistan. We've got answers for you. E-mail your questions, right now, to mailtothechief@cnn.com or tweet us at kyracnn.

In our 1:00 p.m. hour, just, oh, seven minutes from now, the president's national security chief of staff, Dennis McDonough, will join Kyra Phillips and answer your questions.

The plan for Afghanistan is likely to have a ripple effect on its neighbor. Pakistani officials concerned about what the new strategy means for their country.

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HARRIS: As you know, Afghanistan shares a dangerous border with Pakistan. And it is reasonable to expect that a U.S. troop surge in one country will have major consequences for the other. Reza Sayah now from Pakistan.

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REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. decision to increase troops in Afghanistan has already heightened tensions in neighboring Pakistan. In his latest press conference, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani warned the troop surge could push Taliban fighters across the border into Pakistan.

YOUSUF RAZA GILANI, PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: Sending more troops to Afghanistan, then again, there is a fear that the influx of the militants may be is towards Pakistan. Therefore we have hinted of boarder concerns.

SAYAH: Analysts say the troop surge could also fuel anti- Americanism among Pakistanis who blame the rise in extremism and suicide bombings here on what they call a failed U.S. policy in Afghanistan.

GEN. HAMID GUL (RET), FORMER HEAD OF ISI: No amount of surge is going to work.

SAYAH: Few have been more critical of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan than Pakistan's former spy chief, Hamid Gul, who says the U.S. should have never turned its back on Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. Back then, Pakistan fought side by side with Americans against the Soviets. Gul says a troop surge in Afghanistan could energize militants in Pakistan.

GUL: The Mujahadin are going to be inspired to go and fight. This is what is the recipe for greater defeat, more humiliation down the years, and with more loss of life.

SAYAH: Political analysts Pervez Hoodbhoy says combined with a political solution, a troop surge in Afghanistan is good for Pakistan.

PERVEZ HOODBHOY, POLITICAL ANALYST: If the United States is fighting a war in Afghanistan, then it has to fight it properly, else it should simply leave.

SAYAH: Hoodbhoy says nothing would embolden Pakistan's militants more than U.S. defeat in Afghanistan.

HOODBHOY: If the Taliban win in Afghanistan, it's going to be terrible for Pakistan. It's important that the United States make up its mind whether it is going to fight for a victory.

SAYAH: Washington has made it clear, to win in Afghanistan, it also needs the Pakistani army to crack down on insurgents along the Afghan border. The U.S. has never fully trusted the Pakistan army because of past relations with militant groups. For Pakistan and the U.S., the troop surge in Afghanistan is another test for two allies still searching for a solution to militancy in the region.

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HARRIS: And we are pushing forward now with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with that lady, Kyra Phillips. You rock.