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American Morning
Obama Announces 30,000 Troop Increase to Afghanistan; Afghanistan Surge Debated Among Experts and Politicians; Where Troops are Going; Reaction to Obama's West Point Speech; Stocks Climb to 14- Month High
Aired December 02, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It's Wednesday, December 2nd. Glad you're with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
Here are the stories that we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes. President Obama's new plan to fight the war in Afghanistan, 30,000 more troops. The first wave arriving before Christmas. The goal boils down to this -- get in, reverse Taliban gains, build up the Afghan military and police and get out. This morning, reaction from the best political team on television.
CHETRY: Also, he was the architect of the surge strategy in Iraq. Just ahead, CENTCOM Commander, General David Petraeus will join us live. He'll talk to us about whether or not 30,000 more troops will be enough, and exactly how will more boots on the ground change the mission in Afghanistan? Some answers coming up.
ROBERTS: And Senator John McCain has been urging President Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan, so what does he think of the President's new strategy and the exit plan? We'll find out when we speak with him live.
CHETRY: But first, just last hour, the Taliban responding to President Obama's large-scale escalation of the war in Afghanistan saying that the strategy is quote "no solution to Afghanistan's problems", but last night, the President declaring the safety of all Americans rides on bringing the fighting against the Taliban to a successful conclusion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Afghanistan is not lost, but for several years, it has moved backwards. There's no imminent threat of the government being overthrown, but the Taliban has gained momentum. Our new commander in Afghanistan, General McChrystal, has reported that the security situation is more serious than he anticipated.
In short, the status quo is not sustainable. If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow. So, no, I do not make this decision lightly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We begin our coverage with Suzanne Malveaux live in Washington. A lot of people, Suzanne, are talking about the tone that the president took last night.
And it's also interesting because those who say we have to just keep fighting this until we make progress, he's talked about the surge. And for those who said, wait a minute is there an end in sight, he also talked about an exit plan.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, you're absolutely right, because this speech really didn't have the feel of any of the war speeches I covered under President Bush, and it wasn't meant to. There was very little bluster or bravado in President Obama's call to escalate the war in Afghanistan.
And the reason why was this speech was as much as ending the war as it was about ramping it up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Quick in, quick out.
OBAMA: Our cause is just, our resolve unwavering. We will go forward with the confidence that right makes might.
MALVEAUX: President Obama is ordering 30,000 additional U.S. troops into Afghanistan over just a six-month period, lightning speed for any military operation.
OBAMA: We'll deploy in the first part of 2010, the fastest possible pace, so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers.
MALVEAUX: The U.S. mission is to go after Al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents while training the Afghan security forces to step up and fight for themselves, with a clear timeline for U.S. forces to pull out, beginning in July of 2011.
OBAMA: After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home.
MALVEAUX: The president put the Afghan government and its people on notice.
OBAMA: It must be clear that Afghans will have to take responsibility for their security and that America has no interest in fighting an endless war in Afghanistan. The days of providing a blank check are over.
MALVEAUX: The price tag for the U.S. military operation this year, the president said, will be $30 billion. Worth the sacrifice, Mr. Obama reminded Americans.
OBAMA: This is the epicenter of violent extremism practiced by Al Qaeda. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak.
MALVEAUX: The president's hope is not to leave a messy, protracted war behind for his possible successor in 2012 if Mr. Obama only serves one term. But he's taking a page from President Bush's playbook -- not to box himself in if things fall apart.
OBAMA: Just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on the ground.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Kiran, judging from the folks I spoke with after the speech, it's safe to say the president didn't satisfy either side, those who still support the war or those who oppose it.
And the president went in knowing this, essentially, that the challenge of uniting the country around this war which was once so clear cut but now much more difficult because the country is tired of war, quite frankly. They're polarized, and, of course, the enemy is also disbursed -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Right. He mentioned that in the speech, as you said. There was a time when we all agreed on this. It may be hard to remember now, but we have to muster that spirit once again to move forward and see if the surge strategy works.
MALVEAUX: Right. It may take quite some time.
CHETRY: Exactly. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning, thanks.
ROBERTS: There's mixed reaction this morning on Capitol Hill to President Obama's decision to send another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, but what about reaction from top military commanders? Can 30,000 really turn the tide, and how will the war strategy change?
Joining me now is General David Petraeus. He is the commander of the U.S. Central Command, better none at CentCom. He was also the architect of the surge strategy in Iraq. General, great to see you. Thanks for taking the time this morning.
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Good to be with you, John. Thanks.
ROBERTS: So 30,000 troops going to Afghanistan. Folks at home might say where are they going, how will they be deployed to maximize effectiveness?
PETRAEUS: Well, we're not going to lay at the operational campaign plan here this morning, but they'll be deployed to secure the most important elements of the Afghan population, the lines of communication, and enable the training and development of Afghan security forces and the Afghan authorities who need to take over more and more of their people's own needs.
ROBERTS: General, how much will be counter-terror and how much counterinsurgency? PETRAEUS: Well, there's no question that counterterrorist operations are a component of counterinsurgency, and, in fact, those will not only continue. They will be augmented as well. You have to kill or capture the key leaders, the irreconcilables in such and endeavor.
But you also want to provide greater security for the population so that local individuals don't have to choose sides to go with the Taliban because they're so threatened or because it's the only way they can earn a living for their family.
And so there has to be outreach at local levels, community defense initiatives will be among the components of the overall comprehensive effort that will go forward.
ROBERTS: And as we mentioned, general, you were the architect of the surge strategy in Iraq, also talking about community protection, you designed that whole thing as well. How many of the lessons learned in Iraq can be applied to Afghanistan, because while there are similarities, they are also very different places?
PETRAEUS: Well I think any time you try to apply lessons from one situation to another, you have to be keenly aware of the differences, of the context in which those lessons will be applied.
And we've spent a great deal of recent months to get the kind of nuanced understanding in local areas and the additional forces that have already flown in this year have enabled us in certain of those areas to provide the kind of density to where you can carry out strategies that can capitalize on the lessons that we did bring from Iraq about securing the population, about reaching out to it, about reconciling, reintegrating the reconcilables is the term in Afghanistan, and so for.
ROBERTS: Some Democratic lawmakers, general, have made the argument that just the very presence of American forces in Afghanistan is aggravating factor, has turned the Afghan population against us, and that increasing the number of troop there's will only make the situation worse. What do you say to that argument?
PETRAEUS: Well, I'd say that it depends on our actions. If we indeed are seen by the Afghan people to be helping them realize a better future for themselves and their families, then they will welcome that. If we are helping to improve security, to make their lives better, then they will support not just us but the Afghan authorities, Afghan forces, and the new Afghanistan. But the contrary is true as well.
ROBERTS: Right. General, you mentioned the irreconcilables among the Taliban. And part of this strategy is with those who are reconcilable to try to peel them away, what I would imagine be lower level Taliban, the so-called economic Taliban, you mentioned people who are fighting just to try to put food on the table.
Can you, do you believe, in Afghanistan create a similar environment as you did in Iraq in the Sunni provinces with the so- called Sunni awakening?
ROBERTS: Well, it's different. This will be more of a village or valley awakening, we suspect. There won't be the larger tribal confederations we don't believe that we were able to achieve over time in Iraq after supporting the early, very small elements that wanted to reject in that case Al Qaeda in Iraq.
But there are already cases. Very recently a senior Taliban figure in Harat (ph) province in the west was killed. Dozens of his fighters came in from the cold, if you will, renounced violence, as the words from the president's speech last night, that we will deal with individuals willing to renounce violence.
That is how you, one of the ways in which you do, in fact, end these kinds of wars, as we saw in Iraq and as we've seen in a number of other historical case.
But make no mistake about it, there are also very clearly irreconcilables. These are never going to support the new Afghanistan, and they have to be killed, captured, or run off.
ROBERTS: Another big piece of the strategy is going to be partnering with good governance. Do you have any confidence that the Karzai government can be an effective partner in this strategy?
Tom Friedman of the "New York Times" writes in a column today, he says, quote, "How do we succeed with such a tainted government as our partner?"
PETRAEUS: Well, there's no question that that will be one of the long poles in the tent, if you will, in the way ahead. President Karzai's inaugural speech had some very important language in it about tackling corruption, about government serving its people rather than preying on them.
There have in fact in recent weeks been some arrests, detention of certain fairly senior Afghan officials in the border forces and in some of the ministries.
So our every effort will be to reinforce that, to support it, encourage it, needless to say, and then to applaud it when it takes place.
ROBERTS: General David Petraeus, CentCom commander, good to catch up with you this morning, sir. Thanks for taking the time. We sure appreciate your time.
PETRAEUS: Pleasure, John.
ROBERTS: And keep it right here, because at the half hour our Jim Acosta talks to regular citizens getting reaction to the president's speech. Then we talk live one on one with Senator John McCain.
And at 40 minutes past, our Frederic Platekin (ph) is in Afghanistan to talk directly with U.S. forces on the ground there. That's all ahead right here on the Most News in the Morning.
CHETRY: We're coming up at ten minutes past the hour right now.
Also new this morning, Tiger Woods's net worth took a $164 hit. The golfer's attorney says Tiger has paid his careless driving citation for crashing into a tree outside of his home last week. Woods was also hit with a four point infraction on his driver's license.
The Florida Highway Patrol says there was no evidence to pursue any other charges and the investigation is now closed.
ROBERTS: A move that stunned the auto industry. General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson is out after just eight months on the job. Henderson took over back in March had the government forced out Rick Wagoner.
The Obama administration says this latest change was entirely the board's decision. Board Chairman Ed Whitaker will take over as interim CEO.
CHETRY: In emails that have just surfaced between the White House party crashers and a Pentagon official, Tareq and Michaele Salahi claimed that they missed a voicemail telling them not to come to last Thursday's state dinner.
In the exchange the couple says they showed up just in case their invitation went through. They claimed their names were on the list. The Secret Service says their name was not on the list.
ROBERTS: In a case like that it's always important to check your voicemail.
CHETRY: Never know. The White house could have called at the last minute and said we didn't get enough people to this thing, this first state dinner, so can you guys make it?
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Somehow I don't think that would have been a problem.
We told you a little while ago where the troops will be going to when they head to Afghanistan. Where are they going to be coming from? We're winding up the magic wand and we'll tell you, coming up next.
It's 11 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
And we've been digging deeper all morning on to exactly what the president's new troop surge strategy in Afghanistan will mean especially to troops here at home. We have a look now where the additional fighting men and women will be coming from. Here's a map of the United States, and right now we can check out where the U.S. army and some marines will be deployed from.
The initial surge involves a lot of soldiers coming from Fort Drum in upstate New York. Soldiers from the 101st air mountain division first brigade combat team. They say they're bracing for deployment orders. So that's a look at Fort Drum right now.
Then we have Fort Campbell. Fort Campbell is a big base in Kentucky. They say that deployment orders to the Middle East have become so routine at this base that when the president talks about surge, it's almost like an announcement winter is coming.
It's home to the 101st Airborne Division, and that division is one of the most deployed in the Army.
Where else are some soldiers coming from? Fort Bragg in North Carolina are also bracing for deployment orders as well. This is home to the 82nd airborne division, a division that currently has 75 percent of its members deployed either to Iraq or Afghanistan.
And also out of North Carolina, Camp Lejeune, the Marine base there, and the first marines heading into the fray will come from Camp Lejeune also in North Carolina.
So, that's a look at where our troops are coming from.
Where are they going? Here's a map of Afghanistan. And right now, we have flags up of many of the countries and where they are. You see the U.S. flags. These are areas in the southern part, especially down here at Helmand province and also in this area where we've seen a lot of Taliban activity. A lot of them are going to be in southern Afghanistan, Kandahar, Helmand provinces. And again, these areas to the east where there are a large concentration of Taliban fighters.
But again, when we see all the flags, it is not just the U.S. A lot of our countries taking part through NATO as well as through their own deployments to try to stabilize this region -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Kiran, thanks.
President Obama made it clear last night that he does not believe Afghanistan is another Vietnam, and he urged Americans to recapture the unity we felt in the weeks and months after the 9/11 attacks.
Joining us now to break down the president's address is Nic Robertson, CNN senior international correspondent, and CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.
Candy, why don't you start us off because a majority of the American people oppose this war. The president not only had to lay out a plan for the strategy last night in Afghanistan, he had to sell that plan to a skeptical public. How do you think he did? CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it was fine at the beginning. I imagine usually when presidents give speeches like this they enjoy a bump up. I think people will be convinced and say, oh, well, we're getting out. I think he did what he thought he needed to do, which is he knows people are against this war, which is why he said OK, we're going to start getting out in the summer of 2011.
He also knows that a number of people, because the country was split about the surge, wanted him to put more troops in there. So he sort of he walked the line, but what we have to remember is this is one speech. He's going to have to sell it. And I tell you what, once those troops get over there, and Nic and I were talking about this before we got here, you know, you can expect to see those casualties rise.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CROWLEY: And that's when it's toughest to hold on to public support which is already not there.
CHETRY: And, Nic, one of the other criticisms that's been coming out right now is if we announce that we're leaving or that we're attempting to drawdown in 2011, that our enemies will wait it out?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For sure. I mean, the Taliban will have their own strategy and they'll plan for their own surges. The midterms, the midterm elections and also before the next presidential elections. Why? Because they know that's when the United States is watching. That's when they can do the most sort of political damage, to undermine public support for the war and that's what they would like to do.
They'd love to see the United States pull all of its troops out. So they will play it out. Also, we know they're playing a very, very long game, so they're going to be probably look at part of this and smile quite heavily.
ROBERTS: Politically, Candy, when you take a look at it, the president satisfied some people but there are people on either side of the fence that he didn't satisfy. Senator Russ Feingold doesn't like the plan. Congresswoman Jane Harman that if it came to a vote, and it's not going to come to it. But if it were to come to a vote, she would vote against it. And you've got Senator John McCain who says I don't like the timetable. So the president here..
CROWLEY: He displeased everybody a little bit. Yes. The thing is, it does come to a vote at some point. They're going to have to vote on funding. We're talking $30 billion, $35 billion a year. But it's inconceivable to me that the Democratic Congress is going to say to this president about an ongoing war, no, I'm sorry. They wouldn't do that to George Bush with a hugely unpopular war in Iraq. So they're not going to do it.
ROBERTS: Feingold raised the possibility of walking... CROWLEY: Sure, but I just don't think the votes are there, you know. I mean, I think you take the Republicans. The Republicans will largely go for it. And there are enough Democrats that are in support that he's going to have the numbers. That doesn't mean that he's not going to have to continue to sort of sell this, because you know, I keep going back to a speech he gave in Elmendorf up in Alaska when he was en route to Asia, where he said to the troops there, I'm not going to send you without the equipment, nor will I send you without public support back at home.
It's so important. We all know that you cannot sustain a war in the U.S. unless the public is behind you. That's where his strength is and I think that's where you'll see him go.
CHETRY: You brought up an interesting point about equipment as well, and that's another huge concern. I mean, they're trying to speed up this deployment. It would normally take about a year, right? And we just saw where all these troops are coming from.
They have equipment out there and it's not an easy place in Iraq. We had Kuwait, where large shipments could come in and could be. In Afghanistan, you're talking about flying in a lot of the stuff.
ROBERTSON: Well, and we're also talking about doing it while we're having a massive drawdown in Iraq as well. So you have a lot of resources dedicated to that. In Afghanistan, it's complicated because you can't drive equipment in.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTSON: It will have to come through Pakistan. We've seen the native convoys coming through there being attacked as they go over land. But another part of the problem is the time of year. It's winter.
I mean, I've sat on bases, John, I'm sure you've done the same, where we've been stuck for days and days and days because the helicopters can't come in because the weather's too bad and likely that's going to play at least until April. Against a speedy deployment, at least some of it the sort of more, sort of smaller outreach forward operating bases.
ROBERTS: Let me ask you an obvious question here, because you've got such vast experience in Afghanistan. Is this going to work?
ROBERTSON: I think it's going to be very, very tough. As I said, the Taliban will adjust their own strategy. I think the timeframe is going to be difficult. The training and mentoring of Afghan police and the Afghan army.
I mean, if we've seen 30,000 troops going in there with a dedicated mission of training Afghan security forces, flying in port- o-cabins full of books in the Afghan languages to train these police, then you can see that you might get their own security forces up there. But that's been a very, very difficult hurdle to cross, and the troops who are out mentoring on the ground, it's often a small handful of soldiers, will be with the police, will be with the army, and they're often the ones that are getting the highest casualty rates because they're more exposed.
ROBERTS: Nic Robertson, Candy Crowley, good to see you this morning. Thanks so much.
CHETRY: We'll take a break from talking about Afghanistan and talk a little bit about the markets, posting a 14-month high. Gold hitting another record overnight. Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business." We'll be right back.
Twenty minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Straight ahead on the Most News in the Morning. Senator John McCain has been urging President Obama to take the advice of his generals and increase deployment. So what does he think of the president's new strategy? We'll find out when he joins us live in about 10 minutes.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, Stephanie Elam joins us right now. She's "Minding Your Business" this morning, and we're talking about the rally that keeps on rallying.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the rally that just keeps on going. And for all those people who didn't get into the markets all year because they're afraid, this may hurt a little bit. I know that, but I'm going to tell you anyway.
The Dow is at a 14-month high. Look at that. Since March 9th when we hit our market lows for the cycle of 6,547, which sounds really creepy now. Right? Remember --
CHETRY: Look at the glass half full. If you stayed in, you stayed put. And you didn't do any...
ELAM: OK, yes. If you stayed in, you're feeling a lot better about things since we did see this rise of about 60 percent and getting us back to 10,471 that we hit yesterday. Yesterday, it just gets you wondering the Dow was up about one percent.
So you take a look at these numbers and you could see that we've been on a tear since things turned around. The NASDAQ up 72 percent. S&P 500 up 64 percent since that March 9th date. Things looking a lot better for people stuck around the house. Still, the high that we hit ever for the Dow was 14,000. A little bit over that. So we're getting closer. We're still not quite back there.
CHETRY: So you can still jump in.
ELAM: You can still jump on. Get some of that money back. But yes, it just shows, though, why it's hard to stay -- you know, stay on the sidelines for too long.
And take a look at what happened. The reason why we saw these sort of number jump, Dubai. Remember last week we talked about all the things that were going on there. This credit issue. Whether or not this was going to have any exposure to the U.S. markets?
Well, it looks like, no. Looks like this is a very Dubai eccentric (ph) event. And so because of that, the markets here are calming down. The way they're handling it has also changed. Also pending home sales, rising for nine months in a row. That's helping out.
But let me show you gold. We're just joking around here about all the things that would have happened, and our producer Brian is saying, why the heck didn't you tell me a while ago so I could jump into the gold back then? Well, yes, if only I had a crystal ball.
But look at this. Gold hitting a new high. Some places never been before. $1,199 an ounce. And trading above that today. That was yesterday. So we're looking at some pretty stellar moves here, but overall, today we're looking not for a big move but that's typical after we see a day like yesterday.
So keep your eyes peeled but overall the year coming back. The worst behind us. Looking much better since March 9th of this year, when it was just a very low number.
CHETRY: It is amazing that we're still dealing with unemployment on one end, the bad news.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: And home foreclosures but we're seeing a rally.
ELAM: And that...
ROBERTS: A couple of bad quarters still ahead on that front, too.
ELAM: And that is a concern. A lot of people worry that if -- you know, the market's doing one thing and it is a leading indicator. One of the first things we look to. But if the jobs numbers don't get better, then people worry about a double-dip recession, or we slip back into it. So there'll be a lot of eyes on that to see what happens with the jobs numbers.
ROBERTS: That put so much nervousness last week about Dubai, too.
ELAM: Exactly. And it just shows you just how skittish the market still it.
ROBERTS: Exactly. Stephanie Elam "Minding Your Business" this morning. Stephanie, thanks so much.
A lot of people watched the president's speech last night. What did they think about it? We put the speech to dial test. Our Jim Acosta with that coming up next.
Twenty-six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-nine minutes now after the hour. And here are this morning's top stories.
The Army is ordering a mental evaluation for the man accused in last month's shooting spree at Fort Hood. Major Nidal Hasan's attorney says the military wants a formal psychiatric review to determine whether Hasan can stand trial. He is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder. His attorney says the exam is premature because his client is still in intensive care and may face more charges.
CHETRY: A major crackdown on Internet predators. More than 3,500 convicted New York sex offenders have now been booted from MySpace and Facebook. The move is part of a new law in 25 states that requires convicted offenders to give up their home addresses, their e- mails and online user names. Both MySpace and Facebook have policies banning sex offenders from joining. But until now, it was very complicated to actually identify those individuals.
ROBERTS: The mayor of Baltimore is promising to fight a guilty verdict for taking gift cards that were intended for the city's needy children.
Sheila Dixon was cleared yesterday of three other charges, but the single conviction could force her from office. Prosecutors say Dixon used the gift cards to buy an Xbox and a PlayStation 2 for herself.
CHETRY: Well, some American who listened to President Obama's Afghanistan speech last night liked what they heard, others didn't. As the president outlined his war plan at West Point, our Jim Acosta was getting realtime reaction from a focus group in Virginia that put the speech to the dial test.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... any other specific phrases that stood out?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pollster Michael Maslansky brought together a group of roughly 30 people and split them up into Obama and McCain voters to rate the speech. Armed with dial testers, the focus group turned their knobs up for parts of the speech they liked down for parts they could do without.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will go forward with the confidence that right makes might.
ACOSTA: Through much of the speech the results were positive. McCain voters were actually more supportive than Obama voters.
OBAMA: This danger will only grow if the region slides backwards, and Al Qaeda can operate with impunity. ACOSTA: When the president responded to critics who say he has taken too long to make up his mind --
OBAMA: There has been no delay or denial of resources necessary for the conduct of the war.
ACOSTA: Conservatives were not buying it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many thought he succeeded tonight? Show your hand.
ACOSTA: But after the speech, we heard something we haven't heard much all year. Strong praise from Republicans for Mr. Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the most presidential speech I've ever heard him give.
ACOSTA (on camera): And you're a Republican or a Democrat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a Republican.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He reminded me and I hope (INAUDIBLE) a lot of people that we are first and foremost Americans.
ACOSTA: And you didn't vote for Obama?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, sir.
ACOSTA: And you are a Republican?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am.
ACOSTA: But you really liked the speech?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what, I hope he does well.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Just not all Republicans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He kind of left a broad, kind of a generic strategy, which is kind of what he does. He's a good performer, laying out broad strategy but when it gets down to brass tacks, when it gets down to specifics, I didn't hear anything new.
ACOSTA: The biggest doubts came from Democrats.
(on camera): Do you think the president's making a mistake?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In some ways yes and in some ways no. I think that we need more troops than 30,000.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an overwhelmingly positive reaction.
ACOSTA: While Michael Maslansky is not sure Mr. Obama responded effectively to his critics --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He tried to reject the idea that he had delayed his decision. The dithering. The dithering. He said we did not delay any of our decisions. That may be true. It may not. It doesn't matter. The American people believe that he's taken too long to make this decision.
ACOSTA: And this focus group believes that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do. They completely believed it.
ACOSTA (voice-over): He does believe the president succeeded in rallying the nation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole speech, except for a few speech, the McCain voters scored this higher than Obama voters. Now, part of that is a fairly hawkish speech. He used history as a foundation for what he was trying to say but he did not bash the Bush era and it really resonated with McCain voters.
ACOSTA (on camera): Do you think he bought himself a little time tonight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Another surprising take from our focus group, nearly everybody in the room told us they'd support a decision to send even more troops to Afghanistan. A sign there may be some lingering doubts the president has enough forces to finish the job, and we should thank the folks, Kiran, over at the Maslansky Strategic Research. They got us a feisty group last night. But one thing that we did take away from this, people are paying very close attention to this issue and they know their stuff.
CHETRY: They do and they are very informed and a lot of different opinions. So it is very interesting. Thanks, Jim.
I also we want to know what you think of the president's speech. You can sound out on our blog, cnn.com/amfix. John.
ROBERTS: Top Republicans also weighing in on the president's primetime address. Senator John McCain for the most part is supportive. He attended a White House briefing for the strategy yesterday. And he joins us now live.
Senator McCain is also the ranking Republican in the Armed Services Committee, which is holding a hearing on Afghanistan later on this morning. Senator, it's great to see you this morning. Thanks for joining us.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: So you were going to be crucial, senator, in attracting Republican support for the president's plan. And I'm wondering after the briefing yesterday and what you heard in the speech last night, what are you thinking about it? MCCAIN: Well, I think the president made the right decision to implement a properly resourced counterinsurgency strategy with 30,000 troops plus additional commitments from our allies which I hope will come about, and I think it has every chance of success and I support it strongly.
ROBERTS: So what about this idea of a timeline, then, that you're a little bit concerned about? Is it really that much different than what President Bush was talking about with his surge strategy in Iraq? He didn't actually detail a date to draw down troops but that surge was always seen as temporary, along the lines of the 18 months that President Obama was talking about last evening?
MCCAIN: Well, unfortunately, it's very different. It's contradictory to say you're going to have your withdrawal dictated by the situation on the ground, and at the same time say that there's going a date certain for withdrawal. If you say there's a date certain for withdrawal, your friends and enemies who will be in the region make accommodations accordingly.
Now, I understand that this would be the only "beginning" and there's other nuances but that you cannot say that you're going to have a date certain for leaving and at the same time say that you're leaving will be dictated by the situation on the ground. There's no way you can do both.
ROBERTS: Right. He was talking, though, about beginning to draw down troops, as opposed to a full withdrawal. So does that still give you the same level of concern?
MCCAIN: I don't think our friends or enemies would believe that if we begin a withdrawal, in a very unpopular war that that would be reversed. The point is that it's a good, strong strategy. It's a good policy. I think it will succeed. I have serious concerns about the civil side as far as the economy and the embassy and the divisions there and others, but militarily I'm confident of success.
ROBERTS: Now, the president saying that we are going to begin to draw down troops in July of 2011. Does that send a signal to the Karzai government, a necessary signal to the Karzai government that, hey, you have a certain amount time to get your act together here?
MCCAIN: Well, it may. It also may send a signal with the Karzai government that you better accommodate your situation after we leave. And so I just don't think it was necessary to have that part of the speech, and I think it could have repercussions in the region, and where they pay very close attention to what we say and what we do.
ROBERTS: Senator, apart from your concerns about the timeline, I read an article in "U.S. News & World Report" Ken Walsh, (INAUDIBLE) correspondent wrote which eliminated this thought yesterday. He said "McCain friends say his instinct is to support the commander in chief but he has serious doubts that President Obama is truly committed to the Afghanistan war and that Obama will do what it takes to achieve success."
Do you have doubts, senator, that the president is truly committed to the war and will do what it takes to succeed?
MCCAIN: I am. And he is, gave an excellent speech and I think the policy, although it's very extended period of deliberation which is now behind us, is a good one, and I'm confident the president will do exactly as he says.
ROBERTS: Do you agree with some of your Republican colleagues that that extended period of deliberation, as you called it, was detrimental to the potential for success in Afghanistan?
MCCAIN: Oh, it could not be helpful. We saw American public opinion go down, and we saw opinion overseas go down. The decision was not only the length of it but the leaks from the embassy in Kabul and the back and forth, all made public.
I don't think was helpful in maintaining and gaining support for this strategy, but I continue to support it and I think it will work, and I have great confidence in General McChrystal and I'm confident the president will support him.
ROBERTS: What about the cost of this, Senator? The president last night estimated that the new surge strategy will cost about $30 billion a year. Tom Friedman, who is going to be joining us in our next hour, whom you know well, "New York Times" columnist, worried about the cost of the surge in an article he wrote this morning. He said "if we become weak and enfeebled by economic decline and debt as we slowly are, America may not be able to play its historic stabilizing role in the world." He is very concerned we're taking on too much debt. Do you share those concerns?
MCCAIN: I share the concerns of a stimulus package of $780 billion and bailing out General Motors and Chrysler and all of the profligate spending that's been going on. Look, all we have to do is freeze spending on this year's appropriations at last year's appropriations level.
That will give you plenty of money to get through this year. And we might start out also by eliminating all the pork barrel earmarked corrupting process that goes on here of unnecessary waste of taxpayers' dollars.
ROBERTS: And Senator, one final question. I don't know if you heard Jim Acosta's piece but they did some dial testing last night. We found that Republicans were actually more supportive than Democrats who were watching the president's speech last night.
I'm wondering what do you say to Democratic lawmakers who say the surge strategy is the wrong approach. What we should actually start doing is drawing down U.S. forces now because they are an aggravating factor in Afghanistan?
MCCAIN: Well, I think we have to keep in mind that this was the place that the attacks of 9/11 were orchestrated, and trained. We cannot allow that area to become, return as a base for that Taliban, also, return should feel our sense of humanity as far as their treatment of women is concerned, but overall it is in our national security interest not to have Afghanistan return to a base for operations against America and our allies.
ROBERTS: Senator John McCain, good to catch up with you this morning, sir. Thanks for taking the time.
MCCAIN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Twenty minutes now to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. General Stanley McChrystal briefed his top commanders just a few hours ago after the president's announcement. The president hire him to change course, he said he needed more troops to win the war and officially got 30,000 more of them last night. Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the president also unveiled his war plan in front of hundreds of cadets. Those same cadets who could be sent to the front lines because of it. So what about the troops who are already there? Frederick Pleitgen has the view from the ground in Kandahar. It's the heart of the Taliban insurgency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: -- the security of our allies...
FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the president announced a major escalation of the war in Afghanistan, U.S. troops in Kandahar got up in the middle of the night to watch. Many feel the troop increase is long overdue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're taking hits. You know, all the time, and I think the more soldiers the better.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We go to these certain areas, and it's worrisome. So the more people we have here, the more security you have, the more secure our troops can be and safe.
PLEITGEN: Among the reinforcements, combat troops to push back the Taliban. Especially in the volatile south and east of the country. But the president's plan comes with a proposed exit strategy.
OBAMA: These additional American and international troops allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll go here.
PLEITGEN: Captain Brandon Anderson knows just how rocky that road is going to be. He's trying to win over villagers in a Zabul (ph) province as part of the larger counterinsurgency strategy.
We've learned a lot in the Army in the last eight years in these wars, and in terms of operationizing counterinsurgency and you know, finding out and learning what winning looks like and how we get there, yes. You know, this is part of what we do.
(SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PLEITGEN: But the meeting with the local village elder doesn't go well. He says he would not betray the Taliban, because he's scared and in end, refuses to be shown on camera out of fear of being punished by the insurgents.
(on camera): Many commanders here on the ground believe that this is the future of counterinsurgency but talking to the villagers, what we found that they're still pretty afraid of the Taliban.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll work together to help you stay safe.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): But without the support of these people, pulling out of Afghanistan could lead to a disaster in this already war-torn country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the thoughts on whether it's going to make a big impact would probably come when the troops start rolling in.
PLEITGEN: Here on the frontline, many soldiers tell us while they want to go home as fast as possible, they also want to succeed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: Now, Kiran, one thing that the troops here on the ground have been telling us is that they believe their anti-Taliban operations that they've conducted from here are actually going fairly well. They say they're winning all the battles.
However, they do say that the main problem they have right now is that every time they win a battle, they have to withdraw because they simply don't have enough forces on the ground. So that is certainly something they hope these troop increase will then remedy.
And the other thing is what you saw in that report. What McChrystal is trying to do is create security, at least for a short period of time to help get the Afghan security forces up to speed until they can then take over -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Wow. Frederik Pleitgen for us this morning from Kandahar. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Well, a big storm is gathering strength in the south, is heading to the northeast. It threatens to turn into a nor'easter. Might it even bring some snow to some areas of the northeast? Rob will tell you how it's going to affect you, coming up right after the break.
Forty-six minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: A little Dean Martin this morning as we say hello to Minneapolis. Right now it is cloudy, just a degree under freezing there. A little bit later it's going to be going up to 36 degrees.
Well, the holiday season officially begins in the Big Apple, I guess you could say, because of that. The 76-foot high Rockefeller Christmas Tree. It will come alive in front of thousand of bundled up tourists and onlookers tonight. It came from Connecticut and it will head back there to be used by Habitat for Humanity after the New Year.
ROBERTS: Our Rob Marciano is tracking the Extreme Weather across the country today, and it looks like the northeast could be in for a little bit of a problem the next couple of days. Rob, what are we looking at?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We got to get that tree up. We've got to get it decorated. We've got to get it lit tonight, early, preferably guys, because this storm that's gathering strength across the south is rolling up towards the north and the rain shield is beginning -- advances of that is already beginning to make inroads towards Virginia.
It will get into DC probably about lunchtime and then roll up the I-95 corridor, getting to the New York area probably some time around dusk, or at least dinnertime. And so if you are going to that tree lighting, bring the umbrella just in case. The rains may hold off until after, but I think it will probably start to spit.
Spitting snow in the north and west of Dallas, backside of the system, certainly cold, Denton reporting 36 and rain, and just north and west of there reporting a little bit of snow. The front side of this system, tornado watch in effect. Matter of fact, there was a water spout that was sighted but it didn't do a whole lot of damage as it came on shore near Panama City, but that is going to be a -- a big deal today. And then windy conditions along with that rainfall expected tonight, and tomorrow's going to be a breezy day with travel delays across much of the northeast, so a pretty decent storm heading your way.
And there is a chance of seeing some snow over the weekend in the Big Apple. But right now it's a little but iffy as to which way that storm goes, and we'll update that situation.
But right now I'm leaning toward it not happening, but who knows? You kids, you like the snow as we close to Christmas. We'll try to work on that before the weekend...
ROBERTS: Now we can be guaranteed we're going to get hit. Whenever they say storm of the century on the way, nothing happens. It's when you say, nah, we wouldn't get snow --
CHETRY: We'll see. Not that we're saying you're inaccurate. It's just, you know? Weather does what weather wants to do.
MARCIANO: That has happened to me more than once, so I'm not going to disagree with that. See you guys.
CHETRY: Rob, thanks. Well, this morning's top stories are just a couple of minutes away, including at 8:10 Eastern time, we're going to be speaking with two people who know full well the challenges in Afghanistan better than almost anyone on this side of the world. Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US Ambassador to Afghanistan, and also former Defense Secretary William Cohen.
ROBERTS: Plus, Salahi gave new e-mail servicing between the Pentagon official and the couple accused of crashing a state dinner. Do they make their case or did they make it worse?
CHETRY: We're also going to be talking at the bottom of the hour with "New York Times" columnist Thomas Friedman. He's going to join us about why he thinks we shouldn't dig in any deeper in the fight for Afghanistan.
Those stories and much more, coming up at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The spread of the H1N1 swine flu may be slowing, but parents beware. Kids with the virus can go downhill very, very, very quickly.
So what are some of the warning signs that your child has the flu? Our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is looking at that for us this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When children get H1N1 flu, they can get very sick very fast. Andrea Samples' daughter almost died from it.
ANDREA SAMPLES, CHILD HAD H1N1: Zero to 60 in 10 seconds. That's how fast it went down.
COHEN: So we asked a pediatrician for advice.
COHEN (on camera): Dr. Lavin, you have a patient inside this house that you think has H1N1?
DR. ARTHUR LAVIN, CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: That's right.
COHEN: And we brought you here because we want you to tell his parents what they need to look for, when should they worry and hightail it to the doctor.
Tell me, Elijah (ph), what happened?
ELIJAH WARTEL (ph), SICK WITH H1N1: I've been sick.
COHEN: When he was at his worst with H1N1, how sick was he?
LEAH WARTEL (ph), CHILD HAS H1N1: That was the sickest we had ever seen him.
COHEN (voice-over): Leah Wartel (ph) is worried about her eight- year-old son Elijah (ph). How will she know if his H1N1 flu crosses the line to become a potentially deadly virus?
The Wartel's (ph) pediatrician, Dr. Arthur Lavin, tells Leah (ph) what to watch for.
Warning sign number one, trouble breathing.
LAVIN: He'd really be tugging to get air in and out of his chest. The chest wouldn't be moving very smoothly. It would be pulling hard. He'd have to reach and grab something to breathe.
COHEN: Warning sign number two, a stiff neck.
LAVIN: Can you touch your chin to your chest Elijah (ph)? Like that? See how nicely he does that? So if you move your neck that easily, then the second thing we worry about isn't there. The second thing is if your neck is stiff -- not if it's sore, but it's stiff and you can't move it.
COHEN: Warning sign number three, continuous pain in one spot.
LAVIN: I'm not talking about pains that move around the body and shift every hour. One spot that really hurts. It keeps hurting more and more every hour, especially around the tummy.
COHEN: Warning sign number four, blue nails.
LAVIN: So, Elijah (ph), let's take a look at your nails. Now, if they turn blue, Leah (ph), that would be a sign that something's not working. We have a nice little window into your oxygen level right through the fingernail. If they all turn blue, that good, healthy flow of oxygen has been interrupted.
COHEN: And warning sign number five, your child just doesn't seem right.
LAVIN: I'd be concerned if you came to him and some way he just seem like a different person, not just different -- Elijah (ph) acting differently, but you didn't recognize him. That would be very worrisome.
COHEN: Looking out for these five signs can save your child's life.
As for Elijah (ph), he's on the mend, with a lot of care from his mom and dad, and big brother.
COHEN (on camera): What do you do to take care of your brother?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd say I hope you feel better sometime and...
E. WARTEL (ph): You probably said that twice. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: So, what -- when your child has H1N1 flu, it's important to be vigilant, to watch for these signs, but also keep these numbers in mind. Most kids are fine with H1N1 flu. The CDC estimates that 8 million children and teenagers have gotten sick with H1N1, only 36,000 have been hospitalized.
There have been 540 deaths, so, as you can see, the odds are in your favor. But, still, be vigilant -- John.
ROBERTS: All right. Some good tips this morning. Elizabeth, and at least his brother said it twice. Better than none.
COHEN: Right. That's right.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Elizabeth.
CHETRY: And, you know, the amazing thing is, I mean, how do you prevent other people in the family from getting it? I mean, they were all around him.
ROBERTS: It's tough. Yes.
CHETRY: Yes. It is.
All right. Well, still ahead, we're going to have your top stories coming up in just 90 seconds. It's two minutes till the top of the hour.
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