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American Morning
One-on-One With Hillary Clinton; U.S. Troops Prepping for the Surge; Secret Service Takes Blame for White House Party Crash; U.S. Relations with Pakistan; Senator Corker's Daughter Carjacked
Aired December 04, 2009 - 08:00 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. Welcome to a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING, on this Friday, December 4th. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York.
Hi, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning to you, Kiran. I'm John Roberts at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
In just a couple of minutes, more of our exclusive interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton coming up -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. We look forward to that.
Meanwhile, we'll tell you about some of the other big stories we're breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
As John said, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on the ground in Brussels, at NATO headquarters, trying to secure commitments from member nations that will be crucial for President Obama's plan. We're going to be following that, again going back to John in just a moment.
Also, a tough reminder: the economy still has a long way to go before it fully recovers. In just 30 minutes, the government releases its monthly unemployment report. Many economists are predicting the jobless rate will remain at 10.2 percent. They're also hoping to see a little bit of good news that perhaps weekly jobless claims are bit down.
We're going to be following that with our CNN Money team standing by to bring you the latest information the moment it's released.
And who is to blame for the breach of security involved in that couple sneaking into the White House state dinner uninvited? Well, the party crashers were no-shows at a House hearing yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHRIS CARNEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: You know, in a very bizarre way, we owe some sort of a thanks to this pathologically egomaniacal couple that had tried to, not just at the White House, but in many other places, try and do this sort of thing. We owe them that sort of weird thanks for exposing some of these issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The White House refusing to let its social secretary testify before Congress, and now, some are accusing the administration of stonewalling that investigation. We're going to have more on that.
Meanwhile, right now, we head back to Brussels and John.
ROBERTS: A short time ago, Kiran, secretary general of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said NATO had commitments, though not all have been made public, only half of it made public so far, of more than 7,000 troops the NATO countries could commit to the new fight in Afghanistan. They were joined along with the 30,000 American forces that President Obama announced earlier this week. And that number could be several thousand higher, maybe as high as 10,000.
Now, when I talked to the secretary of state, I said, "What's the end game here in Iraq?" And she said, "Success" -- which is sort of reminiscent of the debate which were led up to the surge in Iraq, and that is, "How do you define success?" That's a question I put to the secretary of state just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Success is a stable, secure, and peaceful Afghanistan -- able to defend itself and provide a democratic positive future for their people.
ROBERTS: Now, you asked those same questions about Iraq, how do you define that? How do you know when you have achieved that?
CLINTON: Well, I think in Iraq, we've seen a transition, which is ongoing, which has an end date attached to it of the transfer of security responsibility to the Iraqi security forces from our military forces.
ROBERTS: But I guess what I'm saying is, as a candidate...
CLINTON: But we've also seen politics.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Yes.
CLINTON: We've also seen politics take hold in Iraq. You have a lot of people who are killing each other who are now sitting in the parliament. I think, to go back to your prior question, that's somewhat what President Karzai has in mind, but, of course, it requires that you disarm, that there only be one legitimate source of military power and that's a long way from being possible in Afghanistan. But those are the kinds of goals that we're working toward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laying out the goals going forward in Afghanistan.
Let's bring in our foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty.
Jill, the secretary of state talks about success and how to define it. Of course, as I said at the beginning of this, we remember that debate in Iraq, "How do you define success?" You accept a low level of violence? Do you say, there has to be no violence?
Afghanistan is a much different country than Iraq was as well. Iraq had well-established institutions, a real security force there that had to be rebuilt. You know, when you -- when it comes to defining success in Afghanistan, how far can you go?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, I think, number one, they talk about, they want to make sure that this is no longer a locust for terrorism. So, that's number one. They have to make it secure. And as one person put it, it has to be sustainably secure.
So, what does that mean? It means that people have jobs, the economy somehow comes back. That's why this agriculture thing that they keep talking about -- rebuilding agriculture -- is crucial so people can get jobs. You slowly rebuild the economy, but you -- they're not going to rebuild the country. They are not going to turn it into something that it wasn't, ultimately.
ROBERTS: Right. You know, in terms of you cannot turn it into something that it wasn't, ultimately, what would a future Afghanistan look like?
DOUGHERTY: It would probably be a country that has mineral wealth. It would be developed. It would have agriculture that would be sustainable. People could make a living. And it would continue as kind of it was a number of years ago before the Russians went in.
ROBERTS: Well, exactly, because many people can't remember back to those times. And I spoke to Christiane Amanpour about this a little while ago, a couple weeks ago, in which she said, you know, Iranians used to use Afghanistan as a place to go on holiday because there was a time of stability. We haven't seen that stability since the late 1970s.
DOUGHERTY: Yes. But it all gets down to the economy and how people live, because a lot of this -- the fueling of the influence of the, let's say, of the Taliban, is that they provide some things that the government now is not providing. They provide, in a way, a crude and very cruel legal system. They can't build anything, but they can provide some services like a legal system, which is, you know, cuts off people's hands and heads.
But to rebuild the economy, is the crucial thing, because, otherwise, people are going to look for something else. They're going to be paid by the Taliban to carry out terrorist acts.
ROBERTS: Yes. And then that is one of the crucial components here, is how do you peel away some of those low-level Taliban numbers, the so-called economic Taliban. And that's part of the strategy going forward.
Our foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty, with us this morning -- Jill, thanks so much.
More of my exclusive interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just ahead. But right now, back to New York, and here's Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thanks.
And as the new chapter in the war comes together in Washington as well as Brussels, the A.M. team is already on the ground in Afghanistan. And this is coverage you won't see anywhere else.
Today, our Barbara Starr is kicking off her eighth tour of the nation. She filed this A.M. original report from our Kabul bureau before heading out into the field.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, while Washington has been full of all of those congressional hearings, statements, and speeches, the reality on the ground here in Afghanistan is everyone is now getting ready for the surge of U.S. troops that is headed here.
We will be spending the next several days here in Afghanistan moving around the country, talking to troops, talking to commanders about what they need and what comes next.
But, of course, the wild card is going to be the Taliban and the insurgent forces. What is their strategy? What are their plans? Will they stay and fight or will they run away and hide?
Defense Secretary Robert Gates hopes, either way, he will be able to take the 30,000 troops that are coming here, the 68,000 already here, and provide enough security very quickly so that President Obama can live up to that promise to begin to withdraw U.S. forces in 18 months -- John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: All right. Barbara, thank you.
We're also going to be checking in with Barbara live on the ground in Afghanistan all next week here on AMERICAN MORNING.
And also this weekend, you'll want to stay with CNN, because our Christiane Amanpour is sitting down with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan for a world exclusive interview. It's his first interview since President Obama laid out his plan for Afghanistan on Tuesday.
So, what does he think of the plan? We're going to find out Sunday, 2:00 p.m. Eastern on "AMANPOUR," only on CNN.
And for an in-depth look of what's happening in Afghanistan, go to CNN.com/Afghanistan, a first-person account on the site, from the front lines and much more, all from the worldwide leader in news.
Also this morning, President Obama shifting his attention to issue number one: jobs. The White House is certainly feeling the heat. Critics are saying the president spent much too much time worrying about health care and Afghanistan and far too little trying to get Americans back to work. Well, in less than half an hour, new numbers are expected to show unemployment still hovering at 10 percent. It's the highest rate in our country in more than a quarter century.
So, today the president will kick off a multi-city tour in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The focus: jobs -- the same topic that dominated a White House summit yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We cannot hang back and hope for the best when we've seen the kinds of job losses that we've seen over the last year. I am not interested in taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to creating jobs. What I'm interested in is taking action right now to help businesses create jobs, right now, in the near term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. Well, Republicans called the job summit nothing more than a P.R. ploy.
And there's also some new fallout from the White House party crashing. Three Secret Service agents placed on administrative leave because of the security breach that allowed the Salahi couple to get into a state dinner without an invite. The head of the Secret Service told a House hearing yesterday that his agency is solely to blame for the incident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How in the world could this couple get past the Secret Service without having their names on the list, without having their socials in advance, and get right up to the president of the United States?
MARK SULLIVAN, U.S. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: Sir, I've asked myself that question a thousand times over the last week. What we keep coming back to here is that procedures weren't followed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you discover that the Salahis had entered -- did you discover it through their Facebook or was it your own discovery, that some interlopers had entered?
SULLIVAN: We did not discover that on our own. We were advised of it the following day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And advised by whom, sir?
SULLIVAN: The Facebook.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the House Homeland Security Committee wants to hear from the Salahis. They are now threatening to issue subpoenas to get them to come before the committee.
And the administration is refusing to let White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers answer questions from Congress and that's now raising questions about the president's pledge of openness and transparency.
Ed Henry is looking at that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even though they were invited this time, the Salahis didn't show up, leaving the Secret Service to take the hit.
SULLIVAN: This is our fault and our fault alone. There's no other people to blame here.
HENRY: Actually, Republicans think, blame for the gate- crashing fiasco also lies with White House social secretary, Desiree Rogers, an old Chicago intimate of the president and first lady with, who also ignored the committee's invitation to testify.
REP. CHARLES DENT (R), PENNSYLVANIA: We always expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president. We don't expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president's staff.
HENRY: Rogers' refusal to testify is raising eyebrows, especially because she's serving a president who said his administration would be different -- no secrets, no special protection, full transparency. It's a pledge he made throughout his campaign and repeated on his second day in office.
OBAMA: Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side, not of those who seek to withhold information, but those who seek to make it known.
HENRY: Some want to know about Rogers' role in the state dinner foul-up.
DESIREE ROGERS, WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL SECRETARY: We're very excited. Everything's all set.
HENRY: Especially since she broke with fast practice by not having an aide at the front gate to check names on the list, but no one is sure why.
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: On this issue, where we're talking about the security of the president of the United States, the person who made that decision is not going to be here. I think it's wrong. I think it's stonewalling.
HENRY: Rogers refused to testify about the mishap on constitutional grounds.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Based on separation of powers, staff here don't go to testify in front of Congress.
HENRY: Legal experts have never heard of a social secretary being protected like this, but Republican C. Boyden Gray, former White House counsel in the first Bush administration, defended the White House by saying Rogers should be shielded.
C. BOYDEN GRAY, FMR. WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: I do not think that the system of our government works if the Congress is in the Office of the White House asking questions every day. And so, the system only works if the separation of powers is observed.
HENRY: But this is a president who promised to shake up the system, rather than looking out for friends from Chicago.
(on camera): And some new information, three Secret Service officers have been placed on administrative leave over this incident and officials say they're likely to be fired.
Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Ed Henry, thanks.
And now, back to John. He's live in Brussels this morning.
Hey, John.
ROBERTS: Kiran, thanks so much and good morning to you.
So, the administration has got a plan for Afghanistan, but does that Afghanistan plan have anything to do with the big problems in Pakistan. That was the subject of some pointed questions yesterday at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was there. We'll put some of those questions to her this morning as our exclusive interview with the secretary continues. It's an interview you'll see only here on CNN.
We'll be back right after the break. It's now 13 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: The president's new plan for Afghanistan, the subject of some pointed hearings on Capitol Hill over the last couple of days, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday, the talk was all about Pakistan and how does this plan address the problems in Pakistan.
The day before the Armed Services Committee in the Senate, a lot of the questions were about this timeline of July 2011 to start pulling U.S. forces out. A lot of people particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan wanted to know, is this an indication that, as they did in 1989, the United States government, may be preparing to cut and run from Afghanistan? American officials say, no, that is not the case. I asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about that and Pakistan just a little while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Absolutely not. And you know, John, I want to really stress that, because our analysis of what happened in Afghanistan and Pakistan, very clearly, demonstrates that not only the United States, but the international community sort of just said, okay, the job is done, Soviet Union is gone, and we walked away, leaving a very difficult and increasingly dangerous presence in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. A drug trade that flourished during that time period.
You know, there were many problems that, you know, we had to take some responsibility for, but we did not. So I want to make clear to the people of both Afghanistan and Pakistan that we're looking for a long-term partnership.
ROBERTS: When it comes to Afghanistan's next-door neighbor, Pakistan, this was a big topic of discussion at the Senate Foreign Relations committee yesterday, Senator John Kerry said, quote, "What happens in Pakistan, will do more to determine the outcome in Afghanistan than any increase in troops or shift in strategy." How does this plan for Afghanistan that the President unveiled on Tuesday and you are now bringing to NATO address what's going on in Pakistan?
CLINTON: Well, it addresses it both directly and indirectly. One of the problems that both Pakistan and Afghanistan shares is its very porous border where terrorists go back and forth. They seek safe haven wherever they can find it on either side of the border. By emphasizing in our approach now that we're going to put in enough troops so that we can reverse the momentum, we will be working closely with Pakistan as they try to combat the terrorists who threaten them.
We also know that there is this syndicate of terror. We can't let Afghanistan become a failed state, because then Pakistan would be even under greater pressure than it is today from insurgents within its own borders. And we want to work with Pakistan to be able to root out, capture, and kill the Al Qaeda leadership and they're allies. So this really is a regional strategy. It is integrated to be more effective than what we've seen before.
ROBERTS: And you have, you have, on your recent trip to Pakistan, been critical of Pakistan's efforts to root out militants. You even went so far as to say, someone in the government must know the location of Al Qaeda leaders, like Bin Laden. Pakistan has been very good at leveraging militant groups for its own policy goals. I'm wondering, Madame Secretary, this morning, what do you say to the American people as to why we should be dumping billions of dollars into a country that has given safe harbor to militants who are actively trying to engage and kill our troops in Afghanistan? CLINTON: Well, we know that in the past, the Pakistani power structure has seen militant groups as being perhaps useful, but I think those days are waning. I believe that what has happened in this last year with the Pakistan military going into SWAT, going into South Waziristan, is the beginning, not the end of an ongoing effort to take on those militants who no longer can be separated, if you will, into who's for us and who's against us. The new kind of syndicate that exists with Al Qaeda at its head poses a danger to Pakistan's future.
ROBERTS: And yet, at the same time, Mullah Mohammad Omar seems to enjoy safe haven in the area around Queta. Osama Bin Laden is still somewhere at the Northwest provinces --
CLINTON: We're taking that, you know, very seriously. And we've had eight years, they never should have gotten out of Afghanistan in the first place, as we know from an important report done by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But if I could dial the clock back, I think everyone would see different decisions made. But where we are today is an Afghan/Pakistan awareness that these militants are threatening both. And we're going to see more action, I believe, from the Pakistanis to confront that.
ROBERTS: Now, the United States is conducting a secret war in Pakistan with these drone attacks. "The New York Times" carries a story today that that program has been not only reauthorized, but expanded. And I know that U.S. officials are very reluctant to talk about this, but that program, is it enough to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda in those frontier provinces in Pakistan?
CLINTON: Well, if there is such a secret program, of course I'm not going to talk about it. But I think what is important to know is the increasingly close cooperation between our two countries, Pakistan and the United States, against a common threat and a common enemy. And that wasn't -- that did not exist when President Obama took office. We had a very different attitude coming from Pakistan. But reality has really intruded in a very dangerous way. The people of Pakistan are united in this effort against these militant terrorists and I think we're seeing real progress.
ROBERTS: Can you fight a counter-terror war in an area like that by remote control?
CLINTON: Well, there are many elements to a war against terrorists. There is, as we're doing now in Afghanistan, a very direct confrontation. As we see in Pakistan, there is support, which the United States and others are providing to the Pakistani military and government. So there's many different tools in the tool box.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And, of course, another piece of this is that the United States would like to see if it could peel off lower level Taliban members, the so-called economic Taliban. They're actually getting paid to fight for the Taliban and bring them over to the other side. But what about the Taliban leadership? Mullah Mohammad Omar, in an interview yesterday, Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai said that he would be happy to meet with Mullah Mohammed Omar. This is something that the United States has resisted in the past.
I asked the Secretary of State about that. She said, well, if Hamid Karzai wants to meet with Omar, that would be fine, which is a bit of a shift in U.S. policy, although she did say that she didn't expect that anything would come of it. There is one more important issue that we talked to the Secretary of State about this morning, and that is the pending nuptials for her daughter, Chelsea Clinton. We'll get a mother's perspective on that coming up in just a few minutes. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, John. Thanks so much. And speaking of daughters, the senator out of Tennessee, Bob Corker's daughter, was carjacked. She's fine. Police were able to zero in on the suspects because of the OnStar tracking advice she had in her truck. We'll have more on that. 22 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The 22-year-old daughter of Tennessee Senator Bob Corker says she's a little sore this morning, but reportedly doing fine after quite a scare. Police say Julia Corker was carjacked on Wednesday night, roughed up a little bit, but within 60 minutes, police managed to catch the two suspects. And as Brian Todd tells us, it's an accessory in the young woman's SUV that helped them locate the suspect so quickly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good morning, John and Kiran. This story illustrates the capabilities of a system called OnStar. GM's been equipping its new vehicles with this for several years. Now it can kick in automatically or drivers can activate it by working these very simple buttons just underneath the rearview mirror. In this case, it helped bring a happy ending to that harrowing ordeal involving Senator Corker's daughter.
(voice-over): Wednesday evening in downtown Washington. The 22- year-old daughter of a U.S. Senator is carjacked, dragged from her vehicle, thrown to the pavement. Two suspects take off in her Chevy Tahoe. Police in Seedpleasant, Maryland tell us after only about an hour, they're notified of the vehicle's make, model, tag numbers and location. Shortly thereafter, about 7 miles from where the carjacking took place, the suspects are apprehended, parked at a Taco Bell. Tennessee Senator Bob Corker is grateful that his daughter, Julia, was not seriously hurt. He's also grateful for something else.
BOB CORKER, U.S. SENATOR (R) TENNESSEE: With OnStar, they were able to identify that they were actually not moving and the police were able to come up and apprehend them.
TODD: OnStar, the navigation and tracking system that GM installs in its new vehicles can pinpoint your car just about anywhere. We get a demonstration from Bob Kunkel, sales consultant at Koons GM of Tysons corner in Virginia. He shows us how just by hitting a button, OnStar connects you to a real person in a command center, who can give directions. The system can unlock your doors if a child's locked in.
And if your car is stolen, all you have to do is call the police, let them know your make and model, tell them you have OnStar, they'll look up the vehicle I.D. number and as Kunkle says, interrogate the vehicle without the knowledge of those driving it. That's essentially what happened with Senator Corker's daughter. You can activate the emergency system yourself, he says, but be careful.
TODD (on-camera): You say I shouldn't hit this little red button unless things are really hairy. Why?
BOB KUNKEL, KOONS GENERAL MOTORS SALES CONSULTANT: That little red button will send the cavalry. OnStar assumes that if you hit this button, it's a life-threatening situation and they're going to respond with police, fire, and rescue until somebody tells them otherwise. They're assuming somebody is going to die very shortly.
TODD (voice-over): A new feature with OnStar shown in a recent ad, the ability to disable the gas pedal by remote control and slow the car down. That stopped another carjacking in California recently. But Kunkle says OnStar is not the perfect fit for everyone.
KUNKEL: A number of my customers are concerned about big brother, so to speak, being able to watch the people in the car, listen surreptitiously to phone calls, things of this nature.
TODD (on-camera): But Kunkle says OnStar's been very up-front about not tracking motorists unless the drivers contact OnStar first for help. John and Kiran, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Brian Todd for us, amazing. Thank you. Well, still ahead, you met 18-year-old Will McClain yesterday. He was getting ready to say goodbye to his family and friends joining up with the army. Well, today, Jason Carroll joins us again as Will has his first 24 hours in the army. You won't want to miss that.
Also, the jobs numbers due to come out any moment. The unemployment rate expected to hold steady, but we're going to get some analysis on when we could see a turning point in the jobless rate in our country. It's 28 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We check our top stories now.
Pakistani official saying at least 40 people were killed and more than 80 injured when militants stormed a mosque outside the capital city of Islamabad. Police report several explosions were heard before gunman opened fire in the mosque. It happened during a prayer session. The mosque is located in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani Army base there, and it's known to be frequented by retired and active military members.
Plus, she says she is not a killer, but right now an Italian jury is deciding the fate of American student Amanda Knox. The case has been in court in Italy for nearly a year. Prosecutors say in 2007, Knox killed her housemate in a bloody, sadistic sex game involving her boyfriend and another man as well. The case is grabbing international headlines. A verdict could be handed down at any moment. Our Paula Newton is there, monitoring the trial. She'll bring us any breaking developments.
And Roman Polanski removed from a Zurich jail and is now under house arrest at his chalet in the Swiss Alps, fighting extradition to the United States. The 76-year-old Oscar winning director will not be able to leave his home until they decide whether or not to extradite him back to the U.S. He's facing sentencing for having sex with a 13- year-old girl 32 years ago.
Part two now of an "A.M." original series, "A Soldier's Story," tracking three military recruits from their final days as civilians through their deployment. And it's very fascinating.
Our Jason Carroll has been given unprecedented access by the Pentagon. And this morning we're continuing where we left off with Will McClain, a high school football star in California who heard a higher calling and answered it. We showed you his emotional farewell to his family yesterday.
Well, this morning, it is the start of basic training. And Jason Carroll is here with us this morning. One of the first things you'll notice, he looks very different in just those few days, right?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's all starting to sink in now for Will. That's very apparent, and you're about to see that as well.
Once registration is done and the oath has been taken, within hours new soldiers head out to military facilities where they will begin their training. In Will McClain's case, that is happening in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Tearful goodbyes as Will McClain's parents see their 18-year-old son leave home in Rosamond, California, for the first time.
BILL MCCLAIN, WILL MCCLAIN'S FATHER: She wasn't looking forward to this moment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody understand that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
CARROLL: As McClain takes his first steps towards joining the Army, questions about his future begin to weigh on him.
WILL MCCLAIN, U.S. ARMY RECRUIT: The major, I want to know -- I want to know where I end up stationed at. You know you've got a four- year contract, but it's going to be like, are these four years going to be fun and enjoyable or will it be like, I hate my job.
CARROLL: For now, those answers will have to wait. First, there's registration at a nearby Army processing station in Los Angeles.
MCCLAIN: I'm anxious but I'm kind of glad it's starting finally. One of those days you don't think will come and then, bam, it's here.
CARROLL: This is where Will McClain finally becomes Private McClain.
MCCLAIN: I will obey the orders of the president of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So help me god.
MCCLAIN: So help me god.
CARROLL: And 12 hours later, McClain is now more than 1,600 miles from home at an Army base in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri for several days of orientation.
(on camera): You look a little different. You shaved the goatee. How's it feel?
MCCLAIN: If feels weird. It's the first time in awhile. I expected them to come yelling on the bus, they did. I'm surprised I haven't had to do push-ups or anything yet. So that's a plus.
CARROLL: Well, it's coming.
MCCLAIN: I'm sure it is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you do not have an electronic device, do not take an envelope.
CARROLL (voice-over): After turning in personal items for safekeeping, Will and the other privates are issued gear. Will finds his bunk and turns in for a short night.
Four hours later...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go! Get up! Get up!
CARROLL: His morning begins on unfamiliar territory.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing? What is going on?!
CARROLL (on camera): I'm thinking of all these movies I've seen with the drill sergeant, and you pretty much fit that role.
SGT. JOSHUA SMITH, U.S. ARMY: I guess you would have to say that it's a type A personality.
CARROLL (voice-over): Will couldn't eat much in the three minutes he had to finish. That's not a problem for sergeant's eying his weight. He's 5'9", 228 pounds.
(on camera): You look at him, and your assessment is he's got a little weight to lose?
SGT. CHRYSTAL SCOTT, U.S. ARMY: Yes, sir.
CARROLL: You think you can get that off of him?
SCOTT: Yes sir. There are plenty of ways to get that off of him.
CARROLL (voice-over): There are just a few more tests, and then the regulation cut.
CARROLL (on camera): What'd you think?
MCCLAIN: That's short and I'm white.
CARROLL: But he still seems the same Will.
(on camera): Do you feel like a soldier yet?
MCCLAIN: Not yet. I haven't been through boot. I won't even claim to be a soldier until I'm done with boot.
CARROLL (voice-over): And that basic training comes next.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: He is in for it. And the training lasts for just about 13 weeks.
Here are some other numbers for you. There are about 200 others that got off that bus and joined Will that day. About 30,000 new recruits go through basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood every single year. So that sort of puts it in perspective for you.
And we're actually going to be leaving on Monday to check on Will. Of course we're going to be filing a report in terms of how he is doing and progressing in basic training.
CHETRY: It will be a couple weeks into basic training by the time he gets...
CARROLL: By that point it will be about two weeks into basic training. We'll see how he's doing on his weight and some other things.
And some of the other points we want to make with this series is that not only will we be showing you what's been happening, but some of these recruits will be allowed to blog as well about their experiences. We'll be giving them some cameras, they'll be turning the cameras onto themselves, and they'll be giving some personal diaries about how they're progressing as well.
CHETRY: All right, hopefully when you check in with him, the culture shock will have worn off a bit.
CARROLL: It may take awhile. It is a big change. But I think it's important for viewers given all of the resources that we're putting into these wars, I think it's important for viewers to see who the men and women are who are fighting these wars and what their experiences are like as they get to that point.
CHETRY: Absolutely, absolutely. It's amazing. And I'm glad that you are going to be able to give them cameras as well, because maybe you'll capture some unguarded moments.
Jason Carroll for us this morning, thank you so much.
We've been telling you all morning about the November jobs report. We just got the information now from the U.S. Labor Department. They tell us that the unemployment rate fell just slightly, two-tenths of a president to 10 percent for November. It's down, as we said, from October, which was 10.2 percent. That number was the highest rate since 1983.
But 10 percent, though, still double digits. What does it mean and when will the jobs market turn around? We're joined by Stephanie Elam and Gerri Willis. They're going to be breaking it down for us after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 41 minutes past the hour.
Just into CNN, the new jobs report is out for the month. It came out just moments ago. We have Gerri Willis and Stephanie Elam here, Minding your Business, breaking down the numbers for us this morning. Thanks to both of you.
So finally, let me start with Gerri to break down the actual numbers. A glimmer of good news on the jobs front.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: I think it's more than a glimmer. You've got to see the revisions here that are going on really to understand what the deal is.
First of all, the unemployment rate down significantly from 10.2 percent to 10 percent. It sounds like a small amount, it's actually very important.
And then the number of jobs lost, payrolls, only down in November 11,000. Now, compare that to where we thought we were in October, we thought we lost 190,000. The Labor Department today saying, hey, no, we're going to revise that number too. We're going to take it down to 111,000.
So we're seeing the Labor Department say, you know, it wasn't as bad as we thought in the fall. It was actually better. November's numbers look very good indeed.
Let's drill down a little bit and start talking about by sector what this looks like. Construction lost 27,000 jobs, and that is the smallest loss since August of '08. Manufacturing lost 41,000. Retail up 8,000. That's a seasonal affect.
Professional services, and this is confounding and surprising, gaining 86,000 jobs. Health care up as well pretty significantly. In some ways this is a continuation of the kinds of trends we've seen for some time.
But overall, I think you have to say, this is a very impressive report today. I think the markets will probably move on it. What it means is that since the beginning of the recession, we've lost 7.2 million jobs, these revisions today, not 7.3 million. And I've got to tell you, Kiran, I think people are going to be making some different decisions today given these numbers.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And I really think, just to jump in there, not only did we see the numbers revised, we also saw September's revised as well down, showing that less jobs were lost during that month. That's another good indicator.
Overall, analysts were expecting there to be a loss of 125,000. So for there to be a drop of just 11,000 jobs this month, that is huge. It's basically unchanged by the way the government takes a look at it. So it's really, really big information.
Of course, if you take a look at a discussion like this, you have to point out there's still 16 million people without jobs. That's still a large number. But definitely things are working and moving in the right direction. And this is really big news for those of us that follow business news all the time.
CHETRY: I understand what you're saying. But feeling the pain on Main Street, though, there are still six people applying for every one job, there are still people that aren't being counted because they gave up the job search. And so there are also bid indicators.
So as we look forward and we know that the president is embarking on this jobs summit, there are some ideas out there, trying to almost offer a cash for clunkers, incentivizing home improvements and green jobs. What are your thoughts on some of the initiatives that they're talking about that could help spur more job growth?
WILLIS: I think they're great ideas, but they're much harder to do than cash for clunkers. That's a pretty simple program to put into effect, and still it took us months and months to do it.
I think that you have to say, you have to ask yourself, is all this money we've been putting into the economy, maybe it's starting working and we're starting to see a payoff in jobs. That's something Stephanie suggested.
But at the end of the day, watch the market today. I think you're going to have an interesting reaction there. ELAM: See that response.
WILLIS: And it's just not us in business news who thinks these numbers are important. These numbers are going to be important on Main Street as well.
CHETRY: And what is the takeaway for people that are still unemployed, still looking for jobs?
ELAM: The quickest thing here is to just show that things are getting better. January we lost 741,000 jobs. To have lost just 11,000, things are much better.
CHETRY: Good point. I thank both of you, and again, for those of us just tuning in a couple moments ago, the new numbers out for unemployment shows that the unemployment rate actually fell two-tenths of a percent to be straight up 10 percent. And from both of our experts, that is a really, really big sign that things could be turning around.
Thanks to both of you.
We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Rob Marciano is breaking down the weekend weather picture for us. Some storms in the southwest moving east. Could we expect snow in some of these parts? Rob's going to tell us.
It's 45 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A shot of Dallas this morning. Cloudy, 33 degrees, but a little bit later it's going to get sunny, 43 degrees for a high. And we're looking at some of the winds of change blowing in weather systems from where they were, possibly to the northeast.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hello, Kiran. Temperatures yesterday for you guys in the 60s. It was blustery...
CHETRY: Yes.
MARCIANO: ... but nonetheless, record-breaking highs. Today, in the 40s. Twenty's back through the Ohio River Valley, Teens out across the plains. Nine right now in Denver. You see where the cold air is in Dallas right now at 31 degrees. And they've already seen a little bit of snow.
All right, we have a similar weather pattern shaping up for a storm that we had earlier in the week. Rain now developing across Florida; it will be a coastal or a Gulf Coast event and then a northeast event.
And we have snow already beginning to press across parts of central Texas, San Angelo, seeing some snow; Lubbock seeing some snow; Temperatures in Austin right now dropping into the mid 30's.
Some rain heading towards Houston. Right now, around 40 degrees but that will probably drop. You will see some wet snow, I think especially north of the I-10 corridor. A sliver of one to three inches possible, especially in spotty spots -- spotty spots -- and across grassy surfaces and then this will all stretch up towards the northeast, in through the Carolinas, where they'll see higher elevations, three, four, or maybe five inches of snow.
And this will all begin to ride the coastline as opposed to the Appalachians, which means, Kiran, it will more likely be rain turning quickly over to snow as opposed to being all rain and warm like you saw with this last storm.
So that means, also, that there may be, in some spots, some wet snow on the ground come Sunday morning. But it will start as a wet day for most of the major metropolitan cities come Saturday afternoon across the northeast. So I'm not sure you're going to be able to build a snowman just yet. You may have to work for it. But certainly the season is just starting as far as winter snowstorms are concerned for the northeast.
CHETRY: All right. Time to get ready. It's that time of year. What are you going to do?
MARCIANO: Yes, exactly. Enjoy it.
CHETRY: All right, Rob, have a great weekend thanks.
MARCIANO: You too.
CHETRY: We now head back out live to Brussels, Belgium, where John is this morning. Hi John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Kiran.
She is the Secretary of State of the most powerful nation in the world, but she's also a mom. And her daughter is getting married.
Coming up next, we talk to the Secretary of State about an issue of real importance in the Clinton household.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
And just to recap where we are so far today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to NATO headquarters looking for a new commitment of forces from NATO to go into Afghanistan in parallel with the 30,000 American troops that will be arriving over the next six months. And she got, perhaps, more than she bargained for when the Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that he has commitments, though not all publicly announced, of 7,000 troops, and there could be a couple of more thousand on the way as well. So she has come here to do her duty as the Secretary of State, but there is another issue that's weighing fairly heavily on her mind these days. And in our exclusive interview, I talked to her about that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: You're here at NATO looking for more troops, but on a personal level, there's been some big news this week as well. Your daughter and Marc Mezvinsky are engaged to be married. The wedding is set for sometime next summer. You must be the proud parent.
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I am. I am officially an MOTB, a mother of the bride. And I'm very excited about it.
ROBERTS: So how does it feel for, I mean, Chelsea has obviously flown the nest to some degree?
CLINTON: Yes.
ROBERTS: But to be out there and be married...
CLINTON: Well, you have a daughter I mean...
ROBERTS: I do.
CLINTON: And you know...
ROBERTS: And I'm hoping that she waits quite a while before she gets married. She's only 18 now.
CLINTON: Well, if she follows my daughter's example, she will. And I think that's all to the good depending upon each individual's decision. But no, we're very happy and very excited.
It's for me, particularly, an extraordinary moment, to see how happy my daughter is and to have such a wonderful young man who will become my son-in-law.
But it's daunting to be trying to plan a wedding -- Madeleine Albright called me the other night and she said, well, when I was Secretary of State and had not a minute to myself, I had to plan a wedding, so if you need any advice, just call me. And I said I'll be calling.
ROBERTS: So is this going to be the wedding of weddings, or will it be a smaller affair?
CLINTON: Well, we don't know. We're working on it, but it'll be a private affair, it'll be for her close friends and that's the way it should be.
ROBERTS: Madame Secretary, it's great to catch up with you, as always. It's been a while. I hope to do it more frequently in the future.
CLINTON: I would like that John. I've always enjoyed talking to you. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: There you have it, on top of everything else that she is dealing with, Kiran, she's got to plan a wedding as well.
CHETRY: It's so interesting, though, because there's already another woman who was been there and done that. Madeleine Albright when she was Secretary of State had to do the same thing.
I mean, I can't imagine, your day job is challenging enough, then planning a wedding for your daughter, or at least helping to plan it. Wow, that's a lot.
ROBERTS: And here's the thing. She was a mother, she was a First Lady, she raised a child in the White House, that child has gone on to do great things and now she's getting married, which means that maybe at some time in the not too distant future the Secretary of State will be a grandmother. What do you think?
CHETRY: That always takes from getting used to for any woman. I know that was strange for my mom to hear being called -- they never say grandma, anymore anyway. They come up with these other names like nanna or nan-nan so they don't feel as old. But I get it. I'll probably do the same thing.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. We'll all be there one day. That's it with the Secretary of State, interesting conversation with her.
We'll be back with more of the Most News in the Morning in a couple of minutes.
It's 55 minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: That will wrap it up for us for the moment from NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, but we'll be back in Europe again next week for a very special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
President Obama travels to Oslo, Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. We'll have special coverage that morning, including the ceremony in its entirety and the president's acceptance speech.
It's on AMERICAN MORNING next Thursday starting at 6:00 a.m. The special coverage of the Nobel Peace Prize award begins at 7:00 -- Kiran.
CHETRY: all right. Great job today John in Brussels. We look forward to having you back with us in the good old U.S. of A. on Monday.
Well, continue the conversation on today's stories, you can go to our blog, CNN.com/amfix. And thanks so much for being with us today. We'll see you back here again next week.
Meanwhile, the news continues "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins -- hey, Heidi.
