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Health Care Reform in the Senate; Climate Change Summit; Talking to Your Kids About Sex
Aired December 07, 2009 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now, a federal judge has denied an emergency delay in the execution of an Ohio inmate. Convicted murder Kenneth Byrose is scheduled to become the first person in the United States put to death with a single drug. Other appeals are possible before tomorrow's scheduled execution.
The lead singer of the rock band "Weezer" is in the hospital after a tour bus accident in upstate New York. The bus hit a patch of ice and went over a guard rail and landed in a ditch. Rivers Cuomo was taken to a hospital after complaining of rib pain. Another passenger was also injured.
A ceremony at Pearl Harbor today will mark the 68th anniversary of Japan's World War II attack. More than 2,200 sailors, Marines and soldiers were killed. A number of the dead are entombed in a submerged "USS Arizona."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: In words that only Barack Obama could utter, 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now, people are going to look back at what this congress did. And each time they see a child being able to go to the doctor when they're sick or hurt, seeing someone that just because they lose their job they don't lose their insurance, someone who gets diabetes doesn't mean a lifetime of not being able to get insurance. That's what this legislation's all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: All right. There you see Senate majority leader Harry Reid recounting a presidential pep talk on health care reform. But will the president's Sunday sermon to Democrats help keep the caucus together this week? That is the question.
CNN's Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill this morning where senators may address an abortion amendment today. Dana, good morning to you. Abortion funding continues to be a major sticking point for some key Democrats as well.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A major sticking point. This is going to be one of the most explosive and emotional debates that we will see on the Senate floor if it starts today. It is not entirely clear that is going to happen but it should happen at least early this week. And the issue is the underlying Senate Democratic bill, it doesn't have the strict restrictions on abortion than what passed the House.
And so you have anti-abortion Democrats like Ben Nelson who are going to offer an amendment to put those strict restrictions in this Senate bill. He says that if that doesn't happen, if that doesn't change, he is likely to not support the democrats' bill. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BEN NELSON (R), NEBRASKA: It's being defined and described as an abortion bill. But, actually, it is a bill to apply the Hyde Amendment, which is a long-standing policy that no federal funds, tax dollars, will be used to fund elective abortion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: So the way he sees it is that the amendment that he is putting up with some Republicans is, from his point of view, just extending existing law. And what existing law does say is that no federal funds can go for abortions. Well, the abortion rights Democrats, and there are a lot of them, of course, in the Democratic caucus, they say that's not true.
And in fact, the White House backed them up. They say that that particular measure, the measure which would essentially say that the public option, if there is one, would not be able to offer abortion, and even private insurers would be very limited in how and if they offer abortion in the new exchange. They say that does go beyond current law. So this is going to be a very big fight. Because on the one hand you have Ben Nelson saying that he is - it would be hard for him to support the health care bill without this.
And on the other hand, you have abortion rights Democrats saying exactly the opposite. So it is going to be quite interesting to watch.
COLLINS: Yes. As you mentioned, the public option, is there any sign of a compromise on that?
BASH: There is. There are signs. You know, all weekend long, of course, the Senate was in session. They were having debates on various issues on the floor. But the real action, Heidi, was going on behind the scenes. There was a group of 10 Democrats, the most liberal democrats and the most conservative Democrats, talking about a way to compromise on that very controversial issue that divides Democrats, the public option.
And one idea that we're told that has emerged from these talks is the possibility of instead of a government-run health care option, to have the office of personnel management administer some kind of insurance plans. This office of personnel management, by the way, they currently administer the health care options and health care benefits for federal employees.
So they're trying to figure out a way for this particular office to be able to administer something that on the one hand creates what the most liberal Democrats say - they're adamant about it and they say the public option is best for, which is creating competition.
But on the other hand avoids what conservative Democrats simply don't like about the public option. That is that it would be government run and government funded. So they're hoping that, perhaps, that is one option for a middle ground. But several of these Democrats coming out of these meetings which happened all weekend, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes.
BASH: They say that they're working on a potpourri of ideas. Maybe even a patchwork of several ideas that could add up to something that does again create competition for insurance companies with the ultimate goal of bringing costs down for many Americans.
COLLINS: Yes. And sounds to me like we are still right in the middle of it all with a long, long way to go.
BASH: You said it.
COLLINS: Dana Bash, sure do appreciate it. Capitol Hill this morning.
BASH: Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: Two weeks. 192 nations. It is the largest U.N. summit ever on climate change. But as it opens today in Denmark, some recently leaked e-mails are casting doubt on the global warming phenomenon. Our Jim Acosta explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With world leaders in Copenhagen hoping to cut a deal to curb carbon dioxide emissions, there are calls in Washington for hearings into a slew of stolen e- mails that global warming skeptics alleged show leading scientists cooking the books on climate change.
REP. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: They read more like scientific fascism than scientific process.
ACOSTA: It all started when a University of East Anglia in Britain discovered hackers has seized a file of more than 1,000 e- mails revealing researchers private discussions on global warming. Climate change deniers have zeroed in on this e-mail that references and American scientist tricked to "hide the decline."
That researcher Penn State's Michael Mann has since become the target of conservative critics who say he was trying to conceal a drop in global temperatures. A charge he denies.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ACOSTA: Across the blogosphere of skeptics, Climategate was born. The controversy could not have come at a better time for Republicans. Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe has fought Democrats on climate change legislation for months.
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: One cannot deny that the e- mails raised fundamental questions concerning among other things transparency and openness in science, especially taxpayer funded science.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You call it climate gate. I call it e-mail theft gate.
ACOSTA: Last week, Republicans fired off a letter to the EPA demanding a delay in new limits on greenhouse gas emissions until the agency can demonstrate underlying these regulatory decisions has not been compromised. The head of the EPA says the e-mails don't affect the scientific consensus on global warming.
LISA JACKSON, EPA ADMINISTRATOR: I have not heard anything that causes me to believe that that overwhelming consensus that climate change is happening and that man-made emissions are contributing to it have changed.
ACOSTA: GOP leaders are warning President Obama to reject any new climate change agreements in Copenhagen.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: We're not a dictatorship. The president can promise whatever he wants. The Congress has a role if there is some proposed treaty. The Senate will vote on it.
ACOSTA: But in an era of green jobs, Democrats say denying global warming is not just bad science, it's bad business.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: If we ignore it, put our head in the sand we're going to find countries like China leapfrogging us, moving forward. That's going to create jobs for China but not for America.
ACOSTA (on camera): Despite what these e-mails say many respected climate scientists say the larger data still supports the global warming theory. The controversy is not stopping the president from going to Copenhagen for the conclusion of the summit.
Environmentalists hope that's the sign Mr. Obama wants to be there in person when a climate agreement is unveiled to the world.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Well, this controversy already having an impact on the summit. I want to go live now to Copenhagen and our Phil Black who is standing by. So Phil, curious to know the mood there, certainly in light of these e-mails and this whole story, if you will.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Heidi, the conference is open. It is proceeding as planned. But certainly the e-mails are having an impact here. Because they are being discussed and they are being rebutted, if you like, or the allegations of some sort of conspiracy by climate scientists is being rebutted among scientists here at the very highest levels.
During the opening ceremony of today's conference, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, who is the head of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, which is the most senior climate change scientific body that produces all the evidence upon which countries negotiate these sort of things. He felt compelled to speak out, address this scandal and defend the science of climate change. Let's hear some of his comments now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJENDRA KUMAR PACHAURI, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE: Given the wide ranging nature of change that is likely to be taken, and some naturally find it inconvenient to accept its inevitability. The recent incident of stealing the e-mails of scientists at the University of East Anglia chose that some would go to the extent of carrying out illegal acts, perhaps in an attempt to discredit the IPCC. But the panel has a record of transparent and objective assessment stretching over 21 years, performed by tens of thousands of dedicated scientists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: If not for the Climategate scandal, it is very unlikely that Dr. Pachauri would have felt the need to come out in this forum of all places and defend the whole concept of climate science. This center behind me is filled with true believers on climate change.
And certainly the scientists who are here, they believed the whole climate gate situation is a distraction from what they're really trying to achieve. And they hope from here on it falls to the sidelines as the serious business of negotiating some sort of deal proceeds over the coming weeks. Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes but it seems like it seems it would be difficult to do, Phil, if some of the evidence or all of the evidence, the original evidence from years and years ago from this panel isn't around to support the idea that man is causing global warming. How do they move forward before really nailing that down?
BLACK: Well, the overwhelming feeling here is that this body of work, even if it is discredited or even if a question mark hangs over it, remains only one body of work by one scientific institution. The scientists here all say that many thousands of independent climate scientists around the world have helped form what is today considered the consensus among the majority of scientists on climate change.
They believe that that research stands in and of itself, despite the climate change controversy. From here on in, though, it now falls down to delegations in countries around the world, ministers and eventually the leaders of those countries to move forward to put this to one side. They all say they're going to do this and try and hammer out a deal on how the world will address this issue in the years ahead. Heidi -
COLLINS: All right. Phil Black, live for us in Copenhagen. Thanks so much, Phil.
Now, over the next two weeks CNN has the Copenhagen Climate Summit covered for you. Why it matters and what it means to you. Stay with us to find out. And be sure to watch tonight when Campbell Brown takes an in-depth look at the e-mail controversy that threatens to overshadow the summit. That will come your way at 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight.
And right now we are blogging about this. What are your thoughts on global warming now? How do you think it should be investigated? Just go to our blog and share your thoughts if you would. Cnn.com/heidi is the address. We'll read some of those responses about 20 minutes or so.
Reynolds Wolf standing by, wants to talk a little bit more about snow and wind and all kinds of stuff that is happening out west.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much.
The war in Afghanistan. A fight for towns and villages. But, more importantly, for the heart and mind of those who live there. We'll have an up close view of the strategy in action.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The U.S. war plan in Afghanistan and build-up of U.S. troops is already ramping up. Much of the debate now centers on the future. From Capitol Hill to Kabul, concerns are growing about President Obama's pledge to begin pulling troops out in about 18 months.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the U.S. and its allies must be patient if his country is unable to assume control by then. Over the weekend Mr. Karzai spoke to CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: The most important element in the new U.S. strategy on Afghanistan is concentration on protecting the population. And doubling economic assistance to Afghanistan. And also concentrating on the regional aspect of the problem. So as far as Afghanistan is concerned, Afghanistan welcomes this new strategy. And Afghanistan will do all it can to be a good partner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: President Karzai says he is optimistic that Afghanistan will be able to handle most of the security burden in two years.
Now, later today President Obama is scheduled to meet with his top commander in Afghanistan. The White House meeting with General Stanley McChrystal is expected to focus on the strategy to fight the insurgency and whether it can successfully win over the Afghan people. Well that battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people relies more on diplomacy than fire power, of course.
CNN's Frederick Pleitgen shows us the mission up close. He spent time with U.S. troops and has a unique view of what the strategy looks like on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As America moves to put 30,000 additional troops into Afghanistan to take the fight to the Taliban, Captain Brandon Anderson says when he rolls out of his base in Zabul province, he doesn't want to fire a single shot.
Taliban fighters fired rockets on an American base from this village. Anderson says the villagers were afraid he'd shoot back.
CAPT. BRANDON ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY: That's what the insurgents said you'd do. They said you'd drop bombs. Are you going to do that? And I said, no. This is my battle space. And we're precise. And we're disciplined in the use of force so we'll target the insurgents but we're here to keep you safe.
PLEITGEN: This is the essence of the counterinsurgency strategy laid out by the commanding general for Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal.
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: We have young sergeants, young officers who have been on the ground and dealt with people and understand counterinsurgency and understand that at the end of the day its relationships and its relationships with people.
PLEITGEN: It also means offensives against the Taliban. Only a few days ago the Marines launched a major operation in Helmand province, a stronghold of the insurgency. Most of the additional soldiers will held to southern Afghanistan where more than 34,000 NATO troops are already on the ground. British General Nick Carter commands this region.
MAJ. GEN. NICK CARTER, BRITISH FORCES: This is about creating momentum. It's about regaining the initiative from the Taliban. Counterinsurgency is ultimately about winning an argument. They're about persuading the people that the forces of the government are better supporting than those of the opposition.
PLEITGEN: Back in the village, Captain Anderson is having trouble winning that argument. The village elder refuses to be shown on TV for a simple reason.
(on camera): Do you think that the Afghan Army, the Afghan police and the Americans can protect you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator): The Taliban spent 10 minutes in this village. They can kill one person a second. Can you come here that fast?
MCCHRYSTAL: We don't talk about the number of insurgents that we've killed. Because it's not about how many you've killed. It's about preventing them having access to the population.
We'll work together to help you stay safer.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): The president is putting his faith in General McChrystal's strategy, hoping the U.S. and its allies can win over frightened Afghans like the ones in this village.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kabul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: I want to get to our top stories now.
A California company is recalling nearly 23,000 pounds of beef because of a possible link to Salmonella. The Beef Packers Incorporated in Fresno produced that meat on September 23rd. Most of the beef was sent to a distribution center in Arizona and sold under different labels. It was sold in Arizona and New Mexico. The company is encouraging people to check at their local stores now to see if they may have bought any of the recalled beef.
A bill to legalize same-sex marriage up for debate in New Jersey today. And more protests are expected at the state house after demonstrations this weekend. Today is just the first step. A state Senate judiciary committee will review the bill. It's expected to send it to the full state Senate later on this week.
Keeping your kids safe while they're on Facebook. The social networking site says its partnering with five different media and internet watchdog groups. They're forming an advisory panel to suggest new safety measure. This comes less than one week after Facebook added new privacy features.
We may think the time has come to talk about your kids and sex. But a new study suggests you may be too late.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: OK. So this is a big one. When is the right time to talk to your kids about sex? A new study suggests many parents are bringing it up too late after their children have already had sex.
CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, having an eight-year-old, I can barely even talk about this. Joining us now with some more details of this study. OK. Tell us first about the study and then we'll go from there.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the study, they polled kids. And they talked to parents and they tried to figure out when are parents having this discussion. And so what they found out is that many parents are having a discussion about sex too late. Meaning after the child has had sex, which is too late.
So let's take a look at the major finding from this study. What they found is that 40 percent of kids were having sex without having first spoken to their parents about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases. Obviously, two topics that you want to cover before your child starts having sex.
COLLINS: But is there any information about whether or not they're having sex without using birth control.
COHEN: That's a good question. I don't think they looked at that. What they found is that they were having sex without having had this discussion with their parents. Now maybe they had had the discussion in sex-ed class. Maybe they'd had the discussion other places. But many studies show that the best place for kids to get information is from their parents. They take it in better. They listen to it better.
COLLINS: Yes. I'm so hesitating on asking this next question. But it's important to know, on average, according to this study, how early are kids having sex?
COHEN: It is scary. As a parent, you are not going to like the answer, Heidi. No parent likes this answer. You got to know. You have to know. According to the authors of this study, kids, one-third of all ninth graders are having sexual intercourse. That's one-third of ninth graders. Ninth graders are about 14, 15 years old. And half of tenth graders have already had sexual intercourse. So in other words, if you wait until they're, like, 15 to have a discussion about having sex, it's too late.
COLLINS: And so, if you home school your child and lock them in the closet for every other portion of the day, that helps, or there's nothing in the study about that?
COHEN: I haven't seen a locking in the closet study. But if I do, I'll let you know.
COLLINS: Oh, lord. So then I guess the question would be if parents have the sex talk, does it even work or would we see these numbers be different?
COHEN: Well, we asked the researchers when parents do it right and they have that sex talk, does it mean that kids are delaying having sex? And they said, you know, we didn't look at that. We can't answer it. But what they do know is that when parents have that sex discussion with their kids, their kids are more likely to use birth control when they do have sex and are more likely to have safe sex, in other words sex where they're preventing sexually transmitted diseases.
So if you have that talk with your kid, it may or may not delay sex, I supposed it depends on what message you give them but it will increase the chances that they'll have safe sex and use birth control.
COLLINS: All right. Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: It's not easy.
COLLINS: Not easy at all. All right. We'll talk again. Thank you. Iran's students day had little to do with the current youth population and a lot to do with the regime many of those young people resent. Why so many are so angry during a national observance there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: Protests breaking out on Iran's Students' Day, which is supposed to be a day of national pride there. We'll get the very latest from Reza Sayah, who's standing by live in Islamabad, Pakistan with more on this. So, Reza, tell us again, what Students' Day is and what these protests are really all about.
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, this is National Students Day in Iran. It's a huge calendar day in Iran. It's the anniversary of the death of three Iranian students killed by Iranian security forces way back in 1953. The students were engaged in anti-American protests. Like they've done in the past, the opposition movement in Iran targeted this day where the government had approved public events and try to disrupt and hijack it.
The protest today based on witness accounts, not as large as what we've seen in the past. But based on new video coming into CNN coming in on social networking sites, the crowds were significant and certainly disrupted some of these events. One of the new pieces of video into CNN shows crowds and protesters breaking open a gate in what appears to be a university. Crowds also chanting in the video. CNN cannot independently verify where this video is shot, but most of the protests, at least in Tehran today, were concentrated in and around Tehran University, where witnesses say hundreds of people gathered inside and pockets of crowds gathered outside, chanting anti- government slogans.
Among the chants, death to the dictator, death to Khameini, who is Iran's supreme leader. How intense have these protests become among the chants today? The chants of our leader is a murder, his authority has expired. Now, this is a chant you couldn't even imagine hearing one year ago. But you heard it today.
Also, reports of clashes in Revolution Square and outside of Tehran University. Security forces are using gunshots in the air and tear gas to disperse the crowd. PressTV, Iran's English-language state-funded TV, did cover the events. But they said it was a small crowd of protesters trying to disrupt the events. According to PressTV security forces foiled their attempt, Heidi.
COLLINS: The opposition movement, though, remind us where it is now and whether or not it's actually losing some steam.
SAYAH: Well, based on what we saw today, it's not losing some steam. Despite a vicious crackdown by the Iranian government and its hard-line leaders, these opposition supporters continue to come out and target major anniversary days.
I think the key, according to analysts, is what type of guidance, what type of leadership, they're going to have from the Mir Hossein Mousavi, the opposition leader. Another opposition leader (INAUDIBLE) and interesting, just in to CNN, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a human rights group, Caroubi (ph) and Mir Hossein Mousavi could be under house arrest. How that will impact this opposition movement will remain to be seen.
One of the chants we heard and one of the videos posted on YouTube were protesters saying look, Mir Hossein Mousavi is just an excuse. We're doing this because we want change. Clearly, this is an opposition movement that's alive. Where this goes from here, what it evolves into remains to be seen, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Reza Sayah. Thanks so much for the update. We'll continue to watch the story in Iran. Thanks so much.
Turning to health care reform and the progress of a Democratic bill in the Senate. Here's what we know. Senators are expected to take up an anti-abortion funding amendment today. The amendment is similar to one included in the final House bill. It would ban federally subsidized health insurance plans from covering most abortions, even if the procedures were paid with the customer's premiums. Voting on the amendment is not expected until tomorrow at the earliest.
Reynolds Wolf joining us now from the Severe Weather Center. Talking about high-wind warnings, California. Other parts of the country, too, we're talking about snow. All kinds of winter, winter everywhere.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Yes. All right. We'll be watching closely. Reynolds, thank you.
Remember the uproar over the government's $700 billion bailout plan that was put in place at the height of the financial crisis? It turns out the government only used a fraction of that money, and it's getting most of it back now. Felicia Taylor at the New York Stock Exchange with more on that. Good morning to you once again, Felicia.
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. This is good news. New estimates show the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, T.A.R.P., is going to cost taxpayers $200 billion less than previously estimated. That's according to an official at the Treasury Department.
The government now says it has spent less money and gotten more money back than expected. All good signs that the program really did work and helped to stabilize the banking system.
Since the spring, banks have been eager to pay back their bailout money. To date, about a dozen have actually accomplished it. The government has gotten back more than $70 billion, including about $10 billion in interest. Not a bad investment for the government.
And more could be on the way. Bank of America says it plans to pay back its $45 billion sometime this month. CitiGroup could be on track to repay the $20 billion that it received. In all, Treasury Department estimates repayments will hit $175 billion by the end of next year. Everything is on track and even faster than everybody expected. Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. So what is the government going to do, then, with the money?
TAYLOR: Haha. This is the big question.
COLLINS: Yes.
TAYLOR: President Obama scheduled to give a speech Tuesday on the economy. In it, it's possible that he'll propose using that money for a new jobs bill. Something that he's been talking about, as you well know, especially last week with this unemployment now at 10 percent. The government is under pressure to actually create jobs. It's got to be in the private sector as well as the public sector.
Republicans are opposed to using the money for a jobs bill, however. Instead, they say the money should be used to pay down the $1.3 trillion budget deficit.
So, let's get a quick check of the Big Board here at the New York Stock Exchange. We did think we were going to be in the red for most of the day. Frankly, in ahead of the Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's speech, stocks have actually turned higher. Right now the Dow up 29 points. The S&P up fractionally as is the NASDAQ. All in all, a pretty good day so far on a Monday. Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes, all right. We will be watching very closely. Thank you, Felicia.
Want to take a moment to check our top stories now. If you bought San Antonio Bay-harvested oysters on or after November 16th, the government wants you to throw them out. The FDA says about a dozen cases of highly contagious virus linked to the oysters have been reported in the Carolinas. The FDA has told restaurant managers and grocers not to sell the oysters.
Russian authorities say five suspects will face charges today in a nightclub fire. At least 112 people died in Friday night's fire in the city of Perm. The suspects include the club's co-owner and a businessman who supplied and organized fireworks. Even though investigators think fireworks probably caused the fire, they're also looking at other possibilities. Russia is observing a day of national mourning today.
A summit on climate change. Going green. We'll tell you why what's going on in Copenhagen matters to us right here in the United States.
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COLLINS: That global climate summit has convened in Copenhagen, Denmark. Here's what we know about the gathering. It began amid controversy surrounding a series of e-mails questioning the extent of climate change. The talks aim to strike a deal to replace the Kyoto protocol for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Though the U.S. never ratified that pact, 200 nations did. Representatives from 192 countries are attending the conference, which wraps up on December 18th.
So, that summit kicking off in Copenhagen today. Now, this is as the White House intensifies its focus on creating green jobs. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow is joining us live from New York with more on this.
Poppy, good morning to you. Why does what's happening in Copenhagen now matter for the average American? A lot of controversy surrounding this whole thing.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes. A lot of controversy as this gets under way, Heidi. I mean, as everyone knows and as you said, the Kyoto protocol which regulations global greenhouse emissions, the United States never ratified it. They signed it but never put it into action.
Three things really to focus on here for Americans. Environment, what happens to the environment with these emissions. What about jobs? Green jobs. And also the costs of energy.
Now, here are the three main objectives lawmakers are focusing on and environmentalists as well as those that disagree with them. First of all, talking about how much each individual nation aims to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, how they're going to do that, and, finally, how much money some of the more developed nations like the United States, for example, is going to give the developing nations in order to push them to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.
Now, the president has made some significant pledges. Let's take a look at what the United States is trying to do. Trying to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. When you look at the European Union, a little bit more aggressive here. Trying to cut emissions by 20 percent from those 1990 levels. Trying to do that by 2020.
The big issue here, Heidi, is developing nations. What do you do with China and India? Their economies are growing at a rapid pace. That means they're emitting more and more carbon. How do you get them on board? That's a major sticking point that will be discussed in Copenhagen. Steve Cochran is the director of the Environmental Defense Fund's National Climate Campaign. We talked to him about this. Here's his take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE COCHRAN, DIRECTOR, ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND NAT'L CLIMATE CAMPAIGN: These things go back and forth. This is a dance. This is a global problem. People who say it's global and needs global solutions, they're right.
China's going to need to move forward. India's going to need to move forward. Other countries -- it's critical that we all do this together.
A couple reasons I think that are really important. Mainly this is about economics. There is a great opportunity for the U.S. to move forward, to get ourselves off of foreign oil. To get ourselves much more aligned with where the new jobs are going to come from, which are new energy sources, new energy opportunities.
And how we go forward with the rest of the world is going to fundamentally make that choice. If we do it right, we can actually lead the world with technologies and innovations and actually produce the jobs here at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: All right, Heidi. Jobs here at home. That's what the president will be focusing on, obviously, when he goes there as well. Still, a lot of talk ahead in the next two weeks. A lot of questions, Heidi, about the action that is actually going to come out of this. Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. President Obama, we know, is going to go to the summit. But only for a day, right? Is that going to have some sort of impact as far as his presence goes?
HARLOW: Well, it's interesting. The timing here has changed, Heidi. The president will only be there for about a day. But he's going at the end of the summit. He's going on December 18th. It wraps up on the 19th.
One environmentalist I spoke with this morning, Howard Gould (ph), said this is really significant because the president is going at the end of the summit. He's saying, "I'm not going out of courtesy. I'm going when the big decision makers are going to be holding their meetings." That's when the policymakers get together. And the president will be there then, signaling, "Listen, the United States wants to be an integral part of these talks."
We'll see if that pans out. That's what I'm hearing. Domestically, the United States has not been able to get our own climate change legislation through Congress. The House passed a bill this summer. The Senate is yet to do so. So, a lot of outstanding questions.
You can see more. It's our top story today as Copenhagen gets under way right there on CNNMoney. Heidi.
COLLINS: OK. A lot to talk about here, obviously, Poppy. CNNmoney.com is following the "Energy Fix" story from every angle, so make sure everyone logs on to our Web site for all of the very latest.
That brings us to our blog. We've been asking you today a little bit more about what you think about climate change and global warming, and has your opinion changed at all since this e-mail controversy that we been telling you about, where scientists allegedly cooked the books? We want to go ahead and share some of those responses with you. Gene writes this. "It hasn't changed my view, but it casts doubt on a lot of the research. It not only involves the work of these scientists but others whose conclusions are based on data from this institute."
Jason writes, "Skeptics will find any reason to deny climate change. The fact remains that since the Industrial Revolution, where we started emitting CO2, earth has been warming faster."
Tony writes, "I'm a bit of a fence sitter on climate warming, but given the scale of government corruption, I take the e-mail leak seriously as a possible cover-up. I would say climate warming is a hoax."
Remember, we always want to hear from you. Just go ahead and log on to CNN.com/heidi to share your comments.
The war in Afghanistan, front and center at the White House today. We'll take a look at President Obama's meeting with his top commander there in a moment.
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COLLINS: Quickly want to get this information to you just as we're getting it here in the CNN NEWSROOM regarding the troop deployment to Afghanistan that President Obama announced. A total of 30,000 troops will be headed into Afghanistan.
We are just now learning that apparently there will be an announcement a little bit later today about the first of that deployment. We are understanding that 16,000 additional forces will be headed to Afghanistan very, very soon. About 1,500 Marines coming from Camp Lejeune. That apparently will happen a little bit later this month. And several other forces headed in as well in early spring.
The announcement actually already happened, forgive me, in the gaggle that happens in Washington every day, nearly.
We want to talk a little more about this. Also today, President Obama is set to meet with his top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal. He's also going to be meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Carl Eikenberry.
So here with a look at all of that, CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. So, Suzanne, there's going to be a lot talked about here, I imagine. What are the headlines? What are they mainly going to be talking about?
SUZANNE MALMEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, as you mentioned before, obviously they're going to be talking about the troops and how quickly they're going to be deployed. One of the things, one of the reasons why the president is meeting with ambassador Eikenberry as well as General McChrystal is that there's a two-fold approach here. They have to sell this Afghan strategy to the American people. Both of those individuals are going to be going before Congress tomorrow to testify, so the president clearly involved in discussions with them. But he also has to implement his strategy. That is happening, fast and furious, as you had noted with those quick troop deployments.
What we heard over the weekend is a president who is clearly trying to put forward a unified message from all the key players of his war council. We saw Secretaries (sic) Clinton, Secretary Gates, National Security Adviser Admiral (sic) Jim Jones, all of them on the talk shows, speaking different words, using different words, but at the same time trying to convey this message that July 2011 is when you'll start to see the troops decline, the drawdown.
But they are not giving, kind of a mission accomplished deadline for all of this to be wrapped up. They want to give the president some wiggle room, some negotiations in terms of what is taking place on the ground. Here's how they put it, Heidi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. JAMES JONES (RET.), U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It will be predicated on exactly how much progress we're making.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: What we have is a specific date on which we will begin transferring responsibility for security, district by district, province by province in Afghanistan to the Afghans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Heidi, that's General Jim Jones. I want to correct that. But clearly the intent of the administration is to put out those top players, those key players, and to reaffirm that this is a mission that is going to be fast and furious. But at the same time, not give the American people kind of this false perspective that this is going to be wrapped up so quickly that there's some sort of end date here. That is not necessarily the case.
They want this thing to play out and see what happens on the ground. It is very similar, Heidi, as we know, for President Bush, his whole approach to getting out of Iraq.
COLLINS: Absolutely. All right. We'll be watching all of this closely today, as you can imagine. Our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, thank you.
We're going to take a quick break here. Back in the CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.
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COLLINS: Quickly want to take a moment to show you the flag at half-staff there, outside of the Capitol today. Washington, D.C. In honor of the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day. A ceremony at Pearl Harbor will mark the 68th anniversary of Japan's World War II attack. More than 2,200 sailors, Marines and soldiers were killed. A number of the dead are entombed in the submerged USS Arizona.
I'm Heidi Collins. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Tony Harris.
