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Setbacks in the Gulf; McChrystal Relieved of Command; Petraeus to Succeed McChrystal

Aired June 23, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Tony. Tony, Tony, time served. Thank you very much. And hello to you all. Top of the hour here now.

This is a big hour and you need to stick with us. A lot is going on. We could know the fate of the man who is still at this moment in charge of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. And we also are getting an update about what's happening in the Gulf, on this day 65 of the Gulf oil disaster.

Let me get you caught up. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Ali Velshi.

But, first and foremost, let me tell you what we're expecting from the White House in just a short time. Expecting the president of the United States to come out at the bottom of the hour, so about 30 minutes from now, and possibly tell us all the fate of General Stanley McChrystal.

McChrystal, of course, has been taken to task because of an interview he gave with "Rolling Stone" magazine -- that magazine, which hasn't actually hit the shelves yet, a lot of it has been leaked, the president has sent in -- many of us have been able to read it online, at least. But in this article, some disparaging remarks from McChrystal and also from many of his inner circle about the administration and also some of the president's inner circle.

But a lot of people don't think McChrystal will be able to hold on to his job. We need to let you know that the two men met face-to- face, McChrystal was called back from the battlefield in Afghanistan, called back to the White House, met with the president a little earlier today. That meeting has taken place, and now, we are expecting to hear from the president at the bottom of the hour. When that happens, we will take you there, live.

But, in fact, a lot of people do not believe General McChrystal, the man in charge of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, might be out of a job here this afternoon. And we could know sometime at the bottom of the hour.

We do have all of our CNN resources standing by to talk about this story. We certainly are covering it from the Pentagon and certainly from our D.C. bureau, which, of course, the political team in it television will be along to tell you about and talk to us about it, and talk us through it, through the afternoon, the next couple of hours.

Also, another very big story and a big update we got a short time ago. Of course, it's day 65 -- we're never too far away from this story -- day 65 now of this Gulf oil disaster. Yesterday -- just yesterday -- we were told that it was the most oil they had collected since they put the containment cap on. They were siphoning up oil, of course, to a ship. The most it collected was yesterday.

Well, today, the news we just got a short time ago is that the containment cap is now off. Take a look at that picture. That oil is now leaking into the Gulf with nothing stopping it once again. Containment cap is off. We'll explain why in just a moment.

But another piece of news we got today was, in fact, that two people -- two workers who were a part of this disaster relief -- this disaster response -- have died.

Now, we got this update -- all this information, just a short time ago to the man who was in charge of the response effort, Admiral Thad Allen. Take a listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: On a more somber note, we had two deaths reported on people who are involved in this response earlier today. One was an accident regarding a swimming pool -- swimming event. And the other one was a vessel of opportunity operator in Gulf Shores, Mississippi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families. We know this is a devastating thing to happen, and we understand the Gulf Shore's police department is following up on the death of the vessel of opportunity operator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: You hear there are not a lot of details from Admiral Allen.

Let's bring in our Chris Lawrence, who can possibly give us more details about what's going on right now.

Chris, hello to you -- and really some astonishing news on a couple fronts: one, the fact of the two deaths, but also the fact that the containment cap is not on. And we want to handle both of those things.

Let's go first with just the pictures we're seeing with oil going into the Gulf, with nothing stopping it. Why has the cap been removed?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it all started, T.J., early this morning, just before 9:00 this morning, they noticed some liquid, some liquid discharge, coming through there. And so, they took the containment cap off to check that liquid. And that is what is happening right now. They are looking to see if this is -- if that liquid contains hydrates. These are sort of ice-like crystals that have caused a lot of problems down here with trying to cap the well.

You think, well, what can crystals -- how much harm can they cause? Well, they're lighter than water. So, one, they can make the dome buoyant. Two, they can mass up on the top of the dome and really block some of that oil from getting to the ship that's capturing it on the surface.

So, a big problem there. They're looking at the liquid now. If there are no hydrates, they say they should be able to start the process of putting the cap back on. If there are hydrates, Admiral Thad Allen is saying that's going to take quite a bit longer.

The difference, T.J., though, with this time versus last time is that just about a week ago, if they started a second containment system, another sort of valve going directly into that blowout preventer, shooting oil up to a second ship. So at this appointment, you're not totally dependent on this one cap system.

However, you made a great point earlier, talking about how much they had captured. This one system that now the cap is off, just yesterday, it had captured 3/4 million gallons of oil -- just to give you an idea how much is coming out now that the cap is off.

HOLMES: Yes. And let's show -- go back to at that live picture, and let our viewers see this live picture again of the oil coming out. That's what's happening live right now today.

Now, for our viewers, I want to switch and show you what was happening when the cap was actually on. You'll notice that the two pictures are certainly different. We'll put up the best juxtaposition as we can.

You see the cap there itself. But there are pictures that you can see still some oil leaking out. But the picture you're seeing today is certainly a different picture from what so many of our viewers had gotten used to.

One other thing, Chris, before I let you go -- tell us, I guess not a whole lot of details, but what have we been able to gather about the death, two people killed who are a part of the Gulf disaster response?

LAWRENCE: Yes, not a lot of information right now. We're still trying to determine if these deaths were directly related to them working on this containment operation, or if they were working on the containment operation, and the deaths had nothing to do with their actual work.

We know one occurred at a swimming pool, Admiral Thad Allen saying it was an accident. We are hearing some reports that this second death may have been a gunshot wound. So still checking on that one, as well.

HOLMES: All right. Chris, a day of, quite frankly, more bad news that a lot of people are getting used to it with this -- with this whole Gulf oil disaster. Chris Lawrence for us -- we appreciate you. Thank you so much.

And, again, our other big story of the day, something we're certainly keeping an eye on, we have been keeping an eye on, and we may know, finally, the fate of General Stanley McChrystal here in just about 20, 25 minutes, when the president is expected to come out, in fact, and let us know what is going to happen to the man that was in charge of the war in Afghanistan. He's in charge of U.S. and NATO forces there.

Let's take you back a little bit and give you a reminder of exactly what has been happening here. First of all, General McChrystal was called from Afghanistan, brought off the battlefield, and brought to the White House. He got this there just a little while ago for his one-on-one meeting with the president. This was just a little bit ago. We do have some video showing you him getting into and also leaving.

There was a short meeting, only about 20 to 30 minutes that he had a one-on-one, face-to-face with the president. The president said that was necessary before he made any decisions about what would happen to him.

Now, you may remember, this whole thing got started, and the video you're looking at right now -- but this all started because of this "Rolling Stone" magazine article. The "Rolling Stone" magazine hasn't hit shelves yet, but still, the White House got advance copies, other people were able to see it ahead of time, and essentially, some disparaging remarks from McChrystal and also his inner circle talking about the president and essentially the president's inner circle. So that was what started this whole thing, got McChrystal called back to the White House.

Now, McChrystal -- let's see you a little bit. Let me give you a few here -- I'm telling you about the article but let me give you a couple details about it to give you some of the quotes here. I'll go to one here, one that stood out as unflattering, if you will, reading it directly. And it says, quote, "'It was a 10-minute photo-op,' says an adviser to McChrystal. 'Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run this blank war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The boss was pretty disappointed.'"

That quote is referring to McChrystal's first one-on-one meeting he had with the president back in May of 2009.

Let's go through and show you some more now of what came out of this article -- about the vice president. This quote says that this -- rehearsing answers to questions about Biden, McChrystal reportedly quipped, "Biden, who's that?"

Another, this one is talking about the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry. This one reportedly said that he was covering his flank for the history books. This was in reference to Eikenberry putting out some information, thought that it was leaked out there to cover his butt, if you will.

U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke, he also was a target of this article, if you will. And according to this, "He was a wounded animal with whom McChrystal reserved some special skepticism."

Also, another person, Jim Jones, a national security adviser -- he's a retired four-star marine general, and he was reportedly called a "clown" by an aide to McChrystal, who was stuck in 1985.

Again there, just giving you an idea of some of the people who were targets, if you will, of this article of some of the inner circle McChrystal -- some of the inner circle of McChrystal's we're talking about. This is what got him in trouble all together.

Now, the author of this particular "Rolling Stone" magazine article, his name is Michael Hastings. We caught up with him yesterday to ask him if he thought it was going to all come to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HASTINGS, ROLLING STONE: I think they became aware that some of the things they had said to me over that time perhaps were inopportune, and they may have wished that they hadn't had said them and said them as often. But I think it's also clear, you know, I -- I had a tape recorder and a notepad in my hand most of the time. So, certainly, I got word from the staff before the story was published that there was some serious concern about parts of the story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, we don't know yet exactly what's going to happen to General McChrystal. As I look up, it's 10 past the top of the hour, the president is expected to come out at the bottom of the hour and let us know the fate of General McChrystal. He could possibly keep his job, or the president could, of course, get rid of him. A lot of people already looking ahead to see what if McChrystal goes in the middle of a war, who could step in and take his place.

Let me share with you some names that are out there, and those who, quite frankly, fall right under immediately in some regards to General McChrystal, so they could naturally possibly fill into that role.

One is Lieutenant General David Rodriguez. That's McChrystal's top deputy.

Another is General Martin Dempsey. He's the head of Army Training and Doctrine Command.

Another is Lieutenant General William Caldwell. He's the head of NATO training mission in Afghanistan.

And also, the Marine General James Mattis. He's head of U.S. Joint Forces Command.

So, there you go, a lot of names. You got the background, you know the article, you know the quotes, and you know the set-up for today that's going to lead us to the next 20 minutes, bottom of the hour.

Let's go ahead and bring in our -- whoa. We're not going to them yet. But we do have our folks standing by. I got it. We got them standing by.

Our Barbara Starr is standing by. We have our best political team, which includes Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, trying to see exactly what the president is going to do with this general.

Quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Live picture here of what we are standing by for, Rose Garden in the White House.

Expecting the president to come out at the bottom of the hour -- so just about 15 minutes from now and give us an update, let us know how he's going to handle his general -- his general being General Stanley McChrystal, who is in charge of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, who, of course, after that "Rolling Stone" article, after some disparaging remarks made about the administration and the president, how he is going to now be treated. If it he is going to be essentially kicked out -- kicked out of his job.

So the president might need to replace him, or he could keep him. Right now, no one really knows -- a lot of speculation. When that happens, we will take you there live.

But a lot of people talking about exactly that what will happen to the relationship between the military and the president if he does, in fact, get rid of this four-star general.

Our Barbara Starr is keeping an eye on things for us at the Pentagon.

Barbara, it has been an interesting past 24 hours or so. We have no idea at this point. I know that the city famous for leaks but it doesn't seem like we know much about what the president is going to do just yet. What are you hearing around the Pentagon?

Oh, go ahead.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: No, I've got to tell you, these last few minutes before the president comes out are truly the definition of pins and needles here at the Pentagon. Even the press corps pretty much, you know, working the phones, trying to see what they can find out. Everybody is waiting to see what the president announces.

The most telling thing, of course, is that General McChrystal left the White House after the meeting with President Obama, and did not return to the White House. I can tell you, he is at this hour with many of his senior staff members. General McChrystal -- I think General McChrystal probably is at this hour well aware of what the president's decision is. There's every reason to believe General McChrystal has been informed and knows what's going on. The rest of the country, the rest of the government is, obviously, to be informed shortly by President Obama.

If -- if this comes to a thumb's down for General McChrystal, the questions that will rapidly emerge is who will take over. We cannot speculate on that at this point because we don't know if that's the answer and where the war goes from here. Don't look for a strategy change, but look for the president and the national security team to try and get this war on track and moving as fast as they can -- T.J.

HOLMES: And, Barbara, you said that the -- that General McChrystal is with some of his senior staff. Do we have any idea what exactly he's up to? Is he with his senior staff doing regular business, if you will, or is he, right now, just hunkered down and in hiding almost?

STARR: You know, I don't think I can speculate on that at the moment. I think it's going to depend on what the president has to say to be able to characterize General McChrystal's mood at this hour. And what he may be up to.

To put it very delicately, his team had expected this morning that they would know what was happening when General McChrystal left the meeting with the president. There was every reason to believe his -- the people around him thought that the president would inform General McChrystal, and General McChrystal would be well aware of what would happen upon leaving the White House.

So, this is -- you know, this is those very delicate last moments when Washington, you know, is atwitter with everybody thinking they know a little something about what's going on. But it really is going to be the president who will come out and tell the government and tell the American people, the Afghans, the NATO alliance, everyone, what his next move will be -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. And we should know that, possibly, in the next 12 minutes, Barbara Starr, I know you're not going far. We're going to be talking to you, I'm sure, after the announcement. Barbara, thank you so much.

And, again, to our viewers, a reminder: what you're seeing at the bottom of your screen, our live picture fixed on the Rose Garden right now, at the podium in the Rose Garden, when the president will step out and speak. And we're expecting that at the bottom of the hour, just a couple minutes from now, and let us know exactly what he has decided about the fate of his general in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal.

Don't go too far. We're not going too far away from this story, at all.

Also, we're going to be talking about how exactly his fate, if, in fact, he does end up out of command there in Afghanistan, how is that going to affect the mission there? We're taking a closer look.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. We have been waiting for the president to come out, but media sources already reporting now that, in fact, General Stanley McChrystal, who had been, I should say now, the head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan has now been relieved of his position.

Again, General Stanley McChrystal, according to some media sources, already reporting that he, in fact, has been relieved of command. And CNN has, in fact, now confirmed General Stanley McChrystal is no longer the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

You're seeing video here from a short time ago. This was a little earlier today. General McChrystal called back from the battlefield in Afghanistan, called into the White House to have a one- on-one with President Obama -- following an article that is set to come out in which some disparaging remarks were made that were attributed to some of the inner circle of General McChrystal and also some of the statements General McChrystal made to that reporter for "Rolling Stone" did not bode so well, as well.

So now, after all this, again, a tumultuous, just 24 hours here for this general after this article came out. And here we are, already -- General McChrystal called back, and now, out of his position as the head of U.S. -- essentially running the war in Afghanistan. This is the man that was put into place by President Obama, and now, he has essentially removed him from that position.

We are expecting to hear from the president at any moment now.

But our Suzanne Malveaux is standing by at the White House, in the Rose Garden, I believe, we're expecting to hear from the president at any moment.

Suzanne, we are now getting this information. McChrystal is out.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: T.J., it's not surprising. There are three different things that happened here at the White House to indicate that that would be true.

First, early this morning, I spoke with a senior administration official who said that the White House had requested a list of possible replacements for General McChrystal from the Pentagon, just yesterday, in case the president decided to fire him. That the president would be a very much prepared to do that, that he would have that list, and that that was certainly an option.

The second thing is, T.J., what we saw here at the White House, is that clearly, there was this meeting that took place more than 30 minutes between President Obama and General McChrystal in the Oval Office, face-to-face, just the two of them. Now, he left that meeting, and he left the White House. He did not come back for that meeting in the Situation Room with the national security team -- again, giving us some pause here, heads-up, if you will, wondering if this is, in fact, the general who is leading the Afghan mission, why he would not return to this very critical meeting.

The third thing here is what the president said yesterday -- in a way, he was really signaling to the American people that, look, this is bigger than just one person. The emphasis that he made was the fact that it is against al Qaeda, and that the sacrifices of men and women have to be justified by a credible, credible leadership.

And those three things taken together, T.J., certainly adds up to what we're going to see this afternoon.

HOLMES: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, standing by for us at the White House, in the Rose Garden, expecting the president here in the next five minutes or so.

Again, we are hearing this right, folks -- General Stanley McChrystal, the man who was, in fact, in charge of the war in Afghanistan, is now out. The president may come out and let us know. He's already got someone tapped to put in place. But we will know in five minutes from the president more details about what will happen.

Wolf Blitzer is standing by, our best political team is standing by in Washington, D.C. -- John King, Candy Crowley and all of them.

I want to hand it over and turn it up to Washington, D.C., now for our special coverage.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: T.J., thanks very much.

Very dramatic developments happening right now that could shape the future of the war in Afghanistan. As we've been reporting, General Stanley McChrystal out after this fiery article in "Rolling Stone" magazine. And now, there's word coming in that General David Petraeus, the head of the U.S. Military Central Command, will replace him as the NATO commander and U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

John King is working his sources for us.

John, you're getting new information all of the time.

JOHN KING, HOST, "JOHN KING, USA": I'm just reading right here right now, Wolf. President lost confidence in General McChrystal. He told him this morning he would be relieved of his command, and this source says he was told the likely replacement was General David Petraeus to send to Congress -- to send up to Congress somebody that they were confident in, because what has happened here is not only the downfall of General McChrystal, but the stalled war effort, already having -- especially liberals in the president's own party saying, where are we going here, this isn't about a general, this is about a strategy.

So, by tapping General Petraeus, the president would be sending up to Congress and to the world stage, somebody they know full well from the Iraq surge operation, someone they have confidence in, and somebody of whom General McChrystal was a protege.

BLITZER: And General Petraeus oversaw the successful, at least so far successful, counterinsurgency program in Iraq. So, if he goes into Afghanistan now, to many respects, he's the author of this counterinsurgency. That's right.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Exactly. So you would continue the policy.

What he's asking General Petraeus to do, though, is take a step down, which is not an easy thing to ask somebody to do, because he's CENTCOM chief right now. And he could still remain the chief, step down temporarily, and oversee this and make sure that the policy continues on track.

Because my sources tell me, look, that's what was important to the president. He had to make sure that the mission continued, and that General McChrystal was on board with the mission, and if he couldn't guarantee that, he wasn't going to leave him in command. And, obviously, whatever occurred in their conversation led him to believe that that was not the case.

BLITZER: Gloria Borger is here. Candy Crowley is here, as well.

It's one of those days here in Washington, Candy, where things move very, very rapidly. The president was supposed to be having lunch with a group of senators. That was cancelled, because of this.

CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Yes. And this was one that up until about a half an hour ago, I really thought could go either way. I think there was a case for keeping him and a case for getting rid of him.

And I think, in large part, one of the things they worried about is a lot of Washington symbolism. How would this president look if he's got a commander over in Afghanistan, and he didn't take issue with policy? He took real personal issue with people who are intricately involved in policy.

He dissed the president. So, does the president let that slide? And if he does, does he then look weak?

So, that was sort of the one side of it, right? The other side was: there's a war going on here. Was he -- this is what Gloria was talking about -- was he so integral to that effort that he couldn't afford to lose him? Obviously, the answer is no.

BLITZER: And what's really fascinating is they didn't even invite him to go into the Situation Room over at the White House for that meeting on the strategy, a strategy review in Afghanistan. The president met for about a half hour in the Oval Office with General McChrystal. He then left the White House. We saw pictures of General Petraeus coming in. We have some video of that, as well.

Let's bring in Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent.

What a slap at General McChrystal that he wasn't even invited to go into the Situation Room, Barbara, for that strategy review, and he's been on top of that strategy in Afghanistan.

STARR: Well, you know, Wolf, this all began to become much clearer in the last couple hours here at the Pentagon -- although no one was saying anything officially. Number one, we were -- we were told and led to believe that General McChrystal would learn his fate directly from President Obama in that one-on-one meeting. And that if he was not going to be kept on as the commander in Afghanistan, he would, in fact, leave the White House -- he did that. That he would not then go to the meeting, because he would no longer be the commander at that point.

It is now very possible -- we are told -- General McChrystal will not even return to Afghanistan, that his personal goods will be packed up and sent to him here in Washington. This is -- this is pretty unprecedented.

Not surprising, though, I think that they would pick General Petraeus to do this. What they are looking for now is to have as little military interruption in the strategy, in the campaign in Afghanistan, get this back on track, get it behind them, and not let this be labeled as a distraction.

The offensive in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan is behind schedule. They need to get that underway. They need to finish the other operations in southern Afghanistan.

And the big date on the calendar, really, is looming -- by the end of the year, they have promised to try and show progress in this strategy. This is the strategy they're sticking with, another 30,000 troops. They aren't all even there yet. The strategy will not change. General Petraeus is signed up to the strategy. And they just want to get this moving. All indications are, the military just wants to get this behind them, and move along.

BLITZER: Well, Barbara, stand by. I want to just remind our viewers, you're looking at the bottom right hand corner of your screen, a live picture of the Rose Garden. The president momentarily. We expect him to go in there. He presumably will be surrounded by his national security advisers, and we assume General David Petraeus, who was in this meeting in the Situation Room in the West Wing of the White House earlier.

He has been tapped now to replace General McChrystal as the overall U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan. A very delicate moment in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan right now. When he comes out, John, the president has got an important message he has to send. Obviously, to the American public and to Congress. But to the men and women who are fighting this war, first and foremost. And there's almost 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan right now.

KING: More than 90,000, wolf, on track to 100,000, and this became, for better or worse, a question of who is the boss. And the president wanted to look eyeball to eyeball at General McChrystal, to see if he could explain a way in a satisfactory way what most people at the White House view as a defiant an act of insubordination. Now insubordination has special meaning in the military conduct code, politically though, this was a general, directly challenging, in the view of the White House, The Commander In Chief, The Vice President, The National Security Adviser, who is a decorated military veteran, and and several other members of the national security team.

They wanted to give General McChrystal a chance to explain himself, put this away. But clearly, the president's decided that the general's explanation was not good enough.

It's an instant repudiation of this decorated war veteran and a man in which the president invested so much trust just a sort time ago, giving him more than 30,000 new troops in the face of such sharp criticism, in the face of opposition from his own vice president.

President Obama invested in General McChrystal, that investment is ending this morning. And, again there is a shaken congress right now Democrats who reluctantly many of them supported their president because he is a Democrat, were starting to question this war strategy.

So the instant shift of Petraeus is a reflection. They thought at the White House Wolf, that McChrystal's deputy General Rodriguez was a fine man, he could take over the mission, but they did not think he was well known, not well-known in the Congress, not well known on the world stage. They want someone not only to implement this strategy, accelerate this strategy, but to explain it to the American people.

BLITZER: And there is probably no general out there in the United States right now more-- as well-known and as highly respected as General Petraeus.

GLORIA BORGER. CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: And who also who is identified with counter insurgency. And the whole irony here, really, is that General McChrystal proposed the counter insurgency strategy.

This is his strategy. One of the reasons folks thought he might have been able to sort of stay was because people wanted to hold him accountable for his strategy that he proposed when they were having the Afghan review. So ironically, the man who said to the president, this is what we ought to be doing, the president adopted most of what he wanted, ends up getting --

BLITZER: And you know what's fascinating, if you read the Rolling Stone article, as I know you have m and a lot of our viewers I am sure by now have, and a lot of viewers have, the criticism the most biting criticism didn't come directly from General McChrystal.

It came from his aides. He may have been in the room when he- they were uttering these things in front of the journalists, from Rolling Stone magazine, but the - you know references to the National Security Adviser, General Jones as a clown, or the vice president, as vice president bite me. or the really awful things that were said about Ambassador Holbrooke, and Ambassador Eikenberry didn't come directly were McChrystal, but his senior aides.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: However, he is responsible for his senior aides. And so that-to me that's kind of a wash. I think what they need to worried about in that article is what the troops are saying.

Because the reporting of that -- it wasn't -- General McChrystal didn't say the strategy is bad -- he didn't say that. The rank and file said that to him. And that's why they need Petraeus. Because the rank and file is out there, going, this isn't working, it doesn't feel right.

They're outside Kandahar, and he says what are we doing here, we don't think this is working. So that shows you in that article that it is a much larger problem than General McChrystal. It's the war effort itself.

BLITZER: Let me bring Barbara Starr in, in, she's in the Pentagon. Before we speak, Barbara, just want to remind our viewers, we're waiting for the president to walk out of the Oval Office, down the stairs, into the Rose Garden, over at the White House, to make this dramatic statement about the next step in the war in Afghanistan.

The outser of General McChrystal, and the introduction of General David Petraeus as the new U.S. military commander in Afghanistan. The point that's being made, Barbara is that the troops, at least in this article, and you have been there, you have reported on this, are not happy with a lot of the policies that they have been given to try to avoid Afghan civilian casualties.

A lot of them are quoted in the article as saying they have been forced to fight with one hand tied behind their back, and they're losing fellow soldiers and Marines precisely because they really can't go to the battle as they want to. You heard this criticism before, and a lot of soldiers and Marines were blaming general McChrystal for that.

STARR: Well you know Wolf, as we continue to watch for the president to come out, the troops have been very distressed about this. Everybody I've certainly talked to over there has expressed concern out on the line about this notion of counter insurgency strategy.

What does it mean that your main job is to protect the people of Afghanistan? But that leaves you sort of tied with that one hand behind your back. You can't use your rifle as often, much less in terms of air strikes and air power.

Much less in terms of combat operations. Troops are concerned about it. They feel that they're being asked to do an impossible job. Not entirely General McChrystal's doing. It's the strategy the president decided upon.

But he has been a major advocate of it and very, very strong in putting restrictions on combat operations. But you know, Wolf there may be another reason General Petraeus has been selected. He has a very close personal relationship with the military and security services across the border in Pakistan.

And that is really key right now. That's where the safe havens are. And if they pick somebody brand-new, that person would have to start all over with this relationship with Pakistan. Petraeus is already there. He's already worked on that relationship. He knows those people.

He has been dealing with the Pakistanis for months, pressing them to shut down the Taliban and Al Qaeda safe havens in Pakistan. And that is key. At least they don't have to start over on that piece of the war. They're already well down the road with General Petraeus. And I suspect that's part of the reason he looked to be the -- the best way forward to move ahead with this war, and not have that interruption caused by this situation.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a very impressive decision by the president to reassure the troops, reassure Congress, reassure the American public that he is on top of this situation, not going to tolerate any insubordination or criticism from generals, even four-star generals like General McChrystal, but at the same time, inviting someone, ordering someone to come in who has that kind of respect.

It's interesting also, John, when General Petraeus was testifying before Congress the other day, he made it clear, and some folks weren't happy about this, especially more on the dubbish side, that that July 2011 date is not necessarily a date when the troops come home from Afghanistan or start coming home from Afghanistan. It depends on what he called conditions on the ground.

Maybe they'll start coming home but, maybe they won't.

KING: And Wolf there are many are those in the U.S. military and folks who follow these things who believe based on everything they have heard about the situation on the ground, not improving as rapidly as the Pentagon would like, that that deadline will pass.

That it was never a deadline to come out, it was a deadline to start bringing troops home. The question, is can you bring a modest amount home to keep a symbolic commitment to that deadline, or will the situation be more dicey?

And General Petraeus has been one of those who has very clear that we will do this only if the conditions warrant it so it won't get worse. One other point on that. Remember in that testimony, he briefly almost fainted in the testimony. And when I was talking to sources across the national security community yesterday, this is one of the concerns they raised about General McChrystal.

And I just got a note from a source saying, great pick, except he is so tired. Here's what the source said yesterday. These guys have been going at this, 18 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for years now. And that takes a toll on you, physically and emotionally.

General Petraeus showed that toll in his congressional testimony the other day. No one is going to question his fortitude. He bounced back and was back in that room five minutes later. But whatever you think of these wars, General Petraeus especially, and General McChrystal, who has been repudiated by his president this morning, have invested countless, countless, countless, exhausting hours.

BLITZER: He was deeply embarrassed by that episode when his head collapsed on the table and he fainted and he said he had not hadn't' had breakfast, he was checked by his the physicians in the congress, later his own physicians and they said he's just fine.

I was invited to a dinner for him the next night and he spent a long time just talking and explaining his strategy, and he seemed fine. I'm not a physician or anything, but I was an embarrassing moment, especially for a macho kind of four-star general. Candy, as we watch this, and the president is going to leave the Oval Office and walk down those stairs, I think it will be interesting to see who is going to surround him. Because that video -- the image, the picture that he presents now to the American people, will be significant.

CROWLEY: Sure. And I suspect that all of those who are mentioned in this article in a negative way will be on the steps if they're in town. That would be my feeling. I think you'll probably see the vice president. I don't know where he is, if he's in town. Because it's a show of force that is important now. Because all they want is for this not to be a story day after tomorrow.

BORGER: Right.

CROWLEY: You know they just want -- is it okay, to change it? It's today's story, we get it, move on. And so they need to have everybody on board, there need to be nobody behind the scenes saying, well McChrystal this or McChrystal that, or somehow excusing it.

They just don't want to be talking about it the day after tomorrow, because their biggest problem right now is not just the war on the ground in Afghanistan, but the war there is going to be when we come up for funding up on Capitol Hill. That funding bill is going to come up.

Over the weekend, talked to Dianne Feinstein and Richard Lugar and neither one of them could tell me what the mission was in Afghanistan, what success looked like. So these are not two people that are crazy's. So they've got a big job to do.

BLITZER: Let's go to Kabul right now as we await the president, he's going to be coming into the Rose Garden momentarily to make the statement our correspondent Atia Bo is on the scene for us. Atia, you've spent a lot of time in Afghanistan, a lot of time with General McChrystal and his aides. You know this reporter, Michael Hastings from Rolling Stone Magazine.

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do.

BLITZER: Who broke this story, reported about all of this. As we are about to see General Petraeus announced as the new NATO U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General McChrystal gone, it's going to have repercussions for President Karzai of Afghanistan, and a lot of other folks there.

ABAWI: Absolutely. President Karzai was a big fan of General McChrystal. They formed a strong relationship and friendship in this last year. We have noticed in the last couple of months, they have been traveling together. In fact, I went down with them to Kandahar when they had a shura, or council meeting with tribal elders and leaders trying to gain support for this upcoming operation in Kandahar.

President Karzai himself, the last two days saying, that he feels General McChrystal is the best commander for the war.

The Ministry of Defense today also saying the same thing, saying that he was the best partner they've had in this eight-year struggle in Afghanistan, saying that he brought some sort of integrity, bringing the Afghan civilians first, bringing the reconstruction and the -- infrastructure in Afghanistan first.

But at the same time, they are very scared to know who the replacement would be. And it seems as though if they find out that General Petraeus will be taking over, it might soften the blow, because they know that General Petraeus is a very experienced man, he implemented the counter insurgency plan in Iraq, and that's what General McChrystal's and Obama's strategy in Afghanistan has been in the last year. Wolf--

BLITZER: Atia, we're going to come back to you. I know you're working to get reaction from Afghan leaders, U.S. military personnel, NATO forces. But right now, we're going to the Rose Garden of the White House.

The President of the United States has been meeting all morning, early this afternoon, on this decision to replace General McChrystal. He's getting ready to walk out of the Oval Office, and down those stairs into the White House. You're looking at live pictures right there.

The president of the United States. We'll be, we assume, surrounded by his top national security advisers. Several of whom were ridiculed in this article in Rolling Stone by aides to General Stanley McChrystal. They were made fun of. The vice president of the United States, the National Security Adviser, The Special U.S. Representative Ambassador Holbrooke, The U.S. Ambassador, the retired U.S. Genral Karl Eikenberry and others. Here comes the president right now. And you see, he's surrounded by General Petraeus, and Robert Gates, The Defense Secretary, and others.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good afternoon.

Today I accepted General Stanley McChrystal's resignation as commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. I did so with considerable regret, but also with certainty that it is the right thing for our mission in Afghanistan, for our military, and for our country.

I'm also pleased to nominate General David Petraeus to take command in Afghanistan, which will allow us to maintain the momentum and leadership that we need to succeed.

I don't make this decision based on any difference in policy with General McChrystal, as we are in full agreement about our strategy. Nor do I make this decision out of any sense of personal insult. Stan McChrystal has always shown great courtesy and carried out my orders faithfully. I've got great admiration for him and for his long record of service in uniform.

Over the last nine years, with America fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has earned a reputation as one of our nation's finest soldiers. That reputation is founded upon his extraordinary dedication, his deep intelligence and his love of country.

I've relied on his service, particularly in helping to design and lead our new strategy in Afghanistan.

So all Americans should be grateful for General McChrystal's remarkable career in uniform.

But war is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or a president. And as difficult as it is to lose General McChrystal, I believe that it is the right decision for our national security.

The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general.

It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system. And it erodes the trust that's necessary for our team to work together to achieve our objectives in Afghanistan.

My multiple responsibilities as commander-in-chief led me to this decision. First, I have a responsibility to the extraordinary men and women who are fighting this war and to the democratic institutions that I've been elected to lead. I've got no greater honor than serving as commander-in-chief of our men and women in uniform.

And it is my duty to ensure that no diversion complicates the vital mission that they are carrying out. That includes adherence to a strict code of conduct. The strength and greatness of our military is rooted in the fact that this code applies equally to newly enlisted privates and to the general officer who commands them. That allows us to come together as one. That's part of the reason why America has the finest fighting force in the history of the world.

It is also true that our democracy depends upon institutions that are stronger than individuals. That includes strict adherence to the military chain of command and respect for civilian control over that chain of command. And that's why as commander-in-chief I believe this decision is necessary to hold ourselves accountable to standards that are at the core of our democracy.

Second, I have a responsibility to do whatever is necessary to succeed in Afghanistan and in our broader effort to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaida. I believe that this mission demands unity of effort across our alliance and across my national security team. And I don't think that we can sustain that unity of effort and achieve our objectives in Afghanistan without making this change.

That, too, has guided my decision.

I've just told my national security team that now is the time for all of us to come together. Doing so is not an option but an obligation. I welcome debate among my team, but I won't tolerate division.

All of us have personal interests. All of us have opinions. Our politics often fuels conflict. But we have to renew our sense of common purpose and meet our responsibilities to one another, and to our troops who are in harm's way and to our country.

We need to remember what this is all about. Our nation is at war. We face a very tough fight in Afghanistan. But Americans don't flinch in the face of difficult truths or difficult tasks. We persist and we persevere. We will not tolerate a safe haven for terrorists who want to destroy Afghan society from within and launch attacks against innocent men, women and children in our country and around the world.

So make no mistake, we have a clear goal. We are going to break the Taliban's momentum. We are going to build Afghan capacity. We are going to relentlessly apply pressure on Al Qaida and its leadership, strengthening the ability of both Afghanistan and Pakistan to do the same.

That's the strategy that we agreed to last fall. That is the policy that we are carrying out in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In that effort, we are honored to be joined by allies and partners who have stood by us and paid the ultimate price through the loss of their young people at war. They are with us because the interests and values that we share, and because this mission is fundamental to the ability of free people to live in peace and security in the 21st century.

And General Petraeus and I were able to spend some time this morning discussing the way forward. I'm extraordinarily grateful that he has agreed to serve in this new capacity. It should be clear to everybody he does so at great personal sacrifice to himself and to his family. And he is setting an extraordinary example of service and patriotism by assuming this difficult post.

Let me say to the American people, this is a change in personnel, but it is not a change in policy. General Petraeus fully participated in our review last fall. And he both supported and helped design the strategy that we have in place.

In his current post at Central Command, he was worked closely with our forces in Afghanistan; he has worked closely with Congress; he has worked closely with the Afghan and Pakistan governments, and with all our partners in the region.

He has my full confidence. And I am urging the Senate to confirm him for this new assignment as swiftly as possible.

Let me conclude by saying that it was a difficult decision to come to the conclusion that I've made today. Indeed, it saddens me to lose the service of a soldier who I've come to respect and admire.

But the reasons that led me to this decision are the same principles that have supported the strength of our military and our nation since the founding.

So, once again, I thank General McChrystal for his enormous contributions to the security of this nation and to the success of our mission in Afghanistan.

I look forward to working with General Petraeus and my entire national security team to succeed in our mission.

And I reaffirm that America stands as one in our support for the men and women who defend it.

Thank you very much.

REPORTER: Mr. President, can this war be won?

BLITZER: All right, so there he is, the president of the United States going back into the Oval Office from the Rose Garden, surrounded by the vice president, the secretary of defense, General Petraeus who will now take charge once confirmed by the Senate -- will take charge of the war in Afghanistan. Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

A very robust statement that the president made explaining why he was accepting the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal, why he decided to bring General David Petraeus, who is the commander of U.S. military forces in the central command back onto the war directly in Afghanistan. Also a strong and very powerful statement saying the United States is not leaving Afghanistan. We'll continue to fight to try to crush the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting, together with some of our other reporters and analysts.

John, this has been a major moment for this president right now in reaffirming what he called civilian control of the United States military.

KING: And repudiating a four-star whom he said he admired, and he said it was such a difficult decision. But the president made crystal clear there, "I'm in charge." I mean, that's what today is about more than anything. The conduct in the article, he said, simply was unbecoming any officer, but especially a four-star general who is commanding such a sensitive and delicate operation. The president saying, "I'm the president of the United States, I reached the decision that I had to do this."

And then, Wolf, turning to somebody who -- remember back just a few years ago, a change in relationships. Just a few years ago, Senator Barack Obama was mocking the surge strategy of General David Petraeus, saying it would never work in Iraq. Now, he is investing yet again in General Petraeus, who is -- who that strategy is on the verge, the White House hopes, of bringing about stability in Iraq. No one uses the words victory or success, but they do believe, stability.

Now, General Petraeus being tapped again to take on a very difficult assignment. A, because he knows the strategy. He can go there tomorrow and pick it up. And b, because he has the credibility in the United States Congress and around the world. That's what they're worried about at this moment.

BLITZER: And politically, a very brilliant move to tap General Petraeus because General Petraeus is widely admired across the political spectrum.

CROWLEY: Yes, and he's been confirmed for other things, and they all know him. It will not take long, and that's key.

And I think one of the things that -- I think he really got to the crux of the matter when he started the sentence about undermining civilian authority. And what he said was that the interview, it erodes trust. That in a team, you have to have mutual respect. He likes debate but no division.

And when you think about it, the idea of General McChrystal working with Joe Biden or Holbrooke or any of these people, and Jim Jones called a clown by one of the staffers, I mean, those people are key to what's going on in the civilian arena. And to try to imagine how they would work with him after this is almost impossible.

BLITZER: Hold on a second, Gloria, because we're getting some news. Barbara Starr is over at the Pentagon. Barbara, I take it General McChrystal is now reacting.

STARR: Yes, Wolf. General McChrystal has now issued a statement, which we'll read in part. It says, quote, "This morning, the president accepted my resignation as commander of U.S. and NATO coalition forces in Afghanistan. I strongly support the president's strategy." He goes on and says, "It was out of respect for this commitment and a desire to see the mission succeed that I tendered my resignation. It has been my privilege and honor to lead our nation's finest." A very perhaps emotional statement from General McChrystal at this point.

I think what is to be taken away from all of this is exactly what John said. This is the commander in chief moment, the most compelling thing perhaps for the Pentagon that they heard President Obama say is this war is bigger than one man.

And that is a lesson for the Pentagon and for all generals, including General Petraeus. You may be very well-known, you may be very popular on the world stage. But you still must conduct yourself with the appropriateness of a four-star general or a private first class in the U.S. Army. And you don't go around doing what General McChrystal did in terms of that profile with "Rolling Stone" and the things that were said. This -- this will be something for everyone to note.

BLITZER: Yes, certainly as soon as I read that article, I'm sure a lot of folks, once they read the article, they said -- at least I concluded, how can this general continue to serve with these individuals who were so publicly rebuked? Not necessarily directly by the general, but by his senior aides.

Let's go to the White House. Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, I take it you're still in the Rose Garden right now. This was a moment that the president clearly defined as one of his toughest decisions. But he made that decision together with his senior advisers, and now he moves forward.

MALVEAUX: And one of the things that he emphasized, Wolf, was that this is a change in personnel but not policy. He obviously wants to emphasize that he believes in his strategy. He's standing by his strategy. He wants to make that very clear to the American people to reassure them.

The other thing that we know from White House insiders is that despite the fact that the president was saying, look, this is more than just one man, that there was a list of possible replacements, that he still decided that he wanted to see General McChrystal face to face. That that is his style. That's his leadership style.

It's the professor in him, if you will. It's the lawyer in him to at least give him a fair hearing, and then after hearing that he did make that very tough decision, this is a process and it's a way that the president leads that we will see time and time again. He does not prejudge and he does not decide quickly.

But once he did determine that this was not someone he had confidence in anymore, then he decided to turn the corner and to go with General Petraeus because he felt that that would be the least disruptive.

BLIZTER: Suzanne, stand by. Atia Abawi is in Kabul for us.

All right, Atia. You heard the president's statement. It's going to be -- it's going to have major ramifications where you are. President Karzai and everyone else there will be following the fallout from this. They all know General Petraeus, and I assume they like him.

ABAWI: Absolutely. I think that actually this might soften the blow when it comes to President Karzai. And the Afghan commanders here on the ground -- President Karzai the last two days saying he thought that General McChrystal was the best general for the Afghan war. The ministry of defense also backing him up today, saying he's a man of integrity, he's a man they've been able to work with and the best man for the job.

But we're also now actually hearing from General Stanley McChrystal, he sent out a statement that says, quote, "I strongly support the president's strategy in Afghanistan, and I'm deeply committed to our coalition forces, our partner nations and the Afghan people. It was out of the respect for this commitment and a desire to see the mission to succeed that I tendered my resignation."

But, again, because General Petraeus is now in the role of General McChrystal, this may soften the blow when it comes to the Afghan government, a government that really did respect General McChrystal. Wolf?

BLITZER: Atia Abawi is going to continue to follow the reaction in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan, especially the reaction from U.S. military personnel. I'll be very interested, Atia, to get that reaction from the soldiers and Marines on the front lines.

It's interesting if you take a look, Gloria, at General Petraeus. He's the head of the U.S. military Central Command, four-star general. Technically, as the central commander, he oversees the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, all of that region, about 20 countries, including Pakistan, the whole Arabian peninsula and the Middle East.

Now he's got to focus only on Afghanistan. There will be a new commander of the central command. Some might say this is a demotion, although this is a priority right now of Afghanistan. I suspect this is by no means a demotion, even though bureaucratically it could be seen as such.

BORGER: No. And I think they'll go out of their way to make sure that it is not seen as such. Maybe he would temporarily step down, somebody would replace him of his own choosing.

I think also, Wolf, what's interesting about this, if you look in the political context of this, we've been talking about oil a lot the last couple of months. We've been asking the question of whether Barack Obama is tough, is he not tough? Would he do this, wouldn't he?

And you see in this particular case that the president decided to fire this guy. And as he said, it's because our democracy --

BLITZER: Hold on a second. I just want to remind our viewers here in the United States and around the world we're covering the breaking news.