Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Obama to Meet Senate Democrats; Afghanistan Troop Surge
Aired December 06, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's December 6th.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello there. I'm T.J. Holmes. It's 8:00 a.m. in Atlanta, Georgia. Kind of a big event happening here in a few hours.
NGUYEN: A big game.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Considering who's going to be on the field today.
HOLMES: Who's coming back? Yes.
It's also 7:00 a.m. in Chicago. We'll talk about their football team later. Five a.m. in Las Vegas.
Thanks for starting your day right here with us.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, he is back. Yes, for the first time since serving 18 months in prison, Michael Vick returns to the city that launched his NFL career.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that he's going to have a lot of mixed emotions, because there are people who don't agree with what he did, but there are a lot of people that are excited about him coming back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Are they? Well, we're going to take the pulse of the city. Plus, we look at how Vick's image changed since being back on the field.
HOLMES: Also, can men of God be angry? Apparently, yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're just tired of going to funerals and burying our children. As Father Pfleger said, that's not the way it's supposed to be and that has become so commonplace here. I'm mad. I'm angry. I'm upset.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Still to come this morning, in our "Faces of Faith," I sit down with a Muslim, a Catholic father, and two Baptist preachers. We'll explain to you why these men are so upset.
NGUYEN: Well, first, it looks like President Obama is going to have to miss that Bears game today. He's making a rare Sunday visit to Capitol Hill.
Our Kate Bolduan is standing by live for us at the White House.
All right, Kate. So, what is the president hoping to accomplish with this Sunday visit?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, Betty.
Well, really to rally his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill.
I'm told by a senior administration official that the president today when he heads to the Hill, is going over there. He's -- I'm told that he will thank the Democratic Caucus for all of the work they've done so far in working towards accomplishing his number one domestic priority.
I'm told he'll also go over there and really push to keep the negotiations that are under way, to keep them moving forward as we move towards the end of the year. And also, answer any questions that the Democrats may have on Capitol Hill for him. A little bit of personal lobbying, if you will.
And some Democrats have complains, saying that they need -- they really want President Obama and the White House to be more involved in order to get a health care bill passed in the Senate, and also, to help resolve some intra-party, some internal party fighting going on within the Democratic Party in the Senate over some of the main provisions of the bill.
And a little personal attention, it seems, is exactly what the Democratic Caucus is going to get today, Betty.
NGUYEN: OK. But why the weekend session? Give us the lowdown on that?
BOLDUAN: Well, ostensibly, the Democratic leader says that Americans can't take a weekend off from their health care troubles, so the Senate should not take a weekend off either in their efforts as they debate health care reform. But really what's going on is this also keeps the senators on Capitol Hill.
And much of the work, some would say, the real work is going on in private, behind closed doors, in closed-door meetings between some of the more liberal and moderate Democrats as there is a big problem going on right now for the Democratic majority. The Democratic majority, in order to pass this bill, as you know, needs 60 votes. Right now, there is a big split between the more liberal and moderate Democrats over whether or not to have a public option in this bill. It's included in the bill right now, but four of the key votes, four of the more moderate Democrats, they oppose the public option and that is what's going on -- a lot of discussions, if they can reach a compromise, and that's what they're talking about on Capitol Hill today.
NGUYEN: Got you. All right. Kate Bolduan, joining us live -- thank you for that, Kate -- T.J.
HOLMES: Well, Betty, the Senate debating two key amendments today, one from Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. And that would limit tax deductions that insurance companies take on executive pay. The Democrat believes that would lead to lower premiums.
The other, from Senator John Ensign, would limit medical malpractice damages. The Republican said that would give patients better access to care by keeping more health care providers in business.
NGUYEN: Senator Max Baucus' office confirms that he has -- or had recommended his girlfriend for a U.S. attorney post. But the Montana Democrat says Melodee Hanes withdrew her name as the two became closer. Baucus says they weren't having an affair because both were separated from their spouses. Baucus is a key figure in the health care debate. Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Steele, wants an ethics investigation.
HOLMES: Well, tomorrow, NATO meets to discuss sending additional international troops to Afghanistan. But we're already hearing the number will be around 7,000. That news comes as 30,000 additional U.S. forces get ready to deploy.
Let's show you something here now. We've got a map to show you. This shows Afghanistan, the provinces of Afghanistan. It shows which areas have Taliban strongholds.
Now, the stronger, the darker the red, the stronger the forces are. Here's where U.S. forces are stationed already as well.
But let's get rid of that map and bring in a guy whose face you recognize -- there's the map I was talking about there -- but Peter Bergen, our CNN national security analyst, joins us again this morning.
Peter, I want to get your take on what everybody seemed to want to talk about after the president's speech last week on Afghanistan, which was the possibility of a deadline, if you will, pulling out U.S. troops or to start pulling them out in 18 months, July of 2011.
Do you see that as being a possibility, that Afghanistan is ready to secure its own borders by then?
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: No, T.J., I don't. And I think that when you read the president's speech carefully and I talked to a number of his advisers before the speech, you know, it's conditions-based. It's conditions on the ground. And that is a caveat you can drive a truck through.
Right now, of the 34 provinces that exist in Afghanistan, only one, Kabul province, is actually controlled by the Afghan military and police entirely. Now, you could imagine by 2011 that 10 provinces are controlled or 15 or 18. I don't know what the number is.
But the idea of all 34 provinces would be capable of being completely run by the Afghan or police is just -- it doesn't make any sense.
HOLMES: And you made the point on the president's speech, everybody jumped on that, that deadline, if you will, but the president after that said in the next line, just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account the conditions on the ground. So, maybe that is a floating target there.
So, tell me as well, now that we have NATO, sounds like they are going to send some additional troops, at least 7,000, possibly more. That brings the number possibly up to 150,000-plus that could be in Afghanistan by the end of next year.
Does that number sound about right as far as international forces to help secure that country?
BERGEN: Well, you know, I mean, ideally, you'd want, you know, several hundred thousand.
HOLMES: Yes.
BERGEN: But this we don't live on an idea world. We live in the world we live in. And -- I mean, that number is useful because the insurgency is only really in the south and east of the country. You don't have to secure everything. And most of those, the American troops are going to go into the south and east. And might have the NATO troops, the European troops will largely reinforce areas in the north and the west.
But, yes -- I mean, that is a significant number. I mean, just -- if you go back only a year, T.J., the total number of American and European troops would have been about a third of what we're talking about.
HOLMES: And do you buy into as well -- back to this deadline, if you will. A lot people thought that might have been more so for American audience. But do you buy into it that that is going to be hurtful for the Afghan people if they hear that deadline? Maybe they don't read that whole speech, but they hear a deadline, think American troops are going to be leaving.
So, you know, why should I help you? Why should I stick with you? Why should I put my life on the line if you're going to be out of here?
BERGEN: Well, that's a good question. And I -- I mean, everyone heard the word "deadline" and that was the headline of that day.
HOLMES: Yes.
BERGEN: But no one really heard the caveat, but there is a caveat. I think that -- you know, but there is also a value in putting pressure on the Afghans to get their act together. And so, this isn't just a blank check to them.
So, I think this is all very carefully calibrated. And there were different messages for different audiences. Hopefully, it wasn't too confusing. But I thought this was, you know, a very good speech in terms of its content and what the president was suggesting.
HOLMES: The last thing, quickly, you talked about all those different audiences. What did Hamid Karzai get out of that speech?
BERGEN: Well, I guess he got what he wanted which is, you know -- I mean, he has -- he has over a barrel in the sense that we're not going to pull out. He knows that. So, you know, and that he won the election. And so, we're stuck with him for the next five years, good, bad, or indifferent.
HOLMES: Stuck with him. It seems like that's the phrase a lot of folks are using. We're stuck with him.
Peter Bergen for us -- always good to have you. You enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
BERGEN: Thank you very much, T.J.
HOLMES: All right -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, if you're living on either coast, you may not enjoy it so much with the weather outside being a little frightful. Bonnie Schneider has been watching it for us today.
Hey, Bonnie.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Betty.
We are checking out, definitely, some snowy conditions across much of the country. From coast to coast, you'll find that we're watching a big winter storm that I'll be telling you about coming up. It looks like we're going to be seeing some wintry weather across California, Utah, pretty much the mountains out west -- more on that in just a bit.
NGUYEN: All right.
Plus, Michael Vick is back in the city that launched his NFL career. So, what are the Falcon fans saying about it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHNEIDER: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider.
We are tracking a big storm that is brewing out west. It's going to affect so many states across the country.
First, I want to show you where it is in the Pacific. We're looking at a lot of moisture with a very cold area of low pressure that's coming in. And this storm, even though it's well out into the ocean, it's going to affect cities from Seattle all the way down to Los Angeles. And then certainly, at the higher elevations, we're watching out for very heavy snow.
The burn areas of southern California are also watching this, because we'll see a lot of heavy rain. And it doesn't take much to loosen the ground when it's been so dry and really blown out from all the fires that we had last season, making for a very barren area.
Now, here's a look at some of the advisories already posted. This just in -- a winter storm warning now. This was upgraded from a winter weather advisories for the mountains in and around the Eastern Sierra and into Nevada. We're going to see some very heavy snow here that start tonight at 10:00. This just upgraded now because the storm looks even more potent than earlier expected.
Another place we're watching for snow to develop, it's actually happening right now, is Denver, Colorado. Look for three to six inches by later on tonight. And then in the mountains, we're going to see the threat for blizzard conditions tomorrow. So, a big storm across much of the west.
I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. Stay tuned. We'll have more coming up on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. It was just a few years ago, can you believe it, Michael Vick was the man. And he was the face of the Atlanta Falcons franchise.
NGUYEN: Well, hours from now, he will be back on to the Georgia Dome for the first time since his 18-month dog fighting conviction. So he's going to be wearing a Philadelphia Eagles uniform.
But the big question is: how is he going to be received here in Atlanta?
And we want to get the latest on that and we're going to talk to an expert this morning. Marshawn Evans -- she's a sports and entertainment lawyer. And she joins us now to give us her opinion on what's going to go down at the Georgia Dome today.
Oh, Marshawn, it's going to be very interesting. Before we even get to that, though, I want you to take a listen to some of the sound that's been coming in from both fans -- oh, I'm being told that we don't have that sound just yet.
But, all right. So, that being the case, what do you think is going to happen once he sets foot on the field in the Georgia Dome today? MARSHAWN EVANS, SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER: Well, I think it's going to be very emotional for both Michael Vick, but also for the Atlanta Falcons. The reality is that Michael Vick really changed the way that Atlanta loved football. And it was like a very happy marriage for a very long time that ended in a very bitter divorce.
But now he's remarried, the team has moved on. And I believe that Michael Vick has had a chance to move on. And I think there's going to be a lot more peace today than a lot of people anticipated a year ago.
NGUYEN: Oh, so you think they're willing to forgive and forget, huh?
EVANS: I don't think that they've necessarily forgotten, but the Atlanta Falcons have a great quarterback. They have Michael -- I mean -- Michael, they have Matt Ryan and he's a franchise quarterback. He's been able to do a very good job with the team, re-lift their spirits.
And, you know, the scrutiny that we haven't seen with Michael Vick due in large part to the fact that he hasn't had a lot of playing time. He hasn't been in our eyes and in our ears and in our hearts anymore. And so, there's less scrutiny.
Scrutiny in NFL is very congruent to your performance and your level of prominence. And if your performance isn't good, your prominence isn't going to be very high. And that's one of the reasons why we haven't heard much from him lately.
HOLMES: Well, on that note, is it fair to say -- I mean, his comeback was certainly over-hyped and certainly it didn't turn out to be what people thought because, in fact, he hasn't been performing. So, now that he's back, does it like, quite frankly, he's more of an impact off the field than on the field with all these speaking engagements he's doing and talking to kids?
EVANS: He is. He's having a great impact off the field. And I think that one of the things that people really wanted to see -- a humble person and someone who is very sincere. He is doing a lot with young people. He's even doing a lot with PETA and I personally thought that that was a big mistake at first, that it would come across as insincere, but I believe it is sincere. I think people are seeing it sincere.
And the disappointing thing I think for Michael Vick right now is that this was the audition of his lifetime, to have a chance to really rejuvenate his football career. The problem is that Donovan McNabb is having a great season with the Philadelphia Eagles. If the tire isn't flat, why change it? And hopefully, Michael Vick will have some more reps so he can prove whether he can really have a long-standing career in the NFL.
HOLMES: You talk about some of those things that he has been doing right off the field. Where, in your expertise, has he gone wrong? Has he made some mistakes out there since he has gotten out of prison that you would certainly advised him or some things you would advise him to do differently?
EVANS: I think the biggest mistake that he's continually made since he's entered into the NFL, which is continued, is his lack of good performance in the media. He is not -- he's not a Bill Clinton. He doesn't speak very well on camera yet. And so, that's one of the biggest things I would focus with him on -- is working on his media training, being able to connect and communicate sincerity.
I think one of the good things he's also done is putting good mentors and good people around him, but I think that has to be communicated. And I think he will get a lot of his life back, more than we realize.
We've got individuals like Ray Lewis who are still playing football. We've got Kobe Bryant, who's starting to see a lot of his endorsement and marketing opportunities come back.
So, I think that this can happen for Michael Vick, but he's got to be able to throw the -- throw the rock and he's got to be able to carry it as well in order for the endorsements to really come back long-term.
NGUYEN: It's going to be interesting today. Marshawn, thanks so much for your insight today. We appreciate it.
EVANS: You're welcome.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks.
EVANS: You're welcome. Who are you rooting for?
HOLMES: We're in Atlanta. We're rooting for the Falcons.
NGUYEN: For the Falcons. Come on.
HOLMES: Of course, we're rooting for the Falcons.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you.
You know, it is the holiday season. And unfortunately, many people in Chicago won't have their young loved ones with them. Dozens of students have died this year due to gun violence. And city leaders, they are trying to wrap their arms around this entire situation.
HOLMES: Yes. It's not just the city leaders. I traveled to Chicago this week to talk to the faith-based community. Some leaders in that community and they say many kids have lost hope and it's time for the faith community to take action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MINISTER ISHMAEL MUHAMMAD, MOSQUE MARYAM: We have lost that connection to God, and thereby, the family has broken up. And so, if the church can take their ministries, which we are attempting to do in making that effort every day, take the gospel, take the ministry, take the word of God from the four walls of a mosque or a church, and take it into the streets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Still to come this morning in our "Faces of Faith," my candid conversation with these four leaders in the faith-based community, and why they say it may be up to them to change the tide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK. It is one of the biggest questions about the next phase in the Afghanistan war, and that is: how much will NATO help?
HOLMES: Yes, the alliance has announced how many troops it's sending, but the number is not so simple.
Josh Levs is here to explain.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hey, there, guys.
We're going to break it down a little bit because this is a critical question. I want to talk you all through the basics here so we can really understand the interplay that's going on on this world stage.
Let's start with this -- President Obama last week, as you know, announced that he'll send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. That will bring the U.S. total to about 100,000, and the president used his speech specifically to press NATO. Here's part of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our friends have fought and bled and died alongside us in Afghanistan. And now we must come together to end this war successfully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Well, for years, there's been some tension between the U.S. and NATO about Afghanistan. So now, the big question became: what will NATO do now? And on Friday, the head of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, made this big announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: Because nations are backing up their words with deeds, at least 25 countries will send more forces to the mission in 2010. They have offered around 7,000 new forces, with more to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Seven thousand more troops will bring the non-U.S. NATO forces there up to about -- a total about 50,000. But it's not that simple.
And "The New York Times" broke it down really well. We're going to bring you this. The alliance is promising the 7,000 more troops. But of those, about 1,500 to 2,000 are already there. They were sent for the election and instead of coming home now, they're going to stick around.
Also, some of the new troops will avoid fighting. Their home countries have specific restrictions on what they can do and not do.
Plus, the Netherlands and Canada, which are NATO nations, they plan to withdraw nearly 5,000 troops over the next couple of years.
So, when you look at that, you get kind of a different sense of where the numbers are going in terms of the troops there.
There's also something else to keep in mind. And for that, I get to use these cool maps that we're taking a look at a little bit easier. Let me show you this quickly.
This here shows right now where the United States is operating. And you need to focus on the U.S. maps. This is where the U.S. takes the lead, mostly in the southern part of the country.
We're going to move over to this, you've seen, too, where it's more red, that's where more Taliban are. The U.S. is focusing on these areas that are mostly of the Taliban. In other words, this is largely a U.S.-led battle in all the heavily Taliban area.
So, the question is not just how many NATO troops, it's also -- will NATO troops be given more flexibility to move more around the country, will they take on some of the tougher areas. So, that, guys, Betty and T.J., is what we're also watching out for. Not just how many from the alliance will ultimately go, but where will they be, will they be resituated, and will the U.S. get a lot more help from the world in battling the Taliban there.
NGUYEN: All right, Josh, thank you.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: President Obama is heading to Capitol Hill a little bit later today. He's going to meet with Senate Democrats in hopes of keeping the public option in the health care reform bill. The issue has divided some moderate and liberal Democrats. The Senate has been in a weekend session over health care. And yesterday, Republicans tried but failed to strike more than $42 billion in Medicare cuts from that bill.
HOLMES: And we go from Mr. President to Mr. Squiggles. The maker of one of the hottest toys of the season, which is Mr. Squiggles -- seriously, stay with me here -- well, they're on the defense. It's denying claims from a consumer group that the Mr. Squiggle hamster contains high levels of a chemical known to cause cancer.
In a statement from the company yesterday -- excuse me -- they say, "We are disputing the findings of Good Guide and we are 100 percent confident that Mr. Squiggles and all the other Zhu Zhu toys are safe and compliant with all U.S. and European standards for consumer health and safety in toys."
NGUYEN: All right. Well, the elections board in Atlanta has declared Kasim Reed the winner of last week's runoff race for mayor. But his opponent isn't ready to concede. Her campaign manager says that she will call for a recount tomorrow because of how close this race was. Reed won by less than 1 percent of the vote.
President Obama's agenda has been front and center this past week.
HOLMES: Yes, spans the globe, literally, from the unveiling of his new war plan in Afghanistan, to his latest efforts to bolster the economy here at home. Those are just some of the topics of this week's "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING."
John, a lot of big stuff on the plate. You're going to be able to get it all in in that show?
JOHN KING, "STATE OF THE UNION" HOST: We've only got four hours, T.J., but we'll manage to squeeze it in, I promise you.
Well, it's an interesting day. As you mentioned, the president is going up to Capitol Hill. It's rare for the Senate to be in on the weekend anyway, even more rare for the president of the United States to drop by.
And he's not dropping by just to say hello, there are some very, very difficult negotiations. You guys have been covering them. They're trying to get 60 votes. They had 60 votes to start the debate in the Senate and they need 60 votes to end it. And they have big disputes still over the public option, abut how to pay for this, how much to squeeze out of the Medicare program. What about the abortion language?
And a lot of the president's allies on Capitol Hill are saying, "Guess what, this is so hard. We need some help from the big guy." And so, the president's going up there today to try to, A, keep morale up, but B, also try to see where the deals are.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, talking about health care, Senator Max Baucus -- I mean, he's one of the main players in that, but he's also getting some press for something else that he's been involved in. And that being a recommendation of his girlfriend to a U.S. attorney position and that's causing a lot of eyebrows to be raised.
KING: It is causing a lot of eyebrows. The chairman of the Republican National Committee says there needs to be an ethics investigation here of Senator Max Baucus. He's a huge player in the health care debate. He's the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
And, essentially, what happened was a woman who worked for him in his Montana office, they later had a romantic relationship, and he had put her up, one of two candidates for the federal prosecutor jobs out there, U.S. attorney's jobs. Now, they later withdrew her name and he says in part because they decided, if she got the job, they didn't want to live 2,000 miles apart. She now lives in Washington, D.C., with the senator. They have a relationship. He says it's a very romantic, healthy relationship.
But many are saying, "Wait a minute, Senator, why didn't the red flag up, why did you recommend not only a former staffer but a former staffer with whom you now have a romantic relationship. How could you possibly recommend her for this shop?
The senator says he believes he did nothing wrong, that he was very open about the relationship. Her name has now been withdrawn, so she will not be that federal prosecutor.
But there are some people asking questions about this. And the senator came out and talked to reporters about it yesterday. And he said, take a peek at it, take a look at it, you know? And I think everything's fine and we have a great relationship now, and he says a "non-issue." We'll see how this one goes forward.
HOLMES: Well, you've got everything going on today, I'm sure it's today on the show, Afghanistan, health care, jobs, boyfriend/girlfriend -- all that stuff. I know you'll be talking about on "STATE OF THE UNION." John, always good to see you, kind sir. And, of course, we will see you again here in just about 30 minutes.
"STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING" starts at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.
All right, we have new information on the latest offensive in Afghanistan.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has been embedded with U.S. and Afghan troops in "Operation Cobra's Anger". And he joins me now live from Kabul.
Fred, what is the U.S. military telling you about these latest anti-Taliban efforts?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty. The latest that we have is that right now the death toll of killed Taliban insurgents has risen to 15. The U.S. military and the local government in Helmand province where this offensive of course is taking place says that today an additional four Taliban or alleged Taliban were killed in operations there.
I mean, the U.S. Marines are telling us that as of now, they are in the entire area that they were inserted into. Remember, this is all happening in the northern part of Helmand Province, a very big Taliban stronghold there around the town of Now Zad. The Marines say they are in the city center of Now Zad right now sweeping from house to house and looking for weapon caches, looking for explosives. They say that they have found plenty of that to date.
And remember as we've been covering this offensive we've been saying how heavily infested that area is with mines and improvised explosive devices. What the Marines are doing now is they're using a new kind of vehicle to get through all that it's called an ABV, an Assault Breach Vehicle. And what it does is that basically shoots explosives into mine field and just blast its way through and creates a corridor for the Marines to move forward and they say, in this operation so far, those vehicles have been key.
Now, the latest update is the Marines right now are facing fairly little resistance. However, they do say, there are still scattered pockets out there, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. And give us an idea, since you've been embedded with these groups, what are some of the strategies that the Marines, in fact, are using to battle the Taliban?
PLEITGEN: Well, I mean, one of the things that they're saying is that they're trying to use an element of surprise, really. They say one of the reasons why they've met so little resistance is because they believe they simply surprised the Taliban and that's why they weren't ready. And they believe a lot of the Taliban who were in that area have actually fled.
The way they went about this is they inserted these soldiers from the south and the north, also using a new sort of airplane, if you will, called the Osprey which is an airplane and it also has helicopter capability which can land sort of similar like Harrier. So they used those to insert the troops in the north and the south and sort of push into that area.
Now, this area again, is very, very important strategically say the U.S. Marines, because it is an area that the Taliban have been using to move fighters both from east to west and from north to south. And they say in the past couple of months, really, they haven't been able to do a lot to interdict any of that. They haven't been able to do a lot to stop the Taliban fighters.
So right now, this is a new push to try to win back some of the territory that in the past has been held by the Taliban. And the Marines tell us they hope to be able to stay there and hope the Afghan population, which largely fled that area, to return -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Frederik Pleitgen, breaking it down for us and bringing it to us live. Thank you.
And now that President Obama has laid out his plan, I want you to get an in-depth look as to what is happening in Afghanistan. Here is how you can do it. You can watch CNN IReports from around the world and read blog posts. All you have to do is go to CNN.com/Afghanistan. You can also get first-person accounts in fact of the region as well as charts on U.S. troop levels throughout the years. All of that in one place, CNN.com/Afghanistan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, if you're living in New York on the East Coast, even on the West Coast, you may be dreaming of some sunshine to just get away from the wintry blues that you could be having because storms are a-brewing.
Bonnie Schneider joins us now live today and I think we're having a little bit of a technical problem with our microphone. And get that worked out and bring in the latest on the weather outside. A lot of people have big plans, it's Sunday.
HOLMES: Yes, a lot of games going on out there, but sometimes that's part of it. Now, we have a big game coming up here in Atlanta...
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: ... which is in a dome so we don't have to worry about it. But the Georgia Dome, as many of you know, Michael Vick is making his return. That even though like we've been talking about this morning he's not a big factor anymore as far as the team goes, with the Philadelphia Eagles.
NGUYEN: He's not getting a lot of playing time.
HOLMES: Not a lot of playing time but still a lot of impact off the field in talking to kids about dog fighting and things like that.
NGUYEN: It's going to be interesting to see how he's going to be received once he does step back on the field at the Georgia Dome today.
HOLMES: Yes, well see today.
NGUYEN: That's one of our topics. So let us know what you think about it and hit us up on our Facebook and Twitter accounts. We want to see what you're talking about when it comes to Michael Vick coming back to Georgia today.
All right, there's much more to come on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. It seems that we've been hearing a lot of stories lately, high-profile stories about violence among America's youth. A lot of that has to do with gun violence and a lot of it has been centered, unfortunately, on the city of Chicago. Many say it's just out of control there.
So this week, I went to Chicago. I spent some time there with faith leaders in that community. I sat down with a Muslim, a Catholic father and two Baptist ministers. They are quite, frankly, angry. They say homes are broken, the educational system is broken. They want parents to step up. But they also say the faith community needs to step up as well.
Here's our conversation in this morning's "Faces of Faith."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: What's wrong with these kids?
REV. STEPHEN THURSTON, NEW COVENANT M.B. CHURCH: I think there is a lack of parental development in many of our kids and also a lack of focus for African-American men.
MINISTER ISHMAEL MUHAMMAD, MOSQUE MARYAM: We're in error to look at our children and our young as the problem. For in that term, when we say the young or the youth -- it's you, it's you, it's me, it's us.
REV. MICHAEL PFLEGER, ST. SABINA CATHOLIC CHURCH: Well, you take broken family structure, broken community structure, we're disconnected from one another. You take an influx of guns all around this country. You take poor education. You take unemployment. And you put all this together, plus we teach violence in this country.
HOLMES: Now, what do you mean when you say, we are teaching them violence?
PFLEGER: We teach, when we're mad at somebody, we bomb you. We teach how we treat one another. Look at talk shows, the meanness, look at the health care meetings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How dare you? Come on.
PFLEGER: When you have adults, 50 and 60-year-olds pushing each other, calling each other names. We have video games. We glorify it in the music and in games and in videos. And you see all this, we've taught them well how to be mean to each other.
HOLMES: And Reverend Meeks, that sounds like we have a breakdown of morality.
REV. JAMES MEEKS, SALEM BAPTIST CHURCH: And we have a breakdown in morality. And so you couple everything that has been said with the fact that 85 percent of the schools that have produced all of the violence, these kids come from schools where there is the worst teacher quality.
HOLMES: Well and Father, you have a quote out there, I guess that's gotten some attention. I think you made it at a rally, where you said, parents need to get a hold of their children.
PFLEGER: Parents have to get a hold of their children, they have to know where their children are at. They have to be held responsible to their children. We have no communication out in the street and the homes are broken down so we live in little bubbles in our own little room. So we have to hold parents accountable, but we also have to hold communities accountable again for what happens, how we take care of each other.
HOLMES: That sounds huge. That sounds like a big --how do you change that culture?
MUHAMMAD: We have lost that connection to God and thereby the family has broken up. And so if the church can take their ministries, which we are attempting to do in making that effort every day, take the gospel, take the ministry, take the word of God from the four walls of a mosque or a church and take it into the streets.
HOLMES: You mentioned there, a loss of a connection to God.
MUHAMMAD: Yes.
HOLMES: When did that happen? Why did that happen?
MUHAMMAD: Over the last 30, 40, 50 years, we see a further departure from God.
CHILDREN: We pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
MUHAMMAD: I think that it is a crime that our children are forbidden to lift God in the school and to say prayer, yet we allow them or permit them to pledge an allegiance to a flag where the name of God is invoked. They, of course, are chasing after money that has God's name printed on it.
HOLMES: Father, you famously put up a billboard and essentially issued a challenge out there to folks, telling them, you're not going to be shooting at our kids, you're not going to be shooting on our streets. We will put a bounty on your head.
PFLEGER: We have to send the message that you cannot shoot children and kill children, go home and turn on TV, go to McDonalds, kick it home and everything's fine like that's normal. That is not normal. One of the things, as faith leaders, we've got to do is wake up the conscience of America.
THURSTON: We have a right to live in peace without fear. We have a right to raise African-American young men to be productive and to be heads of households.
MEEKS: God does not call us all to the same vision.
Father Pfleger has a vision. He's dealing with guns, he's dealing with the billboards, while Thurston says, look, I think the family is what's wrong. So he puts together a campaign and me and Father Pfleger and Minister Ishmael join him in that campaign.
I think it's the educational system. I think the state is not doing its part. All of us don't have to work on the same thing. All of us shouldn't work on the same thing. HOLMES: And certainly can't have this conversation with you guys without bringing out Derrion Albert. Have this video of it, but when you saw it, you've been here all this time and seen a lot of things, but were you surprised or even shocked?
PFLEGER: I was shocked and saddened to see it. I was not shocked to realize that this can take place. Until that faith community puts back that moral compass and we address again the spirit and the soul of our people, we're going to continue to see outbreaks. And Derrion Albert will be one more.
HOLMES: Give me the good news.
MUHAMMAD: This is the best generation that we have produced. And it's a generation of promise, but it's also a generation of prophetic fulfillment. That's the good news.
THURSTON: The good news is change and the possibility of change. It's what has presented us with the first African-American President of the United States. And I believe it's what undergirds us as a people and as a faith people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. And again, as we heard there, Betty, at the beginning, the first question, you know, and the way I phrased it, I was talking about, people always say, what's wrong with these kids?
The answer is nothing. Absolutely nothing is wrong with the kids. It's the environment they happen to be around that kind of shapes them and puts them some tough situations. But those kids are just as bright and they want the same thing that every other kid in this country wants.
NGUYEN: And actually you got a chance to talk to a lot of these kids.
HOLMES: A lot -- that's going to be coming up. We'll be sharing that in the next couple of weeks. Talked to a lot of kids about what they go through. Something as simple as their walk to and from school every day can be the toughest and most stressful thing they go through day in and day out; the things that me and you and a lot of other kids can't even relate to. You know, can't even relate to.
NGUYEN: And just surviving sometimes that walk to school.
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness, yes.
NGUYEN: All right. That's coming up. Looking forward to that.
And this too, the troop surge in Afghanistan -- pretty much everyone is voicing their opinion on the president's decision. Our young viewers weigh in on that topic.
HOLMES: That, plus students take on another controversial issue. Should parents be punished when their kids skip school? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right.
So for all you students out there, we are finding out how you feel about the Afghanistan troop surge.
HOLMES: Also, this is an interesting one. If you ditch school -- Carl, we're curious to hear the answer here -- should your parents be held responsible?
Of course, Carl Azuz, our student news guy here with us. We'll get to that in a second.
But on Afghanistan, that was big news, of course. Every news outlet was covering. But your audience is those students. How do you go about giving that story to them?
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS: You know many of them are in high school. And we want to talk about civics. We want to promote civic engagement with CNN Student News.
And a way to do this is to talk about the president's role as the commander in chief of Afghanistan. It's the constitution that gives him the authority to send troops there.
But more than that, we wanted to get into a little bit how Congress controls the purse strings. So you heard about those senators who -- a small group of them -- who oppose sending any more troops to Afghanistan. We talked about how Congress, though it's very unlikely, could vote not to fund the president's move in Afghanistan. And that would effectively tie his hands.
As I said, it's not something that's at all likely in this case, but it is something that's possible and it goes along with civics lessons. And those are some of the things we want to touch on in Student News.
NGUYEN: Well, what kind of feedback are you getting? What are the students saying about all that?
AZUZ: At one point, Betty, they were split 50/50. We had a quick poll: do you support the president's decision to send troops to Afghanistan? 50/50. Now it's trending, as you might expect, from younger students, trending negative, 54 percent saying no.
But we have a couple of comments for you this morning. We have one from Bryant. He is saying, "If it will mean ending this long struggle that we have been engaged in, then it would be a good idea to troop surge Afghanistan."
On the other side of it showing how students are pretty polarized, we have Ashley. She's saying, "America is already in a lot of debt. If we sent more troops over, it could only make things worse."
HOLMES: I love hearing students comment sometimes. They simplify things the way adults -- we should simplify them.
NGUYEN: We can take a lesson from them sometimes.
HOLMES: We should.
There are some other stories here. I know there are other things you talk. But this was fascinating to me. Should parents get in trouble if their kids skip school?
NGUYEN: That's a good one. I think you're going to find people on both sides and strongly dug in.
AZUZ: Absolutely. It was a Wisconsin judge who came up with this idea in a district in Wisconsin. What he's doing is he's saying, look, you see him right there holding truancy court. If students are repeatedly truant or skipping, he's going to penalize them. If it keeps up, he brings in the parents and could fine them as much as $366.
That is negotiable. Parents could show, up try to work out a plan, get their students out of it. But that's how he tackling this. And we even had one student, most of them are against it, they say students should have responsibility for this, for their own school truancy.
One student saying, "Look, last I checked, it was the parent's job to parent their children. If the children aren't showing up, the parent should be held accountable."
HOLMES: Absolutely.
AZUZ: So it's a good story. You can see more at cnnstudentnews.com on our blog there. All kinds of -- we have like 400 comments -- close to 400 comments on it.
HOLMES: Now that's a good one there.
NGUYEN: Good topic. Yes, exactly.
Thank you, Carl.
HOLMES: Great stuff this morning. Thanks Carl.
AZUZ: My pleasure.
HOLMES: Good look.
NGUYEN: Yes. Very studious.
AZUZ: I was going for the English professor thing.
NGUYEN: I like that.
HOLMES: Thanks Carl.
NGUYEN: Well, they're on the front lines of the economic crisis. HOLMES: We're talking about small business owners here who say they've been hit by the perfect storm or the recession, but there's a way the government can help. We'll hear the solutions from jump- starting the economy and jobs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, owning a small business is a staple in the American Dream.
HOLMES: Yes. But as CNN's Kate Bolduan tells us, it's getting harder and harder to hold on to it, and that's having a devastating effect on jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it just you here today? Are you alone?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Denise D'Amour opened Capitol Hill Bikes in 2000.
DENISE D'AMOUR, OWNER, CAPITOL HILL BIKES: Our first expansion was really to open up that back room where we had a lot of our accessories, pumps, helmets.
BOLDUAN (on camera): You just outgrew your space.
D'AMOUR: We outgrew the space.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): When economic times were good, D'Amour needed to expand to make room for the booming business, a small business owner's dream.
D'AMOUR: Then came the perfect storm of the recession, the lack of cash, we couldn't support this real estate anymore.
BOLDUAN: D'Amour cut payroll from 20 to 8 employees. She even tapped into her retirement fund to keep the business afloat. But frozen credit and limited access to cash is forcing Capitol Hill Bikes to close its doors.
Small businesses across the country are facing the very same painful decisions. ADP, a payroll processor, estimates companies with fewer than 50 employees cut another 68,000 workers last month.
It's something President Obama is trying to show he's tackling head on. Hosting a jobs forum Thursday and promising new ideas to kick-start hiring once again.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are constantly looking for more ways that we can push the banks and the credit markets to get money into the hands of small and medium-sized businesses.
BOLDUAN: $730 million of stimulus money went to the small business administration to unlock lending markets. But small business owners on the front lines say they need more help.
RYAN FOCHLER, OWNER, DOG PAW'N CAT CLAWS: The lack of capital has just completely stunted our growth and has prevented us from even hiring even more people than what we currently have.
BOLDUAN: Until that happens, Ryan Fochler says for his pet daycare and grooming company the credit crunch is like working with his hands tied behind his backs.
Back at Capitol Hill Bikes, Denise D'Amour has proved that doesn't work for long and she hopes Washington is listening.
(on camera): What would you say to them about your situation and what you need?
D'AMOUR: We need ready access, easy access to cash to support some cash flow through the hard times.
BOLDUAN: Democrats on Capitol Hill are already considering a jobs package of sorts to include more direct lending to small businesses, among other measures. And president Obama is expected to lay out his specific ideas for spurring job creation in a speech scheduled Tuesday.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING" is coming up at the top of the hour.
HOLMES: First, we've got a quick check of some stories making some headlines.
NGUYEN: First up, President Obama heads to Capitol Hill later today. He's going to meet with Senate Democrats in hopes of keeping the public option in the health care reform bill. The issue has divided some moderate and liberal Democrats. The senate will continue its weekend session at 12:30 Eastern.
Let's get you some weather right now with Bonnie Schneider.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A powerful storm is winding up in the Pacific and taking aim at the West Coast. We're looking at heavy mountain snow and heavy rain for southern California.
Watch out, because we're going to be see winter storm warnings in effect as early as tonight for areas in the Sierra Nevada. And in Colorado, it's already snowing right now; in Denver, look to 3 to 6 inches of snow. Blizzard conditions will develop on Monday through the mountain west. We'll be looking at blinding snow and gusts up to 50 miles per hour. So it's going to be tough to travel on Monday in this part of Colorado.
That is a look at your forecast. We're tracking this extreme weather here on CNN. "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING" starts right now.
