were back. what have you learned? >> that it's a very, very special christmas at the vat kipp this year. >> that's just not right. acrobats and the chippendale's dancer. >> that's not right. >> what have you learned, mike? >> that senator jon kyl probably had to soak his face in cement before he made that preposterous statement about harry reid being sacrilegious. >> and i just realized you could turn to the vatican for help on what to give susan for her birthday. >> i guess i could. speaking of susan on her birthday, look at that. happy birthday, susan scarborough. she's going to kill me for putting up her picture. sleaze a beautiful, beautiful girl. 29 years young today. or something like that. >> we're still celebrating anniversaries. willie, way too early. what time is it? >> it's "morning joe." stick around for "the daily

rundown" with chuck and savannah. senator kyl and demint to remind me of what christmas means. >> happy holidays. capitol hill got to a new shiny wrapped partisan fight over christmas. down, but not out, with the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll says about president obama's prospects for 2012 and out of his would-be republican challengers. plus, what was the worst moment on capitol hill? so many low lives to choose one. only one receives the coveted chuvannah award. it's thursday, december 16th, 2010. i'm savannah guthrie. >> and i'm chuck todd. we're going to get to the rundown's in a moment. first what we're watching. we'll going to begin with the war progress. how long can the president hold off discontent with the war from his democratic base? trust me.

it's already there. just how many troops can begin to withdraw next summer, also watching s.t.a.r.t. will the white house and senate democrats round up enough republicans to ratify the treaty now before christmas, or will senator kyl and his allies succeed in delaying it until next year. >> looks like they might. plus, the decade is ending. how happy are americans to leave it behind? apparently very. more than half called the first ten years of the 21st century one of the worst in a very long time. we need to remind ourselves, we have just gone through the first ten years. >> tough. the great recession. >> hard to find good news. begin with today's news. house democrats get one last shot to voice opposition to the tax vote bill. a vote could come with hours. kelly o'donnell, any chance that the house passes something, they change it enough they have to send it back to the senate, or is this getting done today? >> reporter: really looks unlikely they would torpedo this

deal. what does look lukely, they will get to, in the words of nancy pelosi, make their point. they have an amendment that would alter the estate tax and put back $28 billion, reducing that from the federal deficit raising the amount the estate tax would have to pay. one of the things they have been worried about, but not expected to be enough to change the deal, but it is expected to give democrat whose have been fighting about this and those concerned about not only what the wealthy are getting but what it does to the deficit to have their moment. that we expect today. all of the expectation is, this does get done and goes to the president's desk to be signed. >> kelly, bring us up to date on the war on christmas. nothing is sacred on capitol hill i guess. tell us about it. >> reporter: bubbling up. republicans say harry reid didn't want to bring forward some of the controversial things during his election season. remember he was re-elected in that tough fight in november and is trying to do it all now. harry reid says republicans have

been dragging their feet all year blocking everything, and what it means is they're likely to work into next week, when everyone was supposed to be going home tomorrow. and this really has prompted a blasting back and forth. seems everybody around here is invoking the word christmas. >> the democrat leadership somehow thinks that by being here christmas week that that's an act of courage. that they're being courageous by having congress here because we're doing all of these important things. >> it's offensive to me and millions of working americans across this country for any senator suggesting that working through the christmas holidays has somehow sacrilegious or disrespectful. >> reporter: and, of course, last year it was christmas eve when the health care vote was taken. that messed up people's plans, too. while this had religious overattorneys and people getting upset about that, i've had members in both parties say they feel bad for staffers who booked a ticket home to see mom or the cafeteria staff or police officers who work here. all of those folk whose expected

to be done tomorrow, and it looks for sure we're working the weekend and maybe into next week. so there are lots of levels at which this is inconvenient and, of course, everybody reminds us, there are a lot of folk whose work on the holidays and that the senate may be among them. >> yeah. all right, kelly o'donnell on this. i heard from one democratic senator we may be here until the 23rd, meaning the president delays his trip as well oenchts, yes. >> kelly, thank you. elsewhere on the hill, starting the business of ratifying s.t.a.r.t. strts. the nuclear arms treaty with russia. will they finish it? republican are digging in saying there's no way to get it done before the christmas break. joe biden told andrea mitchell that is just not acceptable. >> what do you say to senate senator kyl and the others who are dragging their feet? >> get out of the way. there's too much at stake. too much at stake for america's national security, and don't tell me about christmas. i understand christmas. i have been a senator for a long time. i have been there many years where we go right up to

christmas. there's ten days between now and christmas. i hope i don't get in the way of your christmas shopping, but, this is the nation's business. this is a national security at stake. act. act. >> you can see andrea's entire exclusive interview with vice president biden a little later today on "andrea mitchell reports" 1:00 eastern time right here on msnbc. later this morning, the president officially unveils the administration's review of the afghanistan war effort. the headline, new strategy showing progress and troops still on track. the surge troops to start coming home next summer. live for us at the white house, athena jones, lay out how they're going to roll this out today. >> reporter: good morning, chuck. 11:45, it's president will come out and give a speech talking about the assessment, then roll out secretary clinton engaging and talking to the press. important to note, no big surprises are expected in the

assessment or review in terms of strategy. without gibbs pointed out yet, months of meetings with the national security team on afghanistan, afghan policy, no surprise our strategy is working. would have made adjustments along the way, reports coming back weekly from the field if they thought their overall strategy wasn't working. the go remains the same. dismantle and defeat al qaeda. breaking down the assessment into three fields. al qaeda, pakistan and afghanistan. they say as far as al qaeda, they've been weakened. the senior leadership weakened in pakistan. the taliban in afghanistan, they're momentum rolled back. the real question is, whether they can make the gains durable and sustainable, and the key point there is the partnership with pakistan. there's been a lot of concern about the fact that the pakistan military intelligence sources aren't doing enough on their side of the border to defeat

there. run across the border to afghanistan, plant ieds and go back to pakistan. that's the big issue going back and forth. >> a busy day with the president coming out to roll out this review. >> deja vu in afghanistan. we heard the same thing. worried about pakistan, hamid karzai. the same problems linger. >> the unclassified version we've seen gives persistent issues of gloss. >> speaking of unclassified versions. >> a good sayingway to wikileaks. julian assange allowed to walk out of prison. short time ago a london judge reject attempts to keep him behind bars. live outside the courtroom in london. peter, bring us up to days on his status and i'm sure you've heard about federal prosecutors here in this country looking at potential conspiracy case against assange in connection with these leaked documents? >> reporter: savannah, that's

been the concern for julian assange's defense throughout this process. not concern about the actual charges in sweden claiming their client is innocent of those charges, or allegations throughout. there are concerns if she extradited to sweden the u.s. would try to have him es tra dieted there. a sense where we stand outside it's courtroom. a two-hour hearing wrapped up a short time ago. the judge rejecting the british appeal assange be kept behind bails. he granted the bail. $315,000. meaning assange would be freed perhaps as early as today. nbc news also spoke to assange's lawyer as short time ago and they clarified the details what has to happen. new restrictive conditions put on top of this bail. those conditions require even more money to be provided by at least five prominent supporters of julian assange. a sureties they're referred to here. it means they say he may not in fact leave prison until tomorrow. what it does happen when it does, an extraordinary change of scenery. from the prison here in london,

the largest prison in this entire country to about an hour, two hours away from here to a 600 acre estate where he will be living in a ten bedroom mansion that belongs to a friend of him. a prominent journalist and supporter of what he's been doing. that's the latest. back to you. >> peter alexander in london. what could be a fascinating day there. thanks. first bitter cold and snow. now the problem is ice across the midwest leading to at least five deaths. look at this 67-foot high lighthouse on cleveland harbor where surf and frigid temperatures have it completely encased in ice. the weather channel's julie martin is live for us in louisville, kentucky, this morning, where it has taken the brunt of this storm. people forget, as bad as snow can be, ice always seems to do more damage. >> reporter: ice is worse. we're seeing a lot of ice here. the good news, chuck and savannah, it's starting to melt away. i've been helping the process

here all morning long, at least on this corner of the city streets, but if you look behind me, you can see here that the traffic is actually moving along pretty well. a couple of things working in our favor here in louisville. first, the city has been out all night long treating the roadways. secondly, temperatures are on the rise. now overnight we were below freezing most of the evening. freezing range, sheets of ice everywhere around the city, but we started to warm up earlier this morning. so right now we're in about 33 degrees, which means all of this is going to start melting as it is and continue to melt throughout the day today. so amazingly, no major power outages here. the airport's looking good this morning. just five flight cancellations, and the roadways, the interstates, everything also faring pretty well, but, you know, as we know, this system still continues to track eastward. there's a lot more to come and we'll monitor that for both of you. back to you guys. >> julie martin from the weather channel. thank you. new jobs and housing numbers out today. how are they driving the

markets? for a preview of what's ahead in wall street, we get to becky quick. good morning. >> good morning savannah and chuck. looks like the futures indicating a stronger open on wall street. like we're up for the dow futures by 20 points above fair value after we have good news on the jobs front. out with the weekly jobless claims. down by 3,000, not a big drop, down to 420,000. lowest level weeb we've seen, second low et seen this whole year. the trend is going in the right direction as three weeks in a row we've seen lower numbers coming in. a lot of people hopeful maybe we're getting at the point to chip away at unemployment. numbers today on housing. a mixed bag. new home starts out up by 3.9%. permits down by 4%. permits give a lot of indication about what's to come over the next few months. fedex out with numbers that were a little disappointing. right now futures down, at least it looks like opening shares down 2% but gave good news, too. let me tell you quickly. fedex said that volume's

improving and starting to reinstate some employee benefits. a good picture for the american worker as well. back to you. >> becky thank you. well, coming up, with the clock running down on congress' busy agenda, what are the ish issues the american people care most about? we'll dig deeper in the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll with our pollsters. in a year where bipartisanship seems like a four-letter word, the worst moment from congress in 2010? get excited. the chuvannah awards for capitol hill low lives coming up. >> a lot of nominees here. first a look ahead at the president's schedule. >> 12:05 eastern, the 11:45 statement from the president, also secretary of state hillary clinton, defense secretary robert gates and general cartwright and robert gibbs, all there. a good time in the briefing room talking about the afghanistan strategy. you're watching "the daily

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well, president obama by his own admission took a shellacking of late. our latest "wall street journal" poll shows he not down for the count. his approval rating sits at 45%. remarkably stable. two points down from where he ended 2009. >> here to break down the poll, joins by poll sisters, thanks for being here. let's start with what's striking from this poll. you see divide between how the electorate views the president personally and professionally. our first number we have to show is that the personal number's around 58%. the professional, 36%. and if you break it down by some of these qualities, the personal qualities they like his

personality, easy going. we can put up some of the attributes people like that gave basically 58% positive. when you look at the professional qualities, firm and decisive, knowledgeable experience, good commander in chief, he take as hit. what's going on here, bill? >> a gap between how they feel about the president and his performance. high unemployment, economy's not improving and doubts about his abilities in office. he's being sustained because there's an element of goodwill and people want him, i believe to about good president. >> struck me, too, this other question. is he going to be a successful president, unsuccessful or too early to judge. too early to judge number grew by two points from last year to this year. here we are one year in. made sense 40% said too early. two years in, 42% said that. >> good news for the president in some respects. that his fate is all ahead of him, and at some level in his

control. you know when you talk about the hen taking a shellacking in november, what's clear, it was more the democratic party taking a shellacking. i don't think people were rejecting president obama and the poll suggests that. >> a couple of items. key initiatives for the president as we get towards the end of the year. the tax cut agreement gets 59% approve until our poll. the s.t.a.r.t. treaty, arms troll treaty with russia, 70% approval for ratification. specifically about the tax cut deal. was all of this press coverage, talking about democrats role overplayed looking at the numbers answers breaking it down by democrats? >> clearly so. there's another number in this poll where, asked people, should democrats compromise with republicans, and republicans voters asked, should republicans compromise with democrats? even liberal democrats say they have to compromise. people know the country is in deep country and want to get

things done. i think what's important about s.t.a.r.t. and the tax deal, it goes to one of those professional qualities in which the president's numbers are lower, which is accomplishing his goals. ironically, he could end the year with two really big wins for himself and the country that could affect that number. >> bill, our first sort of look at 2012. yes, it's early. we're going to, people will say, we just finished an election. what are you doing to us? we did. matched up the president against an unknown republican. he looks like he's in trouble there. just 42% say the president, 39% would plook at republican. everybody else, ub decided. names with the faces he does better. the president a 47% ceiling against romney or thune but blows away a certain other, the most well-known republican potentially in the field sarah palin at 55/33. focus on sarah palin. >> a 50% negative. so does nancy pelosi. i was here two months ago saying

that speaker of the house pelosi at 50% negative, that's a big, big negative. you have to say the same about governor palin. it means, should she run, she has a large shot to do to soften the numbers and try to change people's perception. hard to do in america. and i think the sectsd thing about this poll is that it reflects, we've also been talking about. the spread doing extraordinarily well, african-american, latinos, age 29-year-olds and asian and a base that's no insubstantial of a multicandidate race for president. >> one more item, leaving troops in afghanistan until 2014. 53% overall. the democrats, the president's potentially really going to face an uprising with the democratic race over this war issue. >> i think that is a possibility. there's question in the poll about what issues are most important to you, and for a liberal democrat, the issue of

afghanistan rises up pretty, to a high level, and you know, we've just went through one campaign where foreign policy was not part of the conversation as all, but that may not be the case in 2012. >> people forget it was foreign policy that actually got barack obama in this nomination. >> if i were a liberal democrat and said the president, still in afghanistan did not close guantanamo, made a deal on taxes. it's not hard to run a primary pap primer that wins? i don't know. from my party, looking at the democrat side, that's a 30%, 35% votes in the primary as a protest vote. it could be a real pain for the president. >> a real issue to watch. great to have our pollsters here to break doin the numbers. thank you. still ahead, what's the bottom line from the white house's big strategy review on afghanistan? saying anything about troops leaving this upcoming summer. and the chuvannah continues. cue the music. capitol hill, you made this category easy. we will honor the worst moment

in congress, coming up. first, our washington speak. interagency. one of my favorite bureaucratic words. the sharing of ideas across different branches or agency ever the government. for example, president obama's afghanistan strategy review out today was an interagency process with inputs from all across the government. everyone from the cia to the department of justice. if you have some washington speak you'd like us to clarify, do send us an e-mail. "daily rundown"@msnbc.com. >> all the inner agency stuff is you how wikileaks was able to steal -- worked really well. >> a cloud over the silver lining for you, chuck. we'll be right back. appraiser: well you rarely see them in this good of shape. appraiser: for example the fingers are perfect. appraiser: the bird is in mint condition. appraiser: and i would say if this were to go to auction today, appraiser: conservatively it would be worth 2 in the bush. woman: really? appraiser: it's just beautiful, thank you so much for bringing it in. woman: unbelievable

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the less than memorable moments. the low life. >> so many nominees. ones that didn't make it. you should feel honored just to get the nomination. the nominations are -- the shake down speech. congressman surprised his own party welcoming the bp chief executive tony hayward to the him with an apology. said he was ashamed the white house for extracting a $20 billion compensation fund for victims. >> i'm ashamed of what happened in the white house yesterday. i think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what i would characterize as a shakedown. >> okay. our next nominee, the mad rant. new york congressman peter king and anthony weiner reminded us why congressional approval is at 13%. acting out a parable of

politics, derailing even popular legislation. republican members tried to attach a so-called poison pill amendment to the health bill for 9/11 workers preventing first responders, illegal immigrants from collecting benefits and they dared democrats to vote against it ahead of the election. democrats set up debate under rules that precluded amendments making it certain the bill would fail and the congressmen made it kind of about them. >> what we are doing tonight is a cruel hoax and charade. everyone knows that this bill will not get the two-thirds majority required under the is spengs calendar. blame it on republicans and i've been extremely critical of the republican stance on this issue. the reality is, you could pass this bill if you wanted to. >> you vote yes if you believe yes. you vote in favor of something if you believe it's the right thing. if you believe it's the wrong thing you vote no. we are following a procedure -- i will not yield to -- and the gentleman will observe regular order. the gentleman will observe regular order!

>> our next nominee it was the baby killer outburst after michigan congressman bart stupak negotiating add compromise with other pro-life anti-abortion democrats in the final hours of the health care debate. texas congressman randy had something of a -- you lie moment. >> those who are shouting out are out of order. mr. speaker -- >> you heard it there. just barely, of course. the claim after the fact, he yelled, it's a baby killer saying i deeply regret my actions were mistakenly directed as towards congressman stupak himself. generalizing, of course. those about to think we're about to announce a winner. not so fast. low life is a competitive category. our final nominees and award the cha van inn in our next half hour. >> that's a tease that is a tease. coming up, waxing poetic

today. 'twas the fight before christmas all through the house. >> democrats stirring continuing to grouse. has the tax fight been bad for party unit ji dnc chairman tim mccain joins us in a minute. u.t. plus, the white house expressing cautious optimism in afghanistan. what does that mean for the planned troop drawdown next summer? and the wife of the man who opened fire on a florida school board meeting speaks out about her husband's troubled past. that story next. first, today's trivia question. this one from the almanac of american politics. who is the highest ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in congress? the answer and more ahead on "the daily rundown." don't forget mrs. collier. i won't. ♪ [ female announcer ] clear some snow. ♪ or spread a little warmth.

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thursday. >> the house will vote today on the obama tax compromise after the measure sailed try the senate yesterday by an 81-19 vote. republicans and democrats agreed to extend the bush era tax rates where all americans and passed an extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed goes to the house now. and the war in afghanistan concluding the u.s. is on track too begin withdrawing surged forces in july but the scope and pace of that withdrawal still uncertain. we're going to have more on the afghanistan report just ahead this half hour. the legal fight over health care reform shifts to a florida courtroom today days after a judge in virginia ruled parts of the new law unsons touche. attorneys from 20 states and the justice department will present arguments. at issue, whether be exceeds the law of federal power. and new details about the plan who opened fire at a florida school board meeting this week before turning the gun on himself. police say clay duke was an ex-con with a bipolar disorder

who's wife lost her unemployment benefits after lose her teaching job and say the attack was not spur of the moment. they say at duke's home they found a calendar with the date december 14th circled on it. duke's wife says he was overcome by the pressures. >> the economy and world just got the better of him, and along with his bipolar, it just set him up for this horrible event. >> this november the u.s. foreclosure rate dropped to the lowest level in 18 months largely as the result of foreclosure freezes initiated by several banks. total foreclosures for 2010 hit more than 980,000. the highest number since 2005. the government is outlining drop side cribs. the ones where a side of the crib lowers to give caregivers access to the infant after the deaths of more than 30 infants

and toddlers in the past decade. the cribs are under scrutiny because of malfunctioning hardware creating a space for the child to been trapped or strangled. politics may be all over but shouting over what they call giveaways to the rich are threatening to derail the president's tax tax. critics acknowledge this is likely to pass. >> the chairman joins us, senator kaine. seems the polls about this tax compromise doesn't match the rhetoric we're hearing on capitol hill. it was -- 59% in our nbc/"wall street journal" poll support this plan including 54% of democrats and in fact go deeper. 50% of zeself-described liberal democrats support the deal. a disconnect between capitol hill and the american public?

>> chuck, it might be. look, folks have their own individual districts. us a know, districts can have a particular temperament that don't match the national mood. i've been in six it is in the last six weeks talking to democratic audiences about this tax compromise, and while there are people who are against it and strongly against it, the strong majority of people that i'm seeing out across the country think, a, it was an important thing to do. that the benefits both in terms of the continuing economic recovery and taking care of, you know, working poor and middle class are very, very important, and they also understand we have to find compromise on big picture issues. gridlock isn't an answer for anything. i do think that the national anecdotal evidence i'm seeing is close mamped to wh ed matched t is showing. >> if that's the case, senator kaine, outspoken democrats in congress railing against this plan helped create a perception it's democrats on the losing end of this deal? republicans have been silent.

largely approving of it. which sort of creates the impression they're the ones who won this battle? >> you know, can you figure out which side wins. it's a winner for the american public. again, the goal of the proceed is, we have an economy that's gone from shrinking to growing. that's a good thing, but the growth rate isn't yet what it needs to be. it needs to be stronger, and he has a, he and his team have a strong belief this deal will accelerate the path of economic recovery. that's good for everybody. it's good for every district. that is the bull's eye the president has tried to hit and people have different opinions about it, but he feels strongly that the economy needs this right now. >> you know, i want to talk about another poll number in our nbc "wall street journal" survey and that is the direction of the country. what was remarkable about it, governor kaine, the 63% number is the highest now in the entire first term of president obama. look, we know it's the economy that is casting this pall but

what it's going to take to get america out of this funk? a long process it get back to real unemployment of 5%, 6%. >> sure. >> do you really think can you sort of inspire the country out of this funk? >> you know, a lot of leadership, chuck, the way you put it, is psychological. i mean, it's about the data, but it is also about kind ever the feeling that you have about the ark that you're on. i don't think we've got to get back to 5% unemployment for people to start feeling good again. what we need to, is we freed to get need to get on a path of going in the right direction. my sense is that the clarification of where we're going to be economically with this tax compromise is not only going to put dollars into the economy through the ui benefits and payroll adjustments, also will create a climate of certainty over the next two years we believe and the president was asking for this yesterday is going to take some of the cash that's on the

sidelines now and make economies sky, hey, it's okay to invest again. that will create a psychology that will not only lead to a stronger economic recovery but a better national mood. so these polls, there is good numbers and bad numbers in the poll you guys have today. i suspect after the passage of this tax compromise, with two or through months we'll see additional positive economic news, and i think you're going to see the mood start to lift, and that feeds on itself in a positive way. >> quickly, governor kaine, the president has said, acknowledged, he needs to make mid-course corrections in the wake of the mid-term elections. he hasn't said what those corrections will be. what do you think the administration should change? >> well, i think, you're seeing it in the president doing the very strong outreach to the business community. look, if we want jobs, the business community has to be a critical partner. you know, i think there has been maybe too much made of, oh, there's a disconnect with the business community. you guys probably know, if you put a dollar in the stock

market, the day president bush was inaugurated, worth 78 cents. the end of his term, $1 invested on inaugural for president b worth thor than $1.40. this president has done good things for the business community. your outreach, important. trying to find compromise is important. you've seen the corrections and adjustments made and i think you'll see more of them. >> this time next month, still chairman of the dnc? >> i have ever reason to think they want me to continue, chuck. i serve at the pleasure of the president and the dnc member, but i love my job and think i'm going to stick with it. >> governor tim kaine, dnc chair. great to you have with us. >> thanks. talk to you soon. let's do our trivia. the highest ranking american soldier to ever serve in congress? >> key word, enlisted. >> minnesota congressman tim, in the rank of command sergeant major in the army national guard. still ahead, despite this being the bloodiest year of the

war in afghanistan, nearly a ten-year long war, the white house says the strategy is making headway. so how many troops are going to actually come home in july 2011? a reality check on the long awaited war report, next. first, let's see the white house soup of the day. the white house mess, serving chicken chili. >> i have to say, i really wish it were a chicken noodle day. everybody could use a little chicken nude e noodle soup. >> getting sick or under the weather. >> it's true. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. also available in small, easy-to-swallow petites. citracal.

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♪ i'm bob kearn, president of coit cleaning services. these pictures are the history of my family and they're also the history of coit. we've been in business for 60 years and our greatest asset has always been our people. we use the plum card from american express open to purchase everything we can and with the savings from the early pay discount, we were able to invest back into our business by hiring more great people like ruben here. how can the plum card's trade terms get your business booming? booming is a new employee named ruben. in two mours president obama will speak about the year doshld afghan strategy. the start date for troop withdrawal is on track and that l al qaeda central at its weakest since the war started. >> despite intelligence painting a grim picture, progress is

being made, vice president joe biden tells andrea mitchell. >> two overarching goals, defeat and derail central al qaeda located in afghanistan and pakistan in those mountains that, where they adjoin as well as protecting and making sure that nuclear security of pakistan is assured. they are overwhelmingly in the naked self-interests of the american people. the president is not going to continue a policy that he doesn't think in fact is going to accomplish both of those goals. >> jim miklaszewski is nbc news chief pernt correspondent and live in kabul, and i want to start in kabul, tia, give us, you've been there for months now. do you see a better security situation today than when you got there this last time in your assignment? >> reporter: chuck, i've been here two years now, and i have to tell you, there have been changes. some for the better. 13 some for the worse.

but when you see president obama's strategy originally implemented by then nato commander general stanley mcchrystal, this counterinsurgency strategy, the strategy to go with the people of afghanistan to try to win their support, there have been bits of improvement, and this year in particular, 2010, the focus has been on kandahar province. this time last year i went inside the city of kandahar. it was a pretty scary experience. had you to be on guard everywhere you went have security with you. from what i'm hearing on the ground in kandahar city, at least, the security situation has improved. the surrounding areas, bit by bit, day by day, there are still attacks going on in the province. there are still ieds laid out by the insurgency killing american soldiers, but at the same time it's better than it was earlier this summer. but that being said, and i think we're going to hear from president obama in his

assessment that that is still reversible. that this might not be able to be sustained if the americans, if the nato forces, don't continue the mission. kmuk and savannah? >> seems, the question of progress might come down to who you ask. folks in your building, in the pentagon, have been saying, give us more time. we are making progress. while some in the intelligence community paint a dire looking picture. >> pentagon and u.s. military officials will consistently tell you that those national intelligence estimates lag reality by anywhere from 4 four to six months. that conditions on the ground when that nie was put together are far different today than they were then, and it's important to remember that today on december 15th, the conditions have been set to begin troop withdrawal in july 2011. but the number of troops that come out, if any do come out in july 2011, will depend on conditions on the ground at the time. even if they're optimal at that

time i suspect you're going to see in july 2011 would be a token withdrawal, if any. after all, chuck, you well know, and savannah, they even changed the nomenclature. it's not the beginning of the withdrawal but the beginning of the transition. >> right. >> quickly, is this going well enough in the mind of secretary of state gates that he feels comfortable leaving, by the way, in 2011? leaving his post? wl . >> reporter: when i was there last week i asked that very question. he said he'll be comfortable leaving if the progress that -- progress continues, and it's irreversible. it's not there yet, but i think there's a heightened optimism among military commanders and even gates himself that it could be an irreversible progress by the time he leaves, but he won't tell us when that is. right now the guesstimate is somewhere perhaps right after that july 2011 deadline that the president has set. >> that's what we hear from atia

as well. thank you so much. we'll be right back. nobody in my family ever had a heart attack. if anything, i thought i'd get hit by a bus, but not a heart. all of a sudden, it's like an earthquake going off in your body. my doctor put me on an aspirin regimen to help protect my life. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone. so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. to my friends, i say, you know, check with your doctor, 'cause it can happen to anybody. [ male announcer ] be ready if a heart attack strikes. donate $5 to womenheart at iamproheart.com, and we'll send you this bayer aspirin pill tote.

suspense, you're feeling it, aren't you? >> excitement. >> chuvannah. for the capitol hill, lowlight of the year. >> let's recap the nominee. joe barton shakedown speech. and the alleged baby killer outburst towards bart stupic. facing ethic charges inviolating house rules. rangel took to the floor in august and talked and talked and talked and talked.

>> my lawyer says don't offend them. my friends say, don't go to the floor. and i say, what are you going to do with me. even some people said that the president has suggested that his life might be made easier if there was no charlie rangel so-called scandal. i'm thinking about all of you. the president wants dignity, let's have dignity in this house where the ethics committee means something. i don't want anyone to feel embarrassed, awkward. i am not going away. >> no, indeed. >> no, he is not. he got re-elected and he's still here. finally, stephen colbert's testimony stunt with the cooperation of some committee

democrats, not all of them. colbert took his fake newsman to the hill and turned lawmakers into props and the entire process into a joke. >> now, we all know there was a long tradition of great nations importing foreign workers to do their farm work. after all, it was the ancient israelites who built the first food pyramids. i don't want a tomato picked by a mexican. i want it picked by an american and sliced byguatemalan. >> there he is, this will make his fans happy or sad. >> mad at you. >> probably. colbert. who was the bigger joke the members of congress who brought

him or stephen colbert for doing that on the hill itself. >> haven't they had miss piggy testify? this isn't totally unprecedented. >> but i think it was the first time a human being came in character. the other ones were actually puppets. >> that's it for "daily rundown." more chuvannah excitement tomorrow. i think it is the best day tomorrow. >> we will keep you on the edge of your seat. coming next "chris jansing & company." >> we'll see you back here tomorrow. have a great day. ah, it's stinging a little bit more than usual! yeah, you'll get used to it. the longer you keep your high mileage car, the more it pays you back. get castrol gtx high mileage. it helps engines last longer by fighting the main causes of engine failure. i think a dime went up my nose. yeah, it happens. don't change your car. change your oil to castrol gtx high mileage. its more than just oil. it's liquid engineering.

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breaking news right now from new haven, connecticut, where fbi agents which joined local police after improvised explosive devices were found. a hazardous device unit is also on the scene after reports of what they're calling