fox's doug luzader has more on the push. >> reporter: chicago may be a favorite, but it's not a lock. president obama is hoping that his personal appeal to the international olympic committee will help seal the deal. as sales calls go, it doesn't get much more high pressure than this. air force one touching down in copenhagen. for all the haggling and deal making that goes on within the international olympics committee, the president is hoping hisoice cut througit all. >> if we walk this path together, then i promise you this. the city of chicago and the united states of america will make the world proud. >> reporter: and it's not just the president, it's the first lady and perhaps chicago's best- known resident, oprah winfrey. all hoping their star power will sway the ioc vote. >> and i am dreaming of an olympic and paralympic games in chicago that will light up lives in neighborhoods all across america and all across the world. >> i think it's the greatest city in america. i say that even in new york city. >> reporter: chicago is competing with three other cities. its biggest challe

doug luzader joins us now from capitol hill. , the decision now just hours away. >> reporter: good morning. yeah, just a few hours away here. chicago is considered a favorite, but it's certainly not a lock. the president is hoping that he's able to convince the international olympic committee to select chicago to really kind of seal the deal. so this was a concerted effort on the part of the president and the first lady, even oprah winfrey was involved in this. kind of the final message here for the chicago team that's been trying to sell that city. they're up against three other major contenders here, tokyo, madrid, rio degentleman narrow and rio may be the real challenge. chicago is coming pretty cheap and that could help them. they do have a couple of strikes against them, though, one of which being a fair amount of public opposition in that city to having the olympics there, surprisingly enough. but given all of that chicago is still considered a front runner, especially having this high profile team going there to try to win

doug luzader has the latest from capitol hill. >> reporter: the president is meeting with robert gates today at the white house. and when it comes to afghanistan, both the administration and the public are deeply divided. [ sound of gunfire ] >> reporter: u.s. troops have seen heavy fighting in recent weeks but nothing compares to what happened this weekend in a remote province north of afghanistan. where insurgents killed eight u.s. troops. that will fuel the debate this week about sending many more troops. >> i hope the president will send them in and let us work together because the taliban will win if we don't change course soon. >> reporter: it's no secret general stanley mcchrystal wants more troops, as many as 40,000, but there is a rift in the white house over that request, with some, including the vice president, saying to push for fewer troops and mcchrystal was asked last week whether a smaller group could get the job done. >> the short answer is no. >> reporter: and many say mcchrystal is seeing a limited picture. >> mcchrystal has presented his opinion of what he thinks hi