we have ambassador holbrooke, another special portfolio for iran. i wonder what secretary of state clinton is doing these days? she is having a hard time finding a niec --iche. i am told from some sources that she is being isolated, and she tends to be on her own, not close to the people around obama, and not close to the vice president. >>. it is not true that richard holbrooke is seen running from the scene. >> former marine general jim jones, he should have obama's here --ear. there have been a number of stories saying he is competing with obama's campaign staff to help run the white house. jim jones is having to compete with this younger cadres of campaign workers to get space. >> that is that -- not the way it is supposed to be. eveready said he will bash heads together, he is one that looks bloodied at the moment. >> what we have in this white house, a strange thing, special envoy. we also have inside outside people in energy, someone on health care. in the white house, which leads a agency and the cabinet member with a layer between that pers

richard holbrooke. he is here in the situation room. >>> he tried to get the answers to the questions everyone is asking. why is she doing it? and what's next? >> when i first met your dad, the one thing he will me about you is how tough you were. no matter what was coming down the pike, sarah could handle it. did this prove tougher than you thought? >> what has proven tough is making this decision. it was a decision i did not make lightly. it was consideration before i made the decision. it is tough to take a tougher road, a less comfortable road, the comfortable road for most politicians is you just hang in there and go with the flow. especially through a lame duck session. you won't get anything done but you take advantage of it. do what you want to do your final year. tough is i won't take that comfortable path. i'll take the right path for the state. i'll let the state progress. and then i can get out there and help people. help effect change in our state and positive change in our nation. that's m

the white house's special envoy to the south asia region, holbrooke, richard holbrooke, said he seeshis as being a step forward. the pakistani officials are in touch with elements of the taliban. we remember during the election campaign that then candidate obama said america has to talk to its enemies, michael. >> that's right, john. and this is quite potentially the first major development in what's going to necessarily have to be part of a political process that will eventually end this conflict in afghanistan because this conflict is not going to be won with bombs and bullets alone. the generals and the diplomats all agree on that. now the afghan president hamid karzai has been reaching out to the taliban. but the taliban are in their sanctuaries in pakistan. so the true hope for any kind of dialogue still lays or lies with the pakistani military. and their acknowledgment that they are in touch with the top taliban leadership has been welcomed by the u.s. let's have a listen to what ambassador holbrooke told me just the other day. >> the united states supports any effort at reconc

president obama's special envoy to afghanistan and pakistan, ambassador richard holbrook said it was not surprising the pakistan military was able to talk to the taliban. however he did describe their disclosure of the fact as a positive development. >> there have been long allegations that there are continued contacts and i think it is a step forward for the pakistanis to say publicly what everyone has always assumed. >> under what some pakistani military officers described as intense pressure back home in pakistan, following the revelations that the military was still talking with the taliban, pakistan military headquarters issued a statement denying the remarks attributed to its official spokesman as baseless, fabricated and taken out of context. even though those remarks were made on camera. nonetheless, ambassador richard holbrooke says he will privately take up the issue with the government of pakistan when he visits in coming weeks. michael ware, cnn. >>> britain has reached a bleak milestone. the number of brittons killed in afghanistan now exceeds those who lost their lives

is not true that richard holbrooke is seen running from the scene. >> fmer marine general jim jones, hehouldave obama's here -ear. there haveeen a number of stories saying he is competing with obama's campaign staff to help run the white house jim jones i having to compete with this younger cads of campaign workers to getpace >> tts that -- not the way it is supposed to be. eready said he will ba heads together, he is one that looks blooed at the moment. >>hat we have in this white house, a strange thing,pecial envoy. we also have insde outside people in energy, someone on health care. in the wte house, which leads a ency and the cabet member th a layer between tha person d the president. >> i mu bthenly one that ppened -- that knowwhat happened tohe czar. i have heaomplaints within state department that there is a shortage of space to p all of thspecial envoys' in. this whole thing is begning to loed a little bit moreike the rst clinton admistration. it was driven vy much by th polical. itould also be a natnal security meeng. to some eent what you are seeing, he looksood on the worl

the fact that they could get out of holbrook's mandates was seen as very disappointing. it emphasized or reinforced the idea that the u.s. has a strong, long-term relationship with india and a very short term transactional focus on pakistan that is really about stabilizing our war effort in afghanistan. that is partly why you see these very strange figures about obama, relative to his standing in other countries. >> just a final word. i think more that the problem is that the pakistan the identity -- they have not had much to boast about recently. their victory in the world cricket cup may do more than all the things we have been talking about to provide an identity about the future of pakistan, a positive, healthy future. i had a student who concluded that it was bollywood and sports together. pakistan is a film industry as well as a cricket team. >> how can pakistan any anti- americanism be improved? >> we may just have to get used to the fact that we have a historical legacy, and we should be happy with that category where pakistan these projects militancy but still t

despite the criticism, president obama's special envoy to the region, richard holbrook, said the american presence is important, highlighting the ongoing operation in helmand. >> this election will take place on schedule, and helmand will be able to participate thanks to this offensive that general nicholson and his colleagues are directing. >> reporter: karzai has been accused of running a lackluster campaign but is still widely expected to finish first. his no show on the debate may not have hurt his chances. the fazli family is split on who they're voting for. >> president karzai. >> reporter: whether the debate will have the same impact as american ones do on its voters is unclear. afghan's democracy is still very much an experiment. mandy clark, cbs news, kabul. >>> actress angelina jolie made a trip to iraq. jolie, a u.n. good will ambassador, visited a camp for displaced people near baghdad yesterday and posed for pictures with u.s. troops. jolie said there was progress getting iraqis back to their homes but that more needs to be done. ben fell in love with the scent of gain laundr

and there's envoy for afghanistan and pakistan richard holbrook, even man with a direct line to the white house. then there is the most prominent foreign enjoy -- envoy of all, vice president joe biden. he has taken on iraq as his special project. the vice president has also been locking nearly as many frequent-flier miles as the secretary. last week he visited georgia which is still recovering from last year's russian invasion. and yesterday in "the wall street journal," he said of russia, the world is changing before them. and they're clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable. that left secretary clinton to explain that washington does not intend to try to push russia around. >> no, and i don't think that's at all what the vice president meant. >> reporter: those who know hillary clinton well say her new visibility is about laying down the law inside washington but not necessarily in a confrontational way. they say she wants to run a foreign policy team like a ceo runs a company or a candidate runs a campaign. russ. >> mitchell: kimberlie dozier, at the white house, than

a very self-confident woman who have richard holbrooke to run afghanistan and pakistan and we'll only know in time. once the discipline comes out, how many positions, strong positions that she's taking behind the scenes. my money's on hillary. >> we have no idea what's going to behind the scenes and the number of high-profile speeches are not a reflection of an actual influence on policy. >> i have to end it. carla robbins, gideon rose, thank you both. >>> finally tonight we want to take you back in time to 700 b.c. when scientists believed a massive earthquake caused part of an ancient side to fall into the aegean sea. that city is in western turkey. where marine archaeologist from israel have begun to recover the remains of that port. we hear about it from our newest partner, the israeli broadcasting authority. its report has been translated from hebrew by our israeli producer. >> reporter: off the shores of the west turkish town liman tepe, an ancient port used more than 2,500 years ago has been discovered. unt its existence had only been rumored but then turkish researchers decide

i believe our focus and certainly the focus of ambassador holbrook as well as our new ambassador therembassador inen berry is to work with the afghan government to provide at every level not just the national level but at the local level the district level the sub district level the provincial level and we're hard at... the whole of our government and our other countries is hard at work doing exactly that. >> hard at work. are they stepping up though? >> i think they are starting to step up but it's a big challenge. >> let's switch to iraq. this was an important week there. u.s. troops out of the cities. vice president biden said if there's a flare-up in violence, it's up to the iraqis. is that right? are our troops on the way out the door and nothing do change it? >> clearly we've had the initial trends after we've removed our troops from the cities earlier this week are positive. there has been an uptick in violence in these high-profile attacks but june of this year was the lowest level of overall violence in iraq since the war started. i think what the vice president was focused on

number 10 by my right honorable friend by perfect pots, a social enterprise run by pupils at the holbrookecenter for autism with the charity hope and which shows with people with severe autism and learning disabilities can make a positive contribution and be assisted to do so to the work force in their local community not just be cared for. will he ensure it will be taken on board on support for adults with autism and the proposed national care service? >> i'm grateful to my honorable friend. the autism bill sets out our commitment on publishing a national strategy on autism but to strategy authorities and national health service and i've met members with the different charities to deal with autism. this is a problem that has gone unrecognized. the autism bill is a way to do that. and more widely we want people to receive the level of care that is necessary and that is why yesterday we published or green paper on social care. that too will make a difference to those who have autism. >> mr. speaker, i'm sure the prime minister is right. that it takes time to equip helicopters and to train t

some of them, such as richard holbrooke, they have divided up different parts of the world. doesn't this along to the state department? >> we used to call them roving ambassadors. greta: i have a list, next to it, these are the different departments that today follow. why do we need all of these people? >> you have people that are presidential envoys historically. greta: president reagan created the czars. he had it pentagon procurement czars. president bush had 12. >> he has one for of every cabinet office. greta: they were dealing with the classic consent of the senate. >> this is administrative chaos. if he put together a chart of the organizational structure that is supposed to be there and then you lay over the charred all the various czars, would look like spaghetti. greta: we have an aids czar, how come this isn't hhs? we have one for cars, how come assistant treasury. >> they have to have staff, offices, travel. greta: the list goes on, how come the weapons czar isn't handled by state? >> maybe it is a new technique. greta: are you scandalized by this or not? >> i am

envoy to afghanistan, richard holbrooke. >> let me be very clear. i'm not going to rule out or rule in anything on a hypothetical basis and not get drawn into speculation on an issue this complicated. i want to underscore existing policy addressed by everybody in the u.s. government from the president on down. there is room in afghanistan for taliban people who have fought with the taliban, willing to disassociate and renounce al qaeda and lay down their arms. >> in new york, part of bernard madoff's old office is up for lease. fbi agents investigating the massive ponzi scheme are still looking at records on one floor until next summer. madoff is serving 150 years in prison for the scam that wiped out thousands of investors. >> interesting to see who takes on that office space. >> you think maybe they would get a deal. >> the current real estate climate and there may have been some shady stuff going on there. >>> erin brockovich, protecting families in fear. taking us to a community where the people are choking on ash. now they are trying to get som

from the state department, this is 40 minutes. >> we have special envoy in richard holbrooke back from his visit and it was time to give you an update on the situation in both countries as we deal with the current situation in pakistan and also had toward the elections in afghanistan. richard, thank you for coming. >> thank you. i would be happy to take your questions. just identify yourself, please. >> "financial times." following the funding commitments that the u.s. and its partners receive for the expansion at the nato summit -- >> funding commitments? >> you had a couple of hundred million dollars from germany. delors new commitments? dollars to expand that forces. >> i did not go to europe to get more commitments. the expansion of our service and police and afghanistan is hardly a secret. my trip -- my job was not to get new commitments. >> it is just a general question. how sustainable is the expansion that is envisioned in the strategy? where do you forsake the main funding to come from? >> i misunderstood. a but you were talking about something. it is absolutely essential that

ambassador richard holbrooke is the point person on south asia.ill join us to talk about a new way forward in afghanistan. and then, if you thought gators were tough, wait until you meet florida's only licensed female alligator trapper. all that ahead. 36 minutes after the hour. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me breathe better all day long. and it's not a steroid. announceit keeps my airways. to help me

richard holbrooke is here and he put together an interagency team as well at international team. we have been tense, ongoing discussion with our allies and others who want to play a part in promoting the strategy that the president put forth. is challenging because of the global economic crisis that everybody is facing. is also difficult as it is in our own country to understand, you have been there for nearly eight years and now you are adding more troops and asking for more funding, sending more civilians. we have to answer these questions in our own country. you saw where prime minister brown in great britain said they lost eight soldiers. the government went out and began talking about why it was important to work with the united states and others in afghanistan and got, from what i could glean, a more positive response than people anticipated because you have to be willing to assuage the fears and anxieties and paint a picture of where you're going. on the civilian side, this has been one of the areas and my deputy of resource management working with ambassador holbrooke and

american envoy richard holbrooke promised pakistani leaders that the u.s.ailand, secretary of state hillary clinton met with her counterparts from several southeast asian countries, but as james rosen reports, her mind was on another part of the world. >> in an hour-long interview on one of thailand's most popular talk shows, secretary of state clinton warned iran about the countermeasures the u.s. would take to protect its persian gulf allies in the event tehran obtai a nuclear weapon. >> if the united states extends a defense umbrella over the region, if we do even more to support the military capacity of those in the gulf, it's unlikely that iran will be any stronger or safer because they won't be able to intimidate and dominate as they apparently believe they can once they have a nuclear weapon. >> later, in phuket, clinton stressed that the obama administration still views a nuclear-armed iran as, quote, unacceptable, and that she was only trying to influence the calculations of iran's hard-line regime. >> it faces the prospect if it pursues nuclear we

among our guests, the middle east special envoy, richard holbrooke, the special representative to afghanistan and pakistan. >>> that's it for us. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." up next, "lou dobbs tonight." kitty pilgrim sitting in for lou. kitty? >> thanks wolf. >>> tonight, president obama is on his last leg of his overseas tour, but as the president travels abroad, his domestic here at home from health care to the environment has setbacks. >>> and once again aig is the subject of taxpayer scorn. it has no plans to pay millions of dollars of new bonuses to executives. >>> and a group of black and hispanic children thrown out of a suburban philadelphia swim club. receive an apology. but they aren't allowed back. accusations of racism against the club are being investigated. >>> plus, the naacp turns 100 this year. is the civil rights organization still relevant? that is the topic of our "face off" debate tonight. >>> but, first, president obama is in africa tonight. and the president arriving in ghana, just a short while ago. he left italy this morning following the g-8 summit. no

that's what ambassador holbrooke told captiol hill last month. in fact it was described as being grilled by lawmakers and he said this region and pakistan was very strategic to the war in afghanistan. explain that. >> is fall back position for a lot of taliban leaders. as you know a lot of intelligence analysts believe that saddam hussein lived there for a fair amount of time. they will fall back, regroup and go back in like the attacks from two days ago. where do you begin? i have heard some in the military say we should just go in full force but because it is not officially afghanistan and even though it is -- you could say pakistan they don't see it the same way either. it is a region -- before the show we were talking about this. it is difficult to put a finger on it but a lot like trying to catch smoke. they sort of go through the cracks. we need a much larger military presence. not from my point of view but to go in there if we are going to do it they need more than 20,000 additional troops a very large area. >> this is afghanistan. with pa

if you were to give richard holbrooke in a room alone he would tell you the same.to the one who called about being tired of war. the main reason we are there was that the twin towers, the thousand of our brightest are now gone. the first time we have ever experienced that. it is like the whole thing with bush -- i do not know. iraq, iraq, iran, iran --and let's forget about afghanistan. the fact that well, al qaeda -- you know? bin laden running around somewhere in a cave with his dialysis machine -- go on now. do not get me started. and tried to stay on point. we do need to get rid of al qaeda. -- i am trying to stay on point. having been a marine i can certainly and understand what you have experienced. i was in vietnam. do not get me started about the military complex host: thank you. he began by talking about the president's karzai -- what is his standing with the u.s. government, u.s. military, and his own people. how strong is the government over there? guest: the u.s. government has been very clear. there is an election in august coming up for the president

every 90 minutes at yellowstone national park and after 43 summers at the old faithful geyser, sam holbrook finds it equally inspiring. as a park ranger he observes each eruption, takes note and explains the phenomena to the thousands visiting each and every day. >> each erupt lasts about four minutes generally. but one minute up high and about 130 feet. then it starts down the last three minutes it's coming back down. >> reporter: for sam, there are lots of questions. >> 7:05, plus or minus ten minutes so you've got about an hour. >> thank you. >> reporter: how many times are you going to get that question each day? >> you're out here roving for about two hours at a time and people stand and watch me answer that question. they say, you should put a sign on your chest. don't you get tire of that? no, i never do. you're talking to people and that question comes up and then right after that, two or three more questions. and so -- >> reporter: let me guess. it's when does the guyer erupt. the second is -- >> where's the bathroom. >> how many gallons of water does it squirt out? >> how many gal

sam holbrook still finds it inspiring.the thousands of people visiting each day. >> it lasts about a minute each day, generally. the last three minutes is coming back down. for sam, there are lots of questions. >> you got about an hour. >> how many times you going to get that question each day? >> you're out here rolling for about two hours at a time and people stand and see me answer that question. they said, you should put a sign on your chest. >> don't you get tired of that? >> no, i never do. you're talking to people and that question comes up, and right after that, two or three more questions. >> let me guess, it's when does the geyser erupt, the second is -- >> where is the bathroom? >> how many gallons of water? 8,000 gallons of boiling water every hour and a half. >> sharing that information is all natural for this former science teacher. >> where else can you find a job where you get to be outdoors, talk to people, see the light turn on in their face, give them some information. they're so excited about it. i am h

upon, but it is to our advantage to have george mitchell in the middle east today, to have richard holbrooken afghanistan, to have retired general scott grace en coming back from a sixth or seventh trip to sudan. i could not have possibly given the attention that we need to the in-depth way that is required for all of this. and the feeling on the part of much of the world that the prior administration, for understandable reasons, focused so much on some of the specific issues, like iraq, et cetera, that really grabbed it and required a lot of attention, that much of the rest of the world felt, you know, that they were kind of second tier. when i went to the ossian meeting, itn't been for some time that we had a secretary of state pay continuing attention. we announced an exciting new relationship with the lower mekong countries. we are working, everywhere we can to make clear, you know, that the unitestates cnot solve all the problems of the world alone, but the world cannot solve them without the united states. >> here was a recent headline that got a lot of attention, not surprisingly, in

like wise, a remarkable emissaries such as dick holbrooke and our former colleague george mitchell and others to supplement that. usually administrations come in and they take a little time to get people behind the desk in the state department or in the department or in treasury. and this administration has done a little better than some others but there is still a lot of empty spaces. just beginning to get into the ambassadorships. but they moved rapidly with a team of people appointed and who were able to work together, even though each one of them are big hitters, and so i compliment the president and his people upon their travels, their contacts, and like wise it seems to me a very stable situation of good sense as they have approached each of these tough objectives. >> rose: senator richard lugar, ranking minority member of the united states senate foreign relations committee. back in a moment. stay with us. >> rose: we continue our conversation about russia with stephen cohen of new york university, chrystia freeland of the "financial times" from washington, claire shipman of abc

likeise, a remarkable emissaries such asick holbrooke and r former colleague george mitcll and otherso supplement that. usually administrations me in and they te a little time to get pele behind the desk in the state department or in the department or in treury. and this adminisation has done a little better th somethers buthere is still a lot of empty spes. just beginningo get intohe ambassadorships. but they moved rapidly wh a team of people appointed and who wereble to work togethe, even though eh one of them a big hitts, ando i compliment t prident and his people un their travels their contts and like wise iteems to me a very stae situation of good sense as thehave approached each of these tough objectives. >> rose: senator richard lugar ranking minory member of the united states senate foreign relations commtee. backn a moment. stay witus. >> rose: we continue our conversaon about russia with stephen cohen of new york university, chrystia freeland th"financial times" fm washingtonclaire shipman of abc newsnd thomas pickering, former.s. ambassador to ruia. i am pleased to have all

richard holbrooke is here. he is put together a team internationally and in the inter agency. we had discussions with our allies and with others to want to play a part in promoting the strategy that the president put forward. it is challenging because of the global economic crisis that everybody is facing. it is also difficult in our own country to understand. you have been there for nearly eight years and now you are at the more troops and you are asking for more funding and you are going to send more civilians. we have to answer these questions and our own country. use all wear prime minister brown you -- you saw where prime minister brown lost eight soldiers. the government went out and began talking about why it was important to stand with the united states and others in afghanistan. they got a more positive response of than people anticipated because you have to be willing to try to paint a picture of where you are going. on the civilian side, this has been one of the areas that my deputy for resource management, working with paul burke and his team -- kohlberg -- holbroo

you take what we're trying to do in afghanistan and pakistan, both general petraeus and ambassador holbrooke are working very closely together. they had a lot of joint meetings together. there's almost a mind-meld around some of what we're trying to achieve there so we're learning. but any thoughts you have or ideas based on your experience, we would be very happy to see because we need to get better at that. thank you all very much. [applause] >> the state department also held this briefing with more details about the quadrennial diplomacy and development review. deputy secretary of state jacob lou in charge of the new initiative leads this half hour briefing. [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon, everyone. and welcome to the state department. to lead off our briefing, we have deputy secretary jack lou and ahead of policy planning emory slaughter to talk about the quadrennial diplomacy and development review, the qddr that secretary clinton announced this morning. i think secretary lou is going to start.÷ >> thanks. thank you all for being here. i will speak very briefly at the outse

. >> just before the i want, secret service spotted richard holbrooke spraying wd-40 all over the drivewayome media pundits say it's not a joke. clinton they claim is being sidelines. jim hoglund said it's the president's inner circle of advisors like rom emmanuel and david axle rod who really decide policy. senator bob casey says that's wrong. >> i believe hillary clinton in the arena of foreign policy is the leader working with the president and i think she's done it well. >> administration officials close to the secretary point to her leading role on china policy. on relations with russia, with north korea. her strategic dialogue with india. clinton, they say, is rebuilding the state department. winning back some of the influence it lost to the pentagon in the previous administration. in a city of sharp elbows, they claim, hillary clinton, diplomat and politician, knows how to use hers. on the secretary's speech today, her aides say she's been planning it for months and her elbow injury did force her to push it back by a few weeks but they deny she's getting it to grab the spotlight bac

however, ambassador holbrook did say that he sees that admission publicly as a positive development.that there are continued contacts, and i think it's a step forward for the pakistanis to say publicly what everyone has always assumed. >> reporter: but under what some pakistani military officers called intense pressure following the revelations of the ongoing communication with the taliban, pakistan military headquarters issued a denial of the remarks of its official spokesman, describing them as fabricated, faceless and taken out of context, even those remarks were with made on camera. nonetheless, ambassador richard hol brooke says he will privately take up this issue with the pakistani government when he visits islamabad in coming weeks. t.j., betty? >> president obama set to speak to the ghanian parliament next hour. >> the president brushes aside talk of a second stim mris bill and asks for patience saying the package signed in february is showing progress. >> in a little over 100 days, this recovery act has worked as intended. it's already extended unemployment insurance and he

what we have richard holbrooke back from his trip from afghanistan. we thought it was the time to give you an update on the situation in both countries as we do with the current situation of pakistan and also head toward the elections in afghanistan. thank you for coming. >> i will be happy to take for questions. just identify yourself, please. >> following the funding commitments that the u.s. responded. -- commitment of the afghan national -- you had a couple from germany. >> are you talking but nukes? >i did not go to europe to give more commitments. with the expansion of the armed services, it is obviously necessary my job in this trip was not to go around getting a commitment. >> it is a general question, how sustainable is the expansion of the nass and strategy? where do you seize the main part of the funding to come from? >> sorry, i miss understood this. it is absolutely essential that over time afghanistan will assume responsibility for its own security and combat troops drawdown. through economic assistance, training, we will continue to do

i am privileged to partner with one of the world's great diplomats, ambassador richard holbrooke, truly a force of nature as those who know him will attest, an extraordinary individual, he was the key figure in the dayton accords, when general challis was the joint chiefs, he gave up his chief of plans, general wesley clark, we are working on afghanistan and pakistan together, very important to have a regional approach and ambassador dennis ross, another skilled and experienced diplomat, who is focusing the efforts on iran and the our reach to syria. next side. let's talk about iraq and go on to talk about afghanistan and some others and turn to the questions. 2009 is a very significant year in iraq, it is a transition year, a year during which all of the non u.s. coalition members have departed or will be part, although there's still a nato mission in iraq that has other nations in it. we are obviously drawing down our forces. we have just completed the withdrawal of our combat elements from the cities in accordance with the u.s./iraq security agreement and we are changing our focus so

for afghanistan and pakistan, the former united states ambassador to the united nations, richard holbrooke. >> nice to be here, wolf. >> it looks like the situation in afghanistan is going from bad to worse. is it? >> well, the situation in afghanistan deteriorated dramatically in the last four or five years. president obama came to office pledging to reverse that because our national security interests are directly at stake. this isn't some remote place. this is the area from which the men of 9/11 planned to attack the u.s. and they say they're going to do it again. >> but it seems to be deteriorating almost on a weekly or monthly basis. >> well, i think what is true is that it deteriorated steadily and that the enemy increased its forces. this is why president obama made what he himself has called in his recent interview with "newsweek" the most difficult decision in his presidency, to send a 17,000 troops and 4,000 military trainers there to reverse the trend. >> another 21,000 on top of the many thousands who are already there. >> total of 68,000 americans -- >> 68,000 u.s. troops. >>