joe manchin is a fine fellow. he's never been to afghanistan. i've been there many times. >> he says he's been there twice. >> i take that back. >> he was there in 2006 and 2011. >> let me tell you, i've been there a lot. i have seen with my own eyes how things have gotten better and i can tell you that if we don't keep the momentum, the fight is in the south. problems in the east. i worry that this accelerated drawdown that general petraeus did not recommend may have consequences of undermining a very successful strategy. i hope i'm wrong. i hope the president is right. >> white house administration officials say that within the range of what general petraeus was okay with, the president came down within that range. although i suspect that he came down a lot closer to what biden wanted as opposed to what general petraeus wanted. i think you're right on that. they will say that petraeus is on board. we'll hear from him. you'll have a chance to hear his testimony because he's going to be the next cia director. >> lindsey graham doesn't enjoy war.

joe manchin took the opportunity to call for an end to the counter-insurgency mission in afghanistan. >> we can no longer afford to rebuild afghanistan and america. we must choose, and i choose america. >> pelley: which brought an unusually personal response from republican arizona senator john mccain. >> i view the senator from west virginia's remarks as at least uninformed about history and strategy. >> pelley: we sat down with both men today. first, senator mccain. >> it's a decision which i don't think is in comport... comports with the recommendations of our military leadership, but more importantly, the realities. we need this fighting season and the next fighting season. we have enjoyed great success, and i might add, at great sacrifice. as you know, well over 1,000 young americans have already given their lives, and i would hate to see us take an unnecessary risk by withdrawing too early. >> pelley: the urgent question now seems to be: have times changed? after ten years, the country is hurting. unemployment is high. how can we justify spending about $100 billion a year in afg

and joining us from capitol hill, democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia.hank you for joining us. >> thanks for having me, wolf. how are you? >> good. you've caused quite a stir. let's talk about afghanistan and the troop withdrawal. the president is announcing between this year and next year 30,000 u.s. troops will leave -- that will leave about 70,000 there, many of them through the end of 2014. when do you want them home? >> wolf, i haven't set a timetable nor did i set a limit. i like to see the mission change to counterterrorism. basically, the war on terror, which was our purpose for going there in the first place, to find the terrorists who did so much harm to so many innocent americans. with that being said, if it's going to be a war on counterterrorism or a war on terror, 70,000 seems like a lot of troops that are needed for that type of a mission. >> when i spoke to senator rand paul of kentucky yesterday, he thought maybe 10,000 -- bring home 90,000 of those 100,000 troops maybe leave in the short term 10,000. is that something that is realistic

senator joe manchin from west virginia, great to talk with us and thank you for being with us. >> thank president obama speaks on afghanistan tonight from the white house. cnn will have live coverage just for you at 8:00 eastern time tonight. >> what do you want to hear from the president tonight is our question of the day. e-mail us, tweet us or find us on facebook and we will read some of your comments later on in the show. >>> jon huntsman has joined the chase for the white house. he will be campaigning in south carolina today, one day after announcing his candidacy in new jersey with the statue of liberty serving as his backdrop. >>> also, check out the press pass. it was given to the members of the media covering the start of the huntsman campaign and at the top, if you go down, an h. he doesn't have an "h" in his name. it's jon. the location of the event was listed as new york instead of new jersey and also more confusion after huntsman' announce the when reporters and staffers were mistakenly directed to a charter plane that was headed to saudi arabia instead of new hampshire! >>

senator joe manchin of west virginia incurred the wrath of senator john mccain when he asked that questionbut senator manchin had the last word. >> i can only speak from a sense of common sense and speaking for the people of west virginia and what they feel. we have a hawkish state and very patriotic state, but if ten years is not enough, how long is enough? and i think that's the question being asked. the sacrifices being asked by them. when we can't build the water lines and sewer lines in west virginia that are needed, fix roads and repair the bridges, yet they hear of the billions we're spending in a country that doesn't want us there, i think it is time to leave. >> senator manchin, thank you for joining us. military leaders and colleagues of yours on both sides of the aisle say significant withdrawal in the short term could be disastrous to the progress of the u.s. and its allies made in afghanistan. you said yesterday it is time to leave. you disagree with this assessment. what makes you think that? >> well, i believe if we would go back and change the mission to war on terror, coun

listen to democrat joe manchin and john mccain. >> in which we are rebuilding police, in other words, building a country, even at the expense of our own. >> the statements by the senator of west virginia which characterize the isolationist, withdrawal, lack of history and attitude which seems to be on the rise of america. >> president obama will tell you tonight he is going to withdraw 30,000 troops from afghanistan over the next year and a half, but 70,000 will remain. the united states will continue to pour billions of dollars into afghanistan. and our troops will continue to die. more than 1,600 so far. so, the talk back today -- what do you want to hear from president obama tonight? face book.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comment later this hour. >> it's so interesting, carol, because under president bush for years they were saying, this is the forgotten war. we have to clean up the mess in afghanistan. there seems to be really a change in public opinion here saying, you know, with osama bin laden gone and some of the other progress, why is the united states still there? it's an ex