robert stanley, american hero. thanks to our guests but especially to you and good night from the new york control room. good night, brett, norm, stacy, evil. and happy birthday to the devoted viewer retired from the justice system personal friend and friend of the show jo horn. and happy birthday to another georgia friend of show, maida, grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of ten. happy birthday. everyone, i'll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern. good night, friend. >>> i'm richelle carey. police investigating the death of michael jackson raided a pharmacy in beverly hills friday afternoon. he reportedly got prescriptioned filled there. jackson's doctor is the focus of the investigation. >>> casey anthony teared up friday in court. the defense revealed their strategy for her murder trial. they say anthony could not have killed her daughter. shi claim she was already in jail when her daughter's remains were found. >>> this 17-year-old from ohio claims her father has threatened to kill her because she

defense secretary robert gates, mike mullin, centcom commander david pet news and general stanley mccrystl, recently put in charge of troops in afghanistan. sources tell abc news that another dramatic increase in troops is suggested. four to six brigades in 2010, anywhere from 12,000 to 27,000 troops. that's in addition to more than 20,000 troops president obama already approved. also recommended, an increase in the afghan national army from a goal of 134,000 to 240,000. something mccrystl has talked about in broad terms. >> i think we need to accelerate its development and grow larger. >> but it is adding u.s. troops that would be the most controversial. in the past, secretary gates made it clear he would have to think long and hard about that. >> we need to look very carefully at how our strategy is proceeding, some months down the road, before i would contemplate forwarding a recommendation for additional troops to the president. >> reporter: a u.s. military official tells abc that the drawdown from iraq would have to be accelerated in order to add more troops to afghanistan, but there

among them, defense secretary robert gates, chairman of the joint chiefs, mike mullen, centcom commander, david petraeus, and stanley mccrist tall, who was recently put in charge of troops in afghanistan. sources tell abc news, that mcchrystal's assessment team has suggested another dramatic increase in troops. four to six brigades during 2010. that's anywhere from 12,000 to 27,000 troops. that was be in addition to the more than 20,000 troops president obama already approved. also recommended, an increase in the afghan national army. >> i think we need to accelerate its development. and we need to grow it larger. >> reporter: but it is adding u.s. troops that would be the most controversial. in the past, secretary gates said he would have to think long and hard about that. >> we have to look carefully at how our strategy is proceeding some months down the road before i would contemplate forwarding a recommendation for additional troops to the president. >> reporter: a u.s. military official tells abc that the drawdown from iraq would have to be accelerated in order to add more troops to afghanistan. but there may b

onamg th defense secretary robert gates, chairman of the joint chiefs, cent come commander david payus and general stanley was crystal. his assessment team has suggested another dramatic increase in troops. four to six brigades during 2010. that is anywhere from 12 to $2 thoops. that would be in ado the president obama already approved. also recommended: an increase in the afghan national army. i think we need to accept sell rate its development and grow it larger. >> reporter: but it is adding u.s. troops that are would the most controversial. secretary has made it clear he would have to think about that as how our strategy is proceeding, some months down the road before i would contemplate a recommendation for additional troops. >> a u.s. litary official tells abc the raw dawn with have to be no other channel. already in august have died. >> there have been no decisions made about increasing the number of troops in afghanistan. this assessment is on gg. >> veterans of iraq and afghanistan are getting a big boost in education benefits. the new bid covers a full two years of college for the housing and bi

commander in afghanistan, stanley mcchrystal, is expecting to ask for additional troops and equipment. that request will first land on the desk of secretary of defense robert gates. listen to what gates said in april when he and i talked about troop numbers. >> i have been quoted as accurately as saying i have real reservations about significant further commitments of american military to afghanistan beyond what the president has already approved. >> but that means that a year from now, six months from now, you are unlikely to approve a request for additional troops in afghanistan. >> i would be a hard sell, there is no question about it. and i've not made a secret of that either publicly or in government meetings. >> so it appears that he has now changed his mind. in recent days, gates said he is waiting to see mcchrystal's request, but if needs are demonstrated, he would be open to sending more troops. while all these forces gather, a crucial events will occur in afghanistan in a few weeks. on august 20, the country will go to the polls for the first ever contested election. they led the country shortly after the fall of the taliban in 2001. his own popu

commander in afghanistan, stanley mcchrystal, is expected to ask for additional troops and equipment. that request will first land on the desk of secretary of defense robert gates. now, listen to what gates said in april when he and i talked about troop numbers. >> i have been quoted as accurately as saying i have real reservations about significant further commitments of american military to afghanistan beyond what the president has already approved. >> but that means that a year from now, six months from now, you are unlikely to approve a request for additional troops in afghanistan. >> i would be a hard sell, there is no question about it. and i've not made a secret of that either publicly or in government meetings. >> so, it appears that he has now changed his mind. in recent days, gates said he is waiting to see mcchrystal's request, but if needs are demonstrated, he would be open to sending more troops. now, while all these forces gather, a crucial event will occur in afghanistan in a few weeks. on august 20, the country will first-ever truly contested election. hamid karzai has led the country since the fall of the taliban in 2001. a once-friendly

stanley mcrystal, was warning that the taliban have ined the upper hand. the general's aid disputed that account,nd today in washington, defense sretary robert gatesaid it's a mixed cture. >> in me parts of afghanistan, the taliban have cleay established presence. the operations underwanow and those being consired for the coming months e designed to roll back the talibaand establish a laing security and overnment presence, a presen tht can give the afghan people confidence thathey will be protected from intimidation d retribution. >> brow gates said an upcoming assessment from mcchstal will not contain specif recommendations for addional troops. for now, u.s. operaons a aimed at securing as much o afhanistan as possible, ahead of t presidential vote a week from toy. at today's pentag briefing, e vice chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff,arine general james cartwrig, said there's been some sucss. >> i think e commanders lieve that they are making progress. whas the end state? if the elecon is the timeline that we're looking at,he metric is, e more people able to ce out and avail themselves of a democratic procs of voting? yes, that looksike it's goin

last month robert gates said they would postpone the trend in the review -- strategy review for afghanistan with the general stanley mcchrystal. they wanted to do that after the afghan elections which took place on thursday. president obama made clear that troops are coming home from iraq. they have wanted to telegraph that to the iraqi leadership, just in case there were any doubts. the question is how many will be routed to afghanistan? he said he will not send troops without a clear strategy, good intelligence, and it will not be a war that is one militarily. he described the afghan war as a war of necessity. that suggested to me that he knows he will have to commit resources, and likely troops. the question is how many. he talked about diplomacy and development as key to success in afghanistan, but what struck me is we saw some numbers from the state department. there is a surge in diplomats to support the one over there already. so far they have only been able to find 92 workers to send over. their goal is 313. that does not count to me as a surge in diplomacy for aid workers, and if that is a key part of the

the defense secretary robert gates says there's no specific recommendation in an upcoming ground report from the u.s. military commander in afghanistan, general stanley mcchrystal. gates calls the current situation in afghanistan, and i'm quoting him now, a mixed picture and says the immediate focus is security for the upcoming presidential election in afghanistan. >> some of the military operations that have taken place in the helmand province and other places in the south, it looks like more afghans will be able to vote than had been the case before the recent deployment of additional u.s. forces. an obviously that's an encouraging development. in terms of the overall security situation in the country, i believe the view of most of our military commanders is that we are looking at a mixed picture. in some parts of afghanistan, the taliban have clearly established a presence. >> there's only so much that can be done to turn around afghanistan without addressing a major source of the country's crime, corruption, and funding for the taliban. that would be the enormous drug trade. cnn's atia abawi has details of the new plans and trying to crack down.

robert stanley, american hero. thanks to our guests but especially to you and good night from new york control room. good night, brett, norm, stacy, and happy birthday to the devoted viewer retired from the justice system personal friend and friend of the show joe horn. and happy birthday to another georgia friend of show, maida, grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of ten. happy birthday. everyone, i'll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern. good night, friends. >>> coming up next on "issues, dramatic developments in the casey anthony murder case. she's back in court for the first time in months, and this time no smirk. this is crying tears as her dad, george, takes the stand and then blows her tears again. we'll have complete analysis of her bead language and what her parents said after court today. the hunt for a man who was a reality tv show star and is now an alleged killer. this guy you're looking at, they think he's in canada. he's accused of strangling his ex-wife, putting her in a suitcase, dumpi