U.S. Shift in Afghan Combat Mission; Romney Rips Obama's Afghan Plan; How Facebook Makes Money; Obama Speaks at National Prayer Breakfast
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, I want to know what Don Cornelius did for the ex-nun. That's how I want to tie it all together.</s>MARTIN: Come on, white chocolate. You know you watched "Soul Train."</s>PHILLIPS: Yes, I did, matter of fact. You got -- and I like the straight hair, Soledad. You look gorgeous.</s>O'BRIEN: Matter of fact.</s>O'BRIEN: You like the hair. You see? It's all about the hair at the end of the day.</s>PHILLIPS: See you, guys. Well, it could be the beginning of the end of our 10-year war in Afghanistan. That's what we're talking about this morning because Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says there is a new goal, end combat next year and switch the role of U.S. and NATO troops from fighting to training. And as expected, presidential candidates already weighing in. Mitt Romney's trashing the plan. And the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee calls it premature. We're going to talk about that in just a second. But first Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon. Barbara, we've got about 89,000 boots on the ground in Afghanistan right now. So let's talk about what this would mean for them.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kyra, good morning. This will mean, of course they begin to get some clear signals about when they will be coming home. And that's important to so many military families. But let's go back to what you just said. You put it exactly right. It is a goal now that Leon Panetta is talking about to transition from combat to training Afghans by the end of next year. You're going to hear a lot more about this later today because we are just getting word that Panetta, now in Brussels for a NATO meeting, is going to come out and offer some clarification, if you will. He's beginning to get concerned about all these media reports and some of the political statements perhaps out there that this is a hard end to combat, if you will, next year. He is going to say that's not what he's saying, that what he's saying, this will be a transition. But whatever way anybody decides to spin this piece of information, the bottom line, the reality check, combat is winding up in Afghanistan. It will begin to wind up in 2013. And under NATO commitment all foreign troops will be out of Afghanistan by 2014 unless the Afghan government asks them to stay -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: So let me ask you about this, Barbara, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Buck McKeon, saying that his committee has not seen a single assessment by our commanders that indicates they have any confidence in a swift transition. You're at the Pentagon. What are you hearing? I'm sure there's debate about timeline and safety?</s>STARR: Exactly right. All the debate now is about this timeline and about how fast you can do it and what Panetta has laid out here and will NATO agree. Look, the other NATO countries, they want to get out of Afghanistan, that's very clear. They don't have the money, the finances. Their militaries can't support an unending commitment in Afghanistan. Everybody agrees this war is not going to be sustainable much longer. Every source we speak with tells us that. So this is now a question of when, not if. The members of Congress well know that. And it's a question of risk. But it's all happening in this political season, isn't it? So you're going to see the Republicans weighing in and bashing the plan, I suspect, no matter what it is, and speaking about it in terms of a hard end to combat and how that is so risky. That's not what the Pentagon's really saying. They're going to go into this phased approach and it is the timing that remains to be seen.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us. Barbara, thanks so much.</s>STARR: Sure.</s>PHILLIPS: And tonight at 6:00 former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is going to share his thoughts with our John King on the announcement that U.S. forces will end their combat role in Afghanistan next year. That's CNN tonight 6:00 Eastern. And as we mentioned Mitt Romney is blasting the shift in strategy. He says it's misguided, it's naive. And our CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser is following that out of Washington. So, Paul, is Romney more concerned about troops pulling out of Afghanistan or just announcing this timeline?</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: He definitely has problems, the frontrunner in the race for the Republican nomination, with the timeline. Romney last night in Nevada campaigning out there in the Silver state. He said Panetta's words jeopardize the U.S. mission, the commitment to Afghanistan. Here's a little bit more of what Mitt Romney said.</s>MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You go to the people that you're fighting with and tell them the day you're pulling out your troops? It makes absolutely no sense. This naivete is putting in jeopardy the mission of the United States of America and our commitments to freedom.</s>STEINHAUSER: You know, Kyra, our most recent polling indicates that most Americans don't support the war in Afghanistan. But look at this, when you break it down by party, there's definitely a partisan divide. You can see right here. Republicans, a majority of them, 54 percent according to the most recent CNN/ORC poll. They support the war in Afghanistan. As you can see Democrats and independents do not. So this is definitely an issue in the battle for the nomination and also in the battle for the White House. It's trumped by the economy but it is -- it is an issue -- Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Paul. Donald Trump promising a, quote, "major announcement," this afternoon. What can you tell us?</s>STEINHAUSER: Every time we seem to be done with Donald Trump, he's right back there.</s>PHILLIPS: He's back.</s>STEINHAUSER: He's back. And guess where he's going to be? You know all four of the Republicans are in Nevada today ahead of Saturday's caucus. Well, Donald Trump will be there as well about six hours from now. They're saying it's a major announcement. One of our affiliates out there says that Trump will be endorsing Newt Gingrich. We've reached out to the Trump camp. We've reached out to the Gingrich camp. Neither of them are denying this. So stay tuned. We're going to try -- you know, try to confirm an endorsement. Remember, they last met back in December at Trump Tower in New York. Kyra, one more thing. A brand new poll in Nevada in the battle for the nomination out there just ahead of Saturday's caucuses. Look at this. This is from the "Las Vegas Review-Journal/8 News Now", and there's Mitt Romney high atop, 20 points ahead of Newt Gingrich. Rick Santorum at 11 percent, Ron Paul at 9 percent. Remember Romney won there four years ago in the caucuses. And this poll, Kyra, was conducted even before Romney's big victory Tuesday night in the Florida primary.</s>PHILLIPS: Paul, thanks. And CNN Saturday it's Nevada's turn to weigh in on the Republican nominee. Coverage begins at 6:00 Eastern with a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer. Then CNN's complete live coverage of the caucus results will follow. Facebook finally files to go public. And that means we're getting our first peek into the inner financial workings of the Web site with more than 845 million friends. A bit of a foreshadowing from the "Social Network." (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SOCIAL NETWORK") JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, ACTOR: A million dollars isn't cool? You know what's cool?</s>ANDREW GARFIELD, ACTOR: A billion dollars. That shut everybody up.</s>PHILLIPS: That's right. Facebook produced a cool billion- dollars in profit last year and it's filing for an initial public offering worth five times that much. Christine Romans. Some of these numbers are just staggering. So let's kind of walk through this IPO. And of course, everybody wanting to know, should I get in or not?</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, and can you get in, right? It has all the smart money already been made by the early investors. OK. Let's get to that in a minute. Let's just look underneath the hood of Facebook because now we can see how this company makes money and how much it makes. It's been profitable since 2009. Eighty-five percent of its revenue -- that means how much money it's bringing in -- comes from advertising. And it wants to trade under the FB ticker symbol but we don't know which exchange it would be looking at. And the CEO stake is worth about $16 billion. And already there's a lot of talk this morning, and has been for a few days now, about whether this is the next Google or whether -- which went public and made a lot of money for investors who got in, even in the days after the initial public offering, or is this a sign of a tech bubble because Facebook has a lot to prove. Take a look at where Facebook stands right now with some of the other big technology titans and how much money they were making last year. Microsoft made $23 billion last year. Again, Microsoft is a big, mature company, $23 billion. Has been public for a long time. IBM, 16 billion. Again, a more diversified humongous company. It's earning $16 billion. Google, $10 billion. It went public in 2004. And Facebook, its income last year about $1 billion. So this company has to grow like crazy. It's got to show the world and mostly its investors that it can get more revenue per pair of eyeballs and that it has other ways that it's making money besides just Facebook credits and its advertising. So this company -- there's a lot of hoopla about this, Kyra, but it still has an awful lot to prove.</s>PHILLIPS: All right. So clearly, you know, CEO Mike Zuckerberg is going to get even richer off this IPO. We were -- we were joking yesterday. His Facebook status will change to filthy rich. So a lot of people, Christine, saying, OK, how do I get in on this and should I?</s>ROMANS: That's a really good question because for the most part we like to caution people, especially these big tech -- these much anticipated tech IPOs. It's going to be months before it actually is trading on an exchange, right? There'll be a Monday morning, probably when the Opening Bell will ring at 9:30. And that's when you can start trading. But remember the big institutional investors, they're getting in on an IPO price. It could trade up, up, up. And then you get in at a price that's much higher as many investors are selling the shares that they already have because they're trying to profit. So be very careful about this kind of stuff. We like to say you can't get in on the -- on the IPO probably because, frankly, all of the investment banks who are involved in it, I mean all of their big investors and big customers, and the pension funds, and the mutual funds, the endowments, they'll all get the first -- the first pick at it. But Morgan Stanley is a big winner. It's the lead investment bank on this. Zuckerberg, a very big -- he's one of the most wealthy people in the world now because of this. Anybody -- you know what I liked? Remember in Austin there were Dellionaires? People who worked for Dell Computer a long time ago before it went public. Even people who were drivers and secretaries who took stock instead of paychecks? And then they became rich and retired? I hope that there are some cool people at Facebook who are going to be really deserving. You know, the hardworking people who deserve to make a lot of money off this. The people who work there.</s>PHILLIPS: We're going to follow it. Thanks so much, Christine. We want to get you straight now to the White House. The president of the United States getting ready to speak at the 60th U.S. National Prayer Breakfast. Let's go ahead and listen in.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning, everybody. It is good to be with so many friends united in prayer. And I begin by giving all praise and honor to God for bringing us together here today. I want to thank our co-chairs, Mark and Jeff. To my dear friend, the guy who always has my back, Vice President Biden. All the members of Congress. Joe deserves a hand.</s>OBAMA: All the members of Congress and my cabinet who were here today. All the distinguished guests who've traveled a long way to be part of this. I'm not going to be as funny as Eric, but I'm grateful that he shared his message with us. Michelle and I feel truly blessed to be here. This is my third year coming to this prayer breakfast as president. As Jeff mentioned, before that I came as senator. I have to say it's easier coming as president. I don't have to get here quite as early. But it's always been an opportunity that I've cherished. It's a chance to step back for a moment, for us to come together as brothers and sisters and seek God's face together. At a time when it's easy to lose ourselves in the rush and clamor of our own lives or get caught up in the noise and ranker that too often passes as politics today. These moments of prayer slow us down. They humble us. They remind us that no matter how much responsibility we have, how fancy our titles, how much power we think we hold, we are imperfect vessels. We can all benefit from turning to our Creator, listening to him. Avoiding phony religiosity, and listening to him. This is especially important right now when we're facing some big challenges as a nation. And our economy is making progress as we recover from the worst crisis in three generations, but far too many families are still struggling to find work, or make the mortgage, pay for college or in some cases even buy food. Our men and women in uniform have made us safer and more secure. And we are eternally grateful to them. But war and suffering and hardships still remain in too many corners of the globe, and a lot of those men and women who we celebrate on Veterans Day and Memorial Day come back and find that when it comes to finding a job or getting the kind of care that they need, we're not always there the way we need to be. And it's absolutely true that meeting these challenges requires sound decision making, requires smart policies. We know that part of living in a pluralistic society means that our personal religious beliefs alone can't dictate our response to every challenge we face, but in my moments of prayer I'm reminded that faith and values play an enormous role in motivating us to solve some of our most urgent problems. In keeping us going when we suffer setbacks and opening our minds and our hearts to the needs of others. We can't leave our values at the door. If we leave our values at the door, we abandon much of the moral glue that has held our nation together for centuries and allowed us to become somewhat more perfect a union. Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Jane Addams, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Abraham Heschel -- the majority of great reformers in American history did their work not just because it was sound policy or they had done good analysis or understood how to exercise good politics but because their faith and their values dictated it and called for bold action -- sometimes in the face of indifference, sometimes in the face of resistance. This is no different today for millions of Americans and it's certainly not for me. I wake up each morning and I say a brief prayer. I spend a little time in Scripture and devotion. From time to time friends of mine, some who are here today, friends like Joel Hunter, T.D. Jakes will come by the Oval Office, they'll call on the phone, send me an e-mail, and we'll pray together. They'll pray for me and my family and for our country. But I don't stop there. I'd be remiss if I stopped there, if my values were limited to personal moments of prayer or private conversations with pastors or friends. So, instead, I must try, imperfectly, but I must try to make sure those values motivate me as one leader of this great nation. So when I talk about our financial institutions playing by the same rules as folks on Main Street, when I talk about making sure insurance companies aren't discriminating against those who are already sick, or making sure that unscrupulous lenders aren't taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us, I do so because I genuinely believe it will make the economy stronger for everybody, but I also do it because I know that far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years. And I believe in God's command to love thy neighbor as well as one's self. I know that version of that goals and rules found in every major religion and every set of beliefs, from Hinduisms, to Islam, to Judaism, to the writings of Plato. And when I talk about shared responsibility, because I genuinely believe that in a time when many folks are struggling, at a time when we have enormous deficits it's hard for me to ask seniors on a fixed income or young people with student loans or middle class families who can barely pay the bills to shoulder the burden alone. I think to myself, if I'm willing to give something up as somebody who's been extraordinarily blessed, give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that's going to make economic sense. But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus' teaching that -- for unto whom much is given, much shall be required. It mirrors the Islamic belief that those that have been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others. When I talk about giving every American a fair shot at opportunity, it's because I believe that when a young person can afford a college education or someone who's been unemployed suddenly has a chance to retrain for a job and regain that sense of dignity and pride in contributing to the community as well as supporting their families, that helps us all prosper. That means maybe that research lab on the cusp of a life saving discovery, the company looking for skilled workers is going to do a little bit better and we'll all do better as a consequence. It makes economic sense. But part of that belief comes from my faith and the idea that I am my brother's keeper and I am my sister's keeper. That as a country we rise and fall together. I'm not an island. I'm not alone in my success. I succeed because others succeed with me. And when I decide to stand up for foreign aid or prevent atrocities in places like Uganda, take on issues like human trafficking, it's not just about strengthening alliances or promoting democratic values or projecting American leadership around the world, although it does all those things and it will make us safer and more secure. It's also about the biblical call to care for the least of these, for the poor, for those of the margins of our society. To answer the responsibility we're given in Proverbs to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. And for others, it may reflect the Jewish believe that the highest form of charity is to do our part to help others stand on their own. Treating others as you want to be treated, requiring much from those who have been given so much, living by the principle that we are our brother's keeper caring for the poor and those in need. These values are old. They can be found in many denominations, in many faiths, among many believers and among many non-believers, and they're values that have always made this country great when we live up to them, when we don't just give lip service to them, or we don't just talk about them one day a year. They're the ones that have defined my own faith journey. And today with as many challenges as we face, these are the values I believe we're going to have to return to in the hopes that God will buttress our efforts. Now we can earnestly seek to see these values lived out in our politics and our policies, and we can earnestly disagree on the best way to achieve these values. In the words of C.S. Lewis, Christianity is not and does not profess to have a detailed political program. It is meant for all men at all times. The particular program which suited one place or time would not suit another. Our goals should not be to declare our policies as biblical; it is God who is infallible, not us. Michelle reminds me of this often. So instead it is our hope that people of goodwill can pursue their values and common ground and the common good as best they know how know how, with respect for each other. And I have to say that sometimes we talk about respect, but we don't act with respect towards each other during the course of these debates. But each and every day for many in this room, the biblical injunctions are not just words, they are also deeds. Every single day in different ways, so many of you are living out your faith in service to others. You know, just last month it was inspiring to see thousands of young Christians filling the Georgia Dome at the passion conference to worship the God who set the captives free and worked to end modern slavery. Since we have expanded and strengthened the White House faith-based initiative, we partnered with Catholic charities to help Americans who are struggling with poverty, worked with organizations like World Vision and American Jewish World Service and Islamic Relief to bring hope to those suffering around the world. Colleges across the country have answered our interfaith campus challenge. And students are joined together across religious lines in service to others, from promoting responsible fatherhood, to strengthening adoption, from helping people find jobs, to serving our veterans, we're linking arms with faith-based groups all across the country. I think we all understand that these values cannot truly find voice in our politics and our policies unless they find a place in our hearts. The Bible teaches us to be doers of the word and not merely hearers. We're required to have a living, breathing, active faith in our own lives. And each of us is called on to give something of ourselves for the betterment of others and to live the truth of our faith, not just with words but with deeds. So even as we join the great debates of our age, how we best put people back to work, how we ensure opportunity for every child, the role of government in protecting this extraordinary planet that God has made for us, how we lessen the occasions of war, even as we debate these great issues, we must be reminded of the difference that we can make each day in our small interactions, in our personal lives as a loving husband or a supportive parent or a good neighbor or a helpful colleague. In each of these roles, we help bring his kingdom to Earth. And as important as government policy may be in shaping our world, we are reminded that it's the cumulative acts of kindness and courage and charity and love, it's the respect we show each other and the generosity that we share with each other that in our everyday lives will somehow sustain us during these challenging times. John tells us that if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. You know, Mark read a letter from Billy Graham and it took me back to one of the great honors of my life, which was visiting Reverend Graham at his mountain top retreat in North Carolina, when I was on vacation with my family at a hotel not far away. I can still remember winding up a path, up the mountain to his home. Ninety-one years old at the time, facing various health challenges. He welcomed me as he would welcome a family member or a close friend. This man, who had prayed great prayers that inspired a nation, this man who seemed larger than life greeted me and was as kind and as gentle as could be. And we had a wonderful conversation. Before I left, Reverend Graham started praying for me as he had prayed for so many presidents before me. When he finished praying, I felt the urge to pray for him. I didn't really know what to say. What do you pray for when it comes to the man who's prayed for so many? But like that verse in Romans, the holy spirit interceded when I didn't know quite what to say. So I prayed, briefly, but I prayed from the heart. I don't have the intellectual capacity or the lung capacity of some of my great preacher friends here to pray for a long time, but I prayed. And we ended with an embrace and a warm good-bye. And I thought about that moment all the way down the mountain, and I've thought about it in the many days since because I thought about my own spiritual journey -- growing up in a household that wasn't particularly religious, going through my own period of doubt and confusion, finding Christ when I wasn't even looking for him so many years ago, possessing so many shortcomings that have been overcome by the simple grace of God. And the fact that I would ever be on top of a mountain saying a prayer for Billy Graham, a man whose faith had changed the world and had sustained him through triumphs and tragedies and movements and milestones, that simple fact humbled me to my core. I have fallen on my knees with great regularity since that moment, asking God for guidance, not just in my personal life and in my Christian walk, but in the life of this nation and in the values that hold us together and keep us strong. I know that He will guide us. He always has, and he always will. And I pray his richest blessings on each of you in the days ahead. Thank you very much.</s>PHILLIPS: President of the United States speaking there at the Washington Hilton, the 60th U.S. National Prayer Breakfast. A lot of influential GOP voters in attendance in that crowd. We'll talk a little bit more about his speech, the content of his speech with our Mark Preston coming up in about 30 minutes. Well, American Airlines wants to layoff 13,000 workers. And that could mean thousands of maintenance workers and hundreds of pilots out of work. So what does that mean for you next time you fly American? We're talking about it with one of our aviation analysts, straight ahead.