we don't see this kind of coverage. >> larry: well said. we got a great show coming tomorrow night. thank you all very much. tomorrow night, jobs. there's a major topic. the guest, tony robins, mitt romney, eric schmidt and magic johnson. jobs in america, that's the topic tomorrow night. right now the topic is "ac 360." here's anderson cooper. tonight, selling the plan and the pushback to it. as hillary clinton and others try to sell congress on president obama's new strategy for afghanistan, we have hard questions for the general in charge, david petraeus. talked to him tonight on war plans, now drawing fire from democrats and republicans about everything from setting deadlines to sending more troops at all. we have the primetime exclusive with the general. our panel joins us as well with years of experience on the ground in afghanistan. also tonight, how did a violent, habitual offender who believed he was jesus get bail on rape charges to gun down four police officers four days later? we'll count the ways and there were plenty, and plenty of people to hold accountable, over two states and two decades. we're keeping them honest. selling the strategy, secretary of state hillary clinton and top commanders rolling out and selling president obama's so-called troop surge for afghanistan and the date he set about 20 months from now for starting to bring them home. today, tough questions for secretary gates, chairman mullen and secretary of state clinton. pushback from republicans over the conditional deadline. and from democrats for not pulling out now. >> my president told me a clunker and i paid for it with my children's and my constituent's children's cash. the question i would ask is this -- as of 8:00 last night, do we have a new war? or do we have an old war under new ownership? >> i think we have -- we have inherited the same war, but sit a dynamic war. and frankly, the situation is getting worse. the fire is getting hotter. >> over on the senate side, john mccain who favors sending more troops, took issue with the 2011 deadline. >> when conditions on the ground have decisively begun to change for the better, that is when our troops should start to return home with honor. not one minute longer, not one minute sooner. and certainly not on some arbitrary date in july 2011. >> general david petraeus joins us now. general, your take on what senator mccain said. >> that date is when you start the transition of tasks to afghan security forces and the pace of that transition, the pace of the drawdown is conditions based. those were words in the speech last night. and frankly, i think realistic and reassuring. >> why that date? defense secretary gates said the date was in response to u.s. domestic politics. >> there are a number of audiences for that kind of date. one probably is u.s. public after eight years of war. also, the afghan people, they also want their forces to take over. perhaps even some of us. get on with it. do we have to get going with this effort and having that mark on the wall out there i think is -- has that purpose, if you will. >> every village i went to with the marines in helmand in september, the local elder would say to the marine in charge, when -- how long are you guys going to be here, because the taliban is going to wait you out, what assuranceks you give me you're going to be here a long time. and the marines can say we know who is replacing us, beyond that we can't tell you. now are we going to say, well, july 2011? >> i don't think so at all, anderson, actually. again, if you go back to the words of the speech, what that said is that's when you start to transiti transition. and i think that's a realistic goal to have out there. with 18 months more of quite substantial forces on the ground, i think it is reasonable. i think it is doable. to be able to begin to transition to afghan security forces. >> let's dig deeper with our panel. joining us michael ware and chris lawrence, peter bergen and david gergen, robin wright. david gergen, you just heard petraeus trying to couch what the president said. but the bottom line, the president did announce a date. was that the right thing to do? >> well, anderson, i -- i think it's important to understand what the white house is trying to say is, the public won't sustain, won't support an open-ended war and this worked out to be a logical time to begin the drawdown. the danger, of course, is, people have immediately said this has a lot more to do with president obama's re-election and trying to save democratic seats than it does with the situation in afghanistan. i think it's going to be a subject of deep debate in this country and it's going to cause the conservatives in particular to question the president's strategy from here on out. >> michael ware, what kind of message does it send to the taliban who watch this stuff very closely? >> well, obviously, that assists the taliban to know that america is setting a deadline, no matter how firm or fixed or not. they will play the waiting game. there's absolutely no question about that. however, i dare say that this date is not set in stone. i mean, even the president last night said it will be a responsible withdrawal and it will be based upon the conditions on the ground. >> and just the start is 2011, start means the actual withdrawal could take years. >> exactly, exactly. and it could be a long, drawn-out process. let's not joke about this, this withdrawal date, however real or not it is, is simply about american domestic politics. it's about keeping the left and the democratic party vaguely happy. and it's about leading up to a presidential election in 2012. >> robin wright, one blogger said so what if the taliban wait us out. then it will be the responsibility of the afghan forces who will be able to take on the taliban directly. >> that's assuming the united states is unable to accomplish anything in the 18 month lgs. unlike the previous eight years, this is going to be a time of intense confrontation and if the taliban steps back and goes underground during that period, that leaves more room for the united states and its allies and nato to take greater control on the ground, create a different reality economically with the new project on agriculture for the afghan people. that that strategy could backfire for the taliban. >> peter, your take on having some sort of a date? >> well, i agree with everything that's been said but there's another audience, which is the afghans themselves, which is to signal to them is a not an open-ended commitment with no deadlines. >> you're talking about the afghan government as kind of a wakeup call? >> yeah. but clearly it's conditions based. so there's few places right now where the afghan army or police can take over in any meaningful way. that's not going to change dramatically in 18 months, but it could be better. the afghan army is pretty effective right now. >> that's the exact point i was thinking of. we heard this before from the bush administration, setting a day to force the malaki government in iraq to step up and hurry up and get ready to take responsibility. that really didn't happen. the troops and the police didn't really get that much better in an accelerated way, we just learned to accept them doing it in the iraqi way. >> i want to talk to chris lawrence who just got back from afghanistan. you can join the conversation online at ac360.com. when we come back, the white house says we cannot be nation building in afghanistan but is that in fact what we're doing? general petraeus is answering that question. we'll show you what he says. later, four cops are dead and so is the guy that killed him. but why was he on the streets? the governor and presidential candidate, a parole board, two states, several judges nearly 20 years. keeping them honest tonight. boss:hey, glad i caught you. i was on my way to present ideas about all the discounts we're offering. i've got some catchphrases that'll make these savings even more memorable. gecko: all right... gecko: good driver discounts. now that's the stuff...? boss: how 'bout this? gecko: ...they're the bee's knees? boss: or this? gecko: sir, how 'bout just "fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance." boss: ha, yeah, good luck with that catching on! anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. in my kitchen, i want only the best in taste. eggland's best. i love eggland's best... because of all the great nutrition. that's why they're the only eggs... i give to my son. the chef. eggland's best. the better egg. 30,000 more troops to afghanistan. now, the first may arrive in the next several weeks. they're going to be heading into taliban hot spots, clearing the area, building physical structures, and trust. the white house saying the mission is not nation building. i asked general petraeus about the apparent difference what's being said in the white house briefing room and what the mission looks like on the ground. the marines i was with talking about their strategy, clear, hold and build. i assume that is still the overall strategy for commanders on the ground. and they talk about build, they talk about building governance capabilities in villages. isn't that, effect, nation building? >> well, what they are really doing there is trying to help reestablish the traditional social organizing structures in afghan society that in many cases have been damaged or literally torn asunder by the taliban by this 30 plus years of war that afghanistan has experienced. >> that sounds like nation building. >> it is trying to provide security, it is trying to provide security for local communities so that the traditional structures can once again be the organizing feature, if you will, in those villages, in the valleys and that they then tie into the district and provincial and national structures. >> how is what we're doing not nation building? >> i'm not saying that it's not nation building. i'm not sure what you're getting at here. what we're doing is a comprehensive counterinsurgency campaign plan. it is -- it has focused objectives. one of the products of this deliberation that has taken place over the last several months, which has tested and retested all the different concepts and ideas and assumptions is quite focused objectives. >> chris lawrence, you were just in afghanistan. no one in washington wants to say it's nation building but it's nation building. >> when you talk to these troops on the ground, they're not throwing around terms like that. and i think we've talked so much about when we're getting out and this date we're getting out, talk about getting in. when president obama announced those 30,000 troops going in, there were a lot of happy marines. >> oh, yeah. >> there were marines saying, we want to fight. we get so caught up in the exit strategy and like that -- >> but in helmand province, as we just saw on the ground, there's not a lot of kinetic activity, there's not a lot of confrontation with the taliban, people are getting killed but it's a lot of going to villages, having tea with people. >> interestingly, there were 11,000 marines and a handful of government officials. if this is supposed to be political, nonmilitary, everything is done by the military, which is the way the american government is organized right now. the civilian -- >> is not happening? >> it's happening very, very slowly. >> almost nonexistent. and the building block lgs of power in helmand province haven't changed. this is what we're talking about, southern afghanistan here. yes, you've got kabul, but you've not got a history of a strong central government in this country. there's so many questions that have local answers to them. and we haven't been addressing them on that level. >> the afghans did pretty well fighting the soviets. >> right. but they didn't do that as a national army. they did that -- >> modeled as an american police for or an american army. >> they did it as bands of guerrillas. >> they were illiterate when they were fighting the soviets, peter. >> low-level endemic warfare is a way of life in afghanistan. they love to fight. >> are we trying to train them in a way that's not appropriate? >> i think that's right. >> and enforcing our values and expectations. >> anderson, i think it's nation building light. yes, of course it is a form of trying to get some fundamental organizations together to get security forces into villages, to get some order and try to leave that behind. but what the president explicitly rejected in his councils was that there were some in the pentagon who called for a significant buildup and they wanted to have a 5 to 10-year commitment. that was the true nation building proposal. and it was to leave a lot of americans in there for 5 to 10 years, put in a lot of money with contractors contracting out, build up the civilian side. and what the president said was no, i'm not going to do that. the country won't spend a trillion dollars in afghanistan. we're going to have to start pulling the plug. and he's come up with this compromised plan. it's not pleasing anybody. it has a small number of people in the middle, but i don't think it's appropriate to call it the true nation building. it's nation building light. >> robin, can the taliban be co-opted? >> i think that's a very good question. i think this is not like iraq in that the dynamics are very different. there may be some that can be peeled away but i'm not sure we're going to see an awakening like in iraq. >> the military is saying 60%, 70% are not hard core ideal logs. >> it depends on the alternative and why this idea of nation building is important. and what the administration is talking about is not nation building as in propping up a government but dealing with the local environments with the provinces and trying to help them take over. that's where we're looking to make the local leaders, the traditional powers strong enough to take on the taliban and some of the taliban may be lured away from the taliban to side with their traditional leaders. >> we'll have more from our panel after this break. we want to tickle the question of corruption, how important that is, whether it puts the entire mission in jeopardy or whether it's a red herring. later, how it is on the ground in afghanistan at a marine base. first thing you notice when you get here is this dust. the marines call it moon dust. it's a fine powder that coats everything and gets everywhere, we upons, clothing, even food and nothing you can do about it. you just said he was in... copenhagen. come on! that's pretty far. doc, look who's in town. ellen! copenhagen? 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[ female announcer ] the new office. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco. during the discussion earlier, general petraeus said we're not trying to turn afghanistan into another sweden. in a recent study, sweden ranks as one of the least corruption nation on the earth. but is building any kind of legitimate government any easier? i asked the general about it. how important is eliminating corruption in afghanistan? the white house says it was looking for promises from president karzai before making a decision on troops. whether or not they're able to deliver on that, can we win in afghanistan without eliminating corruption, does it matter? >> clearly, it matters enormo enormously, anderson. clearly, a government has to be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the people for them to support it. and popular support for, again, the government at whatever level is necessary component to achieving progress in this kind of endeavor. we did hear, as you noted, some encouraging words from president karzai, clear recognition of the importance of combatting the corruption that has characterized some of the governmental institutions in afghanistan, some in quite a severe matter. and in recent weeks, there have been some arrests, charges brought against some fairly senior governmental officials. border police commander, some ministers and so forth, and we'll have to see if this now follows through, if indeed this is a commitment that is really turned into action and is operationalized, if you will. because it is an important element in the overall way ahead. >> let's talk again with our panel. peter, do you agree with that? does corruption really matter? >> it matters but i think order is more important than corruption. bringing security, that's what afghans want. the last government really that brought a lot of security was the taliban, which is hardly a legitimate government, but they did bring security. >> so it doesn't matter necessarily to eliminate the opium trade? >> oh, no, that's not going to change at all. that's the oxygen that the economy is breathing. no matter what government is in place, for example, spin boldac is a border crossing between afghanistan and pakistan. if you're made the police chief or the border patrol chief of a border check point, you are now a rich man. >> because you get a cut of everything that goes through. >> why would you want to be a district chief when you have all this responsibility, you have to protect people, unless you get something for it. that's what runs for it. >> doesn't that undercut the legitimacy of what the u.s. is trying to do there, if they're trying to instill a sense of trust in a local government and the national government in afghanistan? >> u.s. strategy is today almost as vulnerable politically and it is militarily because of the central government, because of the widespread belief that president karzai and many in his government are engaged in, not only corrupt practices but the drug trade as well. i disagree with michael a little bit on the impact of the drug trade in that on the average farmer in afghanistan. they don't make that much. and many of them, i walked through those poppy field s man times. now they found studies there are other commodities that could create alternatives. the key is creating security so that you can begin getting some of those farmers to look at alternative crops and not have their whole lives wrapped up in this corrupt practice. >> one of the problems, the things that promotes opium is that it's something that can just be stored for long periods of time, doesn't go bad, so if there's a bad season one year, it can be sold the following year. >> and you can warehouse it for the bad season and the price is going to go up. we saw the taliban actually did that, when they stopped people growing, they had massive stockpiles and profited enormously. >> let's look at the map in terms of strength of the taliban and where they are. where are the biggest hot to thes? >> the taliban has always come from and will always have its power base there is the south. this is the heartland of the taliban. that's where it was born and bred, and from there, that's where it spread. >> there's a major city in this region that is not under control of the u.s. forces. >> absolutely not. there's a token canadian presence there. but i was in kandahar eight weeks ago and it's divided into 14, 17 neighborhoods. there's a couple neighborhoods the police can't go into. and every district around it is controlled by the taliban. the capital of kandahar sundays siege. >> and this is where american forces are and it's in the heart of the battle zone. >> we went to one police checkpoint where the taliban controlled, where the police literally are afraid to leave their police station because they get shot at when they leave. >> and it used to be denied to the taliban. but the ancient -- or the elderly tribal leader who controlled the area died. during the three days of mourning, the taliban flooded back in. but while he was alive, he kept them out. >> david gergen, i know i cut you off. >> i wanted to add one thing where we are depreomestically 2 hours after the president's speech. anderson, the last 24 hours have been his best shot with his speech and the testimony today. starting tomorrow, the picture starts becoming more cluttered. he has a job summit thursday, then a job numbers friday, he goes to copenhagen next week, then oslo. i think two things have emerged. first, i think it's clear he has not achieved the unity in the country that he is seeking that he spoke of last night. there's a lot of skepticism. but very importantly for him, it's emerged on capitol hill, that it looks like the congress will support him, a majority will support him so it will give him permission to go ahead. that was a big achievement for them, that they could hold the congress. >> david gergen, robin wright, petter, chris, michael, thank you very much. still ahead, we'll take you inside a remote patrol base in helmand pro-vince and show you what it's like for the marines. the mission is tough. the living conditions have none of the comforts of home. and maurice clemmons. keeping them honest, why was he on the streets free on bail after allegedly raping a child? and does mike huckabee think he was right to grant him clemency years ago? >> if you think a 108-year sentence is appropriate for a 16-year-old for the crimes he committed, then you should run for governor of arkansas. tonight, new questions about why a violent and unstable ex-conwas given break after break after break. a string of second chances that gave him the opportunity ultd mattly to kill four police officers. we're keeping them honest. but first erica hill has a "360" news and business bulletin. the ft. hood shooting suspect facing 32 counts of premeditated murder. premeditated charges, 13 filed against major nidal hasan, the 32 new charges are for the people who were wounded in that shooting spree. the new york senate killing a bill that would have made new york the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. supporters plan to bring the measure back for as many do-overs as it takes to pass it. an end in sight for t.a.r.p. timothy geithner saying the government could soon begin winding down the $ 700 billion bailout program. contentious hearings on the hill really don't top this. a full-fledged brawl, chairs flying, plenty of pushing, some shouting. >> yikes! >> there you go, chair for protection. this happened in argentina in a session to choose the president of the lower house. at least ten were slightly injured. >> luckily those are plastic chairs. >> yeah. >> they can have a reality show. coming up next, warning signs and big breaks for a cop killer. if so many people in power what that he was a danger, why walls he freed so many times? 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new information that reveals the many cracks in the justice system, to let this man, maurice clemmons out on the street where is he killed those cops before he was gunned down. as you'll see, there were warning signs and second chances. for someone who was violent onthe cell walls and within them. we're keeping them honest. here's correspondent drew griffin. >> reporter: prosecutors in little rock say they were never notified governor mike huckabee was even considering communing the sentence of maurice clemmons. and if they were, they most certainly would have been on record opposing it. former chief deputy prosecutor warren mccormick says no way after just 11 years behind bars should maurice clemmons had his sentence commuted, had his sentenced reduced or have ever been released on parole. and he told that in writing on the record to the parole board every time they asked. here's what you wrote. objection, he is a violent offender, this is apparent from his new 2001 conviction. this is in november of '01. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: they let him out. >> that's correct. >> reporter: by 1990, maurice clemmons, at just 18 years old, already had three felonies to his name. a violent teenager. records show just before his fourth trial, clemmons threatened the judge, injured his own mother by throwing a lock that hit her. he tried to grab a guard ice pistol and took a metal hinge, head it inside a sock intending to use it as a weapon. he was considered so dangerous, the trial judge had him shackled to his chair. mean, needed to be shackled in court. >> that's the one word that came to my mind is that he was mean, he was shackled in court. and deputies placed behind him while he was tried, because he was such a security risk. >> reporter: the jury found him guilty of burglary and theft. and along with his sentences for three previous felonies, maurice clemmons was sent to prison to serve more than 100 years. he was just 18 years old. but young as he was, he was plenty tough. even behind these prison fences, maurice clemmons continued to lash out violently. his prison record is filled with violations. aggravated battery. assault. theft. drug procession. even at one time concealing a weapon. >> over and over again, engaging in sexual activity, failure to bay, possession or into duck shun of prugs. firearms. >> reporter: he says the man his office put away for life should have never, ever gotten out, and anyone who bothered to read maurice clemmons' record, his criminal record in court, his violent record in prison, would have never allowed this man to set foot outside a prison. so who does he blame? after all, sit a parole board that recommended maurice clemmons be released but jegly says he doesn't blame the board, he blames one man. >> those are mike huckabee clemencies from 1996 through the middle of 2004. >> reporter: he says mistakes were made with clemmons. warrants missed, even in washington state bail granted. but none of it would have happened without the governor's signature. >> he needs to bear responsibility for that. >> reporter: nobody else? >> no. no. we did everything that we could do with him and got him sentenced to 108 years. mike huckabee, with a stroke of a pen, undid that, and left us to our devices to try to deal with him. >> drew, have you been able to talk to mike huckabee? >> yeah, we've been chasing him literally across the country. tonight, we did get a few minutes with him. we wanted to ask him if he read this record, if he knew back in 2000 just how dangerous this man was that he was cutting a break to. surprisingly, the answer is yes. >> did you go any further that was in the file? >> it was a file this thick. >> did it tell you the violations that he had in prison, the fact that he tried to slip a piece of metal into court? >> i looked a @ file, every bit of it, and here was a case where a guy had been given 108 years. if you think a 108-year sentence is an appropriate sentence for a 16-year-old for the crimes he committed, then you should run for governor of arkansas. >> apparently judges in arkansas did think that, right? >> no, judge humphrey did not and judge lofton did not oppose the clemency. you're looking at this nine years later. i wish i had the power to look into the future. i wish i could have done that. but i don't know how anyone can do it. >> anderson, the governor wasn't sticking around, but on other interviews, particularly on fox, he has said that he got a thousand of these clemency requests a year and only approved about 8%. but he wasn't sticking around to answer too many questions from us. >> a huge number of clemencies he approved compared to other governors. great job on the piece. as bad as that sounds, the story only continues once maurice clemmons got to washington state. joe johns has court documents. what have you discovered? >> it started when arkansas correction officials warned that maurice clemmons was an parole, on his way there and he was quote a high risk for repeat offending. truth is, clemmons stayed off the legal radar for four years or so. >> at one point earlier this year, he turned himself in, which made a judge think he might be a standup guy. >> here's what happened. maurice clemmons was arrested in may for throwing rocks at windows and assaulting police officers, who tried to stop him. posted something like $40,000 bail. released from jail. just three days later he fails to appear for his next court hearing. a warrant is issued. a couple months later, clemmons arrives for that court appearance and while waiting in court, he's arrested again. this time charged with being a fugitive from justice in arkansas. plus police have further investigated that rock throwing evidence, concluded there was evidence to charge clemmons with raping a child. so the judge decides no bail at this point. >> but he did get out, in spite of all that. how did that happen? >> well, this is where it gets controversial. the documents we've attained show the court in washington dismissed the arkansas fugitive case because the prosecutors said arkansas didn't have him listed as wanted any longer. so the no bail hold goes away and the judge says "the warning signs are all over the police." but on july 24 9, clemmons posts bail, $190,000, back out on the streets. less than a month later, rearrested for violating conditions of bail and once again the judge sets a $190,000 bail. clemmons remains in jail until he's able to post that. that's about november 23rd, last monday, when he's out again, you know what happened after that. when you add it all up, keeping them honest, maurice clemmons posted a total of about $420,000 in bail. >> where did he get all that money? >> bail bond companies, he only needed a fraction, as you know, in cash. one of those bond companies, interestingly enough, was called jail sucks bail bonds. they had a statement up on their website expressing sandness about the shootings but had no knowledge of his convictions in arkansas. he had two co-signers for the bail and clemmons put up a piece of property as collateral. >> but by then it was clear he was trouble. why didn't they just keep him locked up instead of letting him go? >> it's the law. court rules say all defendants are entitled to what they call a presumption of release unless accused of capital offenses are likely to commit a violent crime. his lawyer argued he wasn't a threat to the community. we now all know in hindsight that it was clearly dead wrong. >> he was throwing rocks at his neighbors, assaulting police officers. ultimately killing police officers. joe, appreciate the reporting from washington state. the governor of washington state said today that her state is no longer going to accept convicted criminals on parole from arkansas and he is determined that arkansas lives up to its responsibilities. what do you make of this? >> parts of the story are complicated but one part is very simple. those four police officers would be alive today if mike huckabee did not pardon this guy. that is very simple. now, you can argue as huckabee has, that 100 year sentence is excessive for a 16-year-old kid. >> and that's what the judge said as well. >> that's right. but given the facts and circumstances of his -- his nature, his violent nature in prison, it's very hard for me to understand why he was given a break when many other people didn't. >> the amount of clemencies that mike huckabee gave as governor is huge. i think more than a thousand, far more than just about any other governor in the region. i think more than like six states combined. >> his predecessor, bill clinton -- >> why do governors get to give clemency? >> it's one of those powers that has been part of a chief of executive's power. the president has pardon power. it's considered a check on abuses by the court system. it's an opportunity to grant mercy. frankly, i think governors often don't exercise it enough. but to use it with someone who is violent, i mean, there were so many non-violent drug offenders in prison, so many people who do deserve a break. the idea that someone like this got it is shocking. >> and we've seen the results of what happened. drama in the courtroom today in 2 murder trial. and we'll show you how far the marines are from the comforts of home. the bathroom facilities here are primitive to say the least. there are pipes in the ground, which are, it's obviously what they're for. and the toilets, there's four of them. they're communal. 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(alarm blasting) (screaming) (phone rings) hello? this is bill with broadview security. is everything okay? no. there's this guy - he just smashed in my door. i'm sending help right now. thank you. 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[ applause ] >> posted on youtube, the groom also twittered during the nuptials. he tweeted writing "time to go, got to kiss the bride." >> yeah, sorry, i have to finish getting married. >> this hit a nerve in the news room. some thought he was annoying and rude. others found it funny and cute. >> they didn't think during the ceremony, ela thought updating the status update was cute. >> are that many people checking his status that he had to do it right then? >> wouldn't you think those important people are there at your wedding? just a thought. >> yeah. >> best of luck to the two of you, especially you, honey, if he's tweeting that much, good luck. going to be a long honeymoon. >> we'll hear all about it. >> that's right. he'll probably be tweeting the wedding night. all right. let's just leave it there. controlled freeze zone is a new technology... being developed by exxonmobil... to remove the co2 from the natural gas... so we can safely store it... where it won't get into the atmosphere. exxonmobil is spending more than 100 million dollars... to build a plant that will demonstrate this process. i'm very optimistic about it... because this technology could be used... to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. ♪ tonight, selling the plan and the pushback to it. as hillary clinton and others try to sell congress on president obama's new strategy for afghanistan, we have hard questions for the general in charge, david petraeus. i stalked to him tonight on war plans, now drawing fire from democrats and republicans about everything from setting deadlines to sending more troops at all. we have the primetime exclusive with the general. our panel joins us as well with years of experience on the ground in afghanistan. also tonight, how did a violent, habitual offender who believed he was jesus get bail on rape charges to gun down four police officers just days later? why did a governor let him out of prison just years before? we'll count the ways and there were plenty, and plenty of people to hold accountable, over two states and two decades. we're keeping them honest. selling the strategy, secretary of state hillary clinton and top commanders rolling out and selling president obama's so-called troop surge for afghanistan and the date he set about 20 months from now for starting to bring them home. today, tough questions for secretary gates, chairman mullen and secretary of state clinton. pushback from republicans over the conditional deadline. and from democrats for not pulling out now. >> my president sold me a clunker and i paid for it with my children's and my constituent's children's cash. i guess the question i would ask is this -- as of 8:00 last night, do we have a new war? or do we have an old war under new ownership? >> i think we have -- we have inherited the same war, but it is a die namic war. and frankly, the situation is getting worse. the fire is getting hotter. >> over on the senate side, john mccain who favors sending more troops, took issue with the 2011 deadline. >> when conditions on the ground have decisively begun to change for the better, that is when our troops should start to return home with honor. not one minute longer, not one minute sooner. and certainly not on some arbitrary date in july 2011. >> general david petraeus joins us now. general, your take on what smater mccain said? is this just an arbitrary date? >> that date is when you start the transition of tasks to afghan security forces and the pace of that transition, the pace of the drawdown is conditions based. those were words in the speech last night. and frankly, i think realistic and quite reassuring? >> why that date? defense secretary gates said the date was in response to u.s. domestic politics. >> i think there are a number of audiences for that kind of date. one probably is u.s. public after eight years of war. also, the afghan people, they also want their forces to take over. perhaps even some of us. get on with it. do we have to get going with this effort and having that mark on the wall out there i think is -- has that purpose, if you will. >> every village i went to with the marines in helmand in september, the local elder would say to the marine in charge, when -- how long are you guys going to be here, because the taliban is going to wait you out, what assurances can you give me you're going to be here a long time? and the marines can say we know when we're being redeployed, we know who is replacing us, beyond that we can't tell you. now are we going to say, well, july 2011? >> i don't think so at all, anderson, actually. again, if you go back to the words of the speech, what that said is that's when you start to transition. and i think that's a realistic goal to have out there. with 18 months more of quite substantial forces on the ground, i think it is reasonable. i think it is doable. to be able to begin to transition to afghan security forces. >> let's dig deeper with our panel. joining us michael ware and chris lawrence, peter bergen and david gergen, robin wright. david gergen, you just heard petraeus trying to couch what the president said last night. but the bottom line, the president did announce a date. was that the right thing to do? >> well, anderson, i -- i think -- he had been at the white house for that luncheon yesterday and he concluded that the day had a lot to do with politics and the political calendar. it's important to understand what the white house is trying to say is, the public won't sustain, won't support an open-ended war and this worked out to be a logical time to begin the drawdown. the danger, of course, is, people have immediately said this has a lot more to do with president obama's re-election and trying to save democratic seats than it does with the situation in afghanistan. i think it's going to be a subject of deep debate in this country and it's going to cause the conservatives in particular to question the president's strategy from here on out. >> michael ware, what kind of message does it send to the taliban who watch this stuff very closely? >> well, obviously, that assists the taliban to know that america is setting a deadline, no matter how firm or fixed or not. they will play the waiting game. there's absolutely no question about that. however, i dare say that this date is not set in stone. i mean, even the president last night said it will be a responsible withdrawal and it will be based upon the conditions on the ground. >> and just the start is 2011, start means the actual withdrawal could take years. >> exactly, exactly. and it could be a long, drawn-out process. let's not joke about this, this withdrawal date, however real or not it is, is simply about american domestic politics. it's about keeping the left and the democratic party vaguely happy. and it's about leading up to a presidential election in 2012. militarily, it doesn't serve a great purpose. >> robin wright, one blogger said so what if the taliban wait us out. then it will be the responsibility of the afghan forces who presumably by then will be more able to take on the taliban directly. >> that's assuming the united states is unable to accomplish anything in the 18 months. unlike the previous eight years, this is going to be a time of intense confrontation and if the taliban steps back and goes underground during that period, that leaves more room for the united states and its allies and nato to take greater control on the ground, create a different reality economically with the new project on agriculture for the afghan people. that that strategy could backfire for the taliban. >> peter, your take on having some sort of a date? >> well, i agree with everything that's been said but there's another audience, which is the afghans themselves, which is to signal to them is a not an open-ended commitment with no deadlines. >> you're talking about the afghan government as kind of a wakeup call? >> yeah. but clearly it's conditions based. so there's few places right now where the afghan army or police can take over in any meaningful way. that's not going to change dramatically in 18 months, but it could be better. the afghan army is pretty ineffective right now. that was true of the iraqi army and the iraqi police. now both of them are much more effective. >> that's the exact point i was thinking of. we heard this before from the bush administration, setting a day to force the malaki government in iraq to step up and hurry up and get ready to take responsibility. that really didn't happen. the troops and the police didn't really get that much better in an accelerated way, we just learned to accept them doing it in the iraqi way. >> i want to talk to chris lawrence who just got back from afghanistan on the other side of this break about morale of u.s. forces that he found on the ground. we'll have more with our panel in a moment. you can join the conversation online at ac360.com. when we come back, the white house says we cannot be nation building in afghanistan but is that in fact what we're doing? general petraeus is answering that question. we'll show you what he says. you can judge for yourself. later, four cops are dead and so is the guy that killed him. but why was he on the streets? the trail of errors in this one almost as long as the trail of tears. the governor and presidential candidate, a parole board, two states, several judges nearly 20 years. we're finding the folks involved, getting answers. keeping them honest tonight. 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(announcer) 36-hour cialis. or cialis for daily use. ask your doctor about cialis today, so when the moment is right, you can be ready. man: there are millions of colours in this world. but in business, only two matter: red and black. red, well, no one wants that. black, on the other hand, has strength. black is always in style. it's what business looks best in. black is where growth and success happen, and it's easier to get there and stay there in ontario, canada. especially with our competitive tax rate. ontario, canada. the world works here. 30,000 more troops to afghanistan. now, the first may arrive in the next several weeks. they're going to be heading into taliban hot spots, clearing the area, building physical structures, governance capabilities and trust. the white house saying the mission is not nation building. i asked general petraeus about the apparent difference what's being said in the white house briefing room and what the mission looks like on the ground. the marines i was with talking about their strategy, clear, hold and build. i assume that is still the overall strategy for commanders on the ground. and they talk about build, they talk about building governance capabilities in villages. isn't that, in effect, nation building? >> well, what they are really doing there is trying to help reestablish the traditional social organizing structures in afghan society that in many cases have been damaged or literally torn asunder by the taliban by this 30 plus years of war that afghanistan has experienced. >> that sounds like nation building. >> it is trying to provide security, it is trying to provide security for local communities so that the traditional structures can once again be the organizing feature, if you will, in those villages, in the valleys and that they then tie into the district and provincial and national structures. >> how is what we're doing not nation building? >> i'm not saying that it's not nation building. i'm not sure what you're getting at here. what we're doing is a comprehensive counterinsurgency campaign plan. it is -- it has focused objectives. one of the products of this deliberation that has taken place over the last several months, which has tested and retested all the different concepts and ideas and assumptions is quite focused objectives. >> back now with our panel. chris lawrence, you were just in afghanistan. no one in washington wants to say it's nation building but it's nation building. >> when you talk to these troops on the ground, they're not throwing around terms like that. and i think we've talked so much about when we're getting out and this date we're getting out, talk about getting in. when president obama announced those 30,000 troops going in, there were a lot of happy marines. >> oh, yeah. >> there were marines saying, we want to fight. we get so caught up in the exit strategy and like that -- >> but in helmand province, as we just saw on the ground, there's not a lot of kinetic activity, there's not a lot of confrontation with the taliban, there's ieds going off. people are getting killed but it's a lot of going to villages, having tea with people. >> interestingly, there were 11,000 marines and a handful of u.s. government officials. if the idea this is supposed to be politically, nonmilitary, everything is done by the military, which is the way the american government is organized right now. the civilian surge that is supposed to be part of this -- >> is not happening? >> it's happening very, very slowly. >> almost nonexistent. and the building blocks of power in helmand province haven't changed. >> this is the man area we're talking about. >> this is what we're talking about, southern afghanistan here. yes, you've got kabul, but you've not got a history of a strong central government in this country. there's so many questions that have local answers to them. and we haven't been addressing them on that level. >> the afghans did pretty well fighting the soviets. >> right. but they didn't do that as a national army. >> it was local forces. >> modeled as an american police for or an american army. >> they did it as bands of guerrillas. >> they were illiterate when they were fighting the soviets, peter. >> low-level endemic warfare is a way of life in afghanistan. these people love to fight. >> are we trying to train them in a way that's not appropriate? >> i think that's right. >> and we're enforcing our expectations, our models, our values. >> david gergen, it is nation building when you look at it on the ground. >> anderson, i think it's nation building light. yes, of course it is a form of trying to get some fundamental organizations together to get security forces into villages, to get some order and try to leave that behind. but what the president explicitly rejected in his councils was that there were some in the pentagon who called for a significant buildup and they wanted to have a 5 to 10-year commitment. that was the true nation building proposal. and it was to leave a lot of americans in there for 5 to 10 years, put in a lot of money with contractors contracting out, build up the civilian side. and what the president said was no, i'm not going to do that. it's too open ended. the country won't spend a trillion dollars in afghanistan. we're going to have to start pulling the plug. and he's come up with this compromised plan. it's not pleasing anybody. it has a small number of people in the middle, but i don't think it's appropriate to call it the true nation building. it's nation building light. >> robin, can the taliban be co-opted? >> i think that's a very good question. i think this is not like iraq in that the dynamics are very different. there may be some that can be peeled away but i'm not sure we're going to see an awakening like we did in iraq. >> the military is saying 60%, 70% are not hard core idealogs. and maybe folks that can be dealt with in one way or another. >> it depends on the alternative and why this idea of nation building is important. and what the administration is talking about is not nation building as in propping up a government but dealing with the local environments with the provinces and trying to help them take over. that's where we're looking to make the local leaders, the traditional powers strong enough to take on the taliban and some of the taliban may be lured away from the taliban to side with their traditional leaders. >> we'll have more from our panel after this break. we want to tackle the question of corruption, how important that is, whether it puts the entire mission in jeopardy or whether it's a red herring. whether it's not as important as a lot of people say it's been. tk with new marie callender's homestyle creations. marie callender's homestyle creations -- a little touch of home for lunch. marie callender's homestyle creations -- let's fine-tune your business to take advantage of new opportunities. 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(backbeat swells) there, now that sounds perfect. welcome to the now network, population 49 million. right now 1.2 million people are on sprint mobile broadband. 31 are streaming a sales conference from the road. 154 are tracking shipments on a train. 33 are iming on a ferry. and 1300 are secretly checking email on a vacation. that's happening now. america's most dependable 3g network. bringing you the first and only wireless 4g network. right now get a free 3g/4g device for your laptop. sprint. the now network. deaf, hard-of-hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com during the discussion earlier, general petraeus said we're not trying to turn afghanistan into another sweden. which would be a miracle. in a recent study, sweden ranks as one of the least corrupt nations on the earth. afghanistan second worst on the planet. but if building another sweden impossible, is building any kind of legitimate government any easier? i asked the general about it. how important is eliminating corruption in afghanistan? the white house says it was looking for promises from president karzai before making a decision on troop levels. he gave lip service in his inaugural speech. whether or not they're able to deliver on that, can we win in afghanistan without eliminating corruption, does it matter? >> clearly, it matters enormously, anderson. clearly, a government has to be seen as legitimate in the eyes of the people for them to support it. and popular support for, again, the government at whatever level is necessary component to achieving progress in this kind of endeavor. we did hear, as you noted, some encouraging words from president karzai, clear recognition of the importance of combatting the corruption that has characterized some of the governmental institutions in afghanistan, some in quite a severe matter. and in recent weeks, there have been some arrests, charges brought against some fairly senior governmental officials. border police commander, some ministers and so forth, and we'll have to see if this now follows through, if indeed this is a commitment that is really turned into action and is operationalized, if you will. because it is an important element in the overall way ahead. >> let's talk again with our panel. many of whom -- all of us at this table have spent a lot of time in afghanistan over the years. peter, do you agree with that? does corruption really matter? >> it matters but i think order is more important than corruption. bringing security, that's what afghans want. there's been a lot of polling on this issue. the last government really that brought a lot of security was the taliban, which is hardly a legitimate government, but they did bring security. >> so it doesn't matter changing the essential nature of the afghan government, it doesn't matter necessarily to eliminate the opium trade? >> oh, no, that's not going to change at all. that's the oxygen that the economy is breathing. no matter what government is in place, for example, spin boldac which is just south of kandahar, is a border crossing between afghanistan and pakistan. if you're made the police chief or the border patrol chief of a border checkpoint, you are now a rich man. >> because you get a cut of everything that goes through. >> that's how it works. why would you want to be a district chief when you have all this responsibility, you have to protect people, unless you get something for it. that's what runs this place. >> doesn't that undercut the legitimacy of what the u.s. is trying to do there, if they're trying to instill a sense of trust in a local government and the national government in afghanistan? >> u.s. strategy is today almost as vulnerable politically as it is militarily because of the central government, because of the widespread belief that president karzai and many in his government are engaged in, not only corrupt practices but the drug trade as well. i disagree with michael a little bit on the impact of the drug trade in that on the average farmer in afghanistan. they don't make that much. and many of them, i walked through those poppy fields many times. and i heard from many that they would rather grow something else. but that this was more profitable. now they found studies there are other commodities that could create alternatives. the key is creating security so that you can begin getting some of those farmers to look at alternative crops and not have their whole lives wrapped up in this corrupt practice. >> one of the problems, the things that promotes opium is that it's something that can just be stored for long periods of time, doesn't go bad, so if there's a bad season one year, it can be sold the following year. >> and you can warehouse it for the bad season and the price is going to go up. we saw the taliban actually did that, when they stopped people growing, they had massive stockpiles and profited enormously. >> let's look at the map in terms of strength of the taliban and where they are. where are the biggest hot spots? >> the taliban has always come from and will always have its power bases in the south. principally this is the heartland of the taliban. that's where it was born and bred, and from there, that's where it spread. >> there's a major city in this region that is not under control of the u.s. forces. >> absolutely not. there's a token canadian presence there. but i was in kandahar eight weeks ago and it's divided into 14, 17 neighborhoods. there's a couple neighborhoods the police can't go into. and every district around it is controlled by the taliban. the capital of kandahar is under siege. >> and this is where american forces are and it's in the heart of the battle zone. >> we went to one police checkpoint where the taliban controlled, where the police literally are afraid to leave their police station because they get shot at when they leave. >> and it used to be denied to the taliban. but the ancient -- or the elderly tribal leader who controlled the area died. during the three days of mourning, the taliban flooded back in. but while he was alive, he kept them out. >> david gergen, i know i cut you off. david? >> i wanted to add one thing where we are domestically 24 hours after the president's speech. because i think a couple important things have happened. you talked last night about this started the president's selling last night with his speech. anderson, the last 24 hours have been his best shot with his speech and the testimony today. starting tomorrow, the picture starts becoming more cluttered. he has a job summit thursday, then a job numbers friday, he goes to copenhagen next week, then he goes to oslo. they've now had their best shot. i think two things have emerged. first, i think it's clear he has not achieved the unity in the country that he is seeking that he spoke of last night. people are still, you know, there's a lot of skepticism. but very importantly for him, it's emerged on capitol hill, that it looks like the congress will support him, a majority will support him so it will give him permission to go ahead. that was a big achievement for them today, that they could hold the congress. >> david gergen, robin wright, petter, chris, michael, thank you very much. still ahead, troubling questions about maurice clemmons. keeping them honest, why was this ex-con free on bail after allegedly raping a child. and does mike huckabee still think he was right to grant him clemency years ago? 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maurice clemmons was let out on the street where is he killed those cops before he was gunned down. as you'll see, there were warning signs and second chances. for someone who was violent outside of the cell walls and within them. we're keeping them honest. we begin with what happened in arkansas. here's correspondent drew griffin. >> reporter: prosecutors in little rock say they were never notified governor mike huckabee was even considering communing the sentence of maurice clemmons. and if they were, they most certainly would have been on record opposing it. former chief deputy prosecutor warren mccormick says no way after just 11 years behind bars should maurice clemmons had his sentence commuted, had his sentenced reduced or have ever been released on parole. and he told that in writing on the record to the parole board every time they asked. here's what you wrote. objection, he is a violent offender, this is apparent from his new 2001 conviction. this is in november of '01. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: they let him out. >> that's correct. >> reporter: by 1990, maurice clemmons, at just 18 years old, already had three felonies to his name. a violent teenager. records show just before his fourth trial, clemmons threatened the judge, injured his own mother by throwing a lock that hit her. he tried to grab a guard's pistol and took a metal hinge, hid it inside a sock, intending to use it as a weapon. he was considered so dangerous, the trial judge had him shackled to his chair. mean, needed to be shackled in court. >> that's the one word that came to my mind or remembered about him is that he was mean. he was shackled in court. and deputies placed behind him while he was tried, because he was such a security risk. >> reporter: the jury found him guilty of burglary and theft. and along with sentences for three previous felonies, maurice clemmons was sent to prison to serve more than 100 years. he was just 18 years old. but young as he was, he was plenty tough. even behind these prison fences, maurice clemmons continued to lash out violently. his prison record is filled with violations. aggravated battery. assault. theft. drug procession. even at one time concealing a weapon. >> over and over again, engaging in sexual activity, failure to obey, possession or introduction of drugs. firearms. somehow or other. i'm not sure. >> reporter: firm arm? >> yeah. >> reporter: the records don't know what that firearm was. he says the man his office put away for life should have never, ever gotten out, and anyone who bothered to read maurice clemmons' record, his criminal record in court, his violent record in prison, would have never allowed this man to set foot outside a prison. so who does he blame? after all, it is a parole board that recommended maurice clemmons be released but jeggley says he doesn't blame the board, he blames one man. >> those are mike huckabee clemencies from 1996 through the middle of 2004. >> reporter: he says mistakes were made with clemmons. warrants missed, even in washington state bail granted. but none of it would have happened without the governor's signature. >> he needs to bear responsibility for that. >> reporter: nobody else? >> no. no. we did everything that we could do with him and got him sentenced to 108 years. mike huckabee, with a stroke of a pen, undid that, and left us to our devices to try to deal with him. >> drew, have you been able to talk to mike huckabee? >> yeah, we've been chasing him literally across the country. tonight, we did get a few minutes with him. here in jacksonville, florida. it was a keeping them honest moment, anderson. we wanted to ask him if he read this record, if he knew back in 2000 just how dangerous this man was that he was cutting a break to. surprisingly, the answer is yes. >> did you go any further that was in the file? >> i read the entire file. >> it was a file this thick. >> did it tell you the violations that he had in prison, the fact that he tried to slip a piece of metal into court? >> i looked at the file, every bit of it and here was a case where a guy had been given 108 years. if you think a 108-year sentence is an appropriate sentence for a 16-year-old for the crimes he committed, then you should run for governor of arkansas. >> apparently judges in arkansas did think that, right? >> no, judge humphrey did not and judge lofton did not oppose the clemency. that's what you have to understand. you're looking at this nine years later. and trying to make something as if, you know, i could look into the future. i wish i had that power. i wish i could have done that. but i don't know how anyone can do it. i appreciate it. >> anderson, the governor wasn't sticking around to answer more questions, but on other interviews, particularly on his own network, fox, he has said that he got a thousand of these clemency requests a year and only approved about 8%. but he wasn't sticking around to answer too many questions from us. >> a huge number of clemencies he approved compared to other governors. and compared to all the states in the region. great job on the piece. appreciate it. as bad as that sounds, the story only continues once maurice clemmons got to washington state. joe johns has court documents. joe, what have you discovered? >> it started when arkansas correction officials warned that maurice clemmons was an parole, on his way there and he was quote a high risk for repeat offending. truth is, clemmons stayed off the legal radar for four years or so, until just this past may. >> at one point earlier this year, he turned himself in, which made a judge think he might be a standup guy. >> here's what happened. maurice clemmons was arrested in may for throwing rocks at windows and assaulting police officers who tried to stop him. posted something like $40,000 bail. released from jail. just three days later he fails to appear for his next court hearing. a warrant is issued. a couple months later, clemmons does arrive for that court appearance and while waiting in court, he's arrested again. this time charged with being a fugitive from justice in arkansas. plus, police have now further investigated that rock throwing evidence, concluded there was evidence to charge clemmons with also raping a child. so the judge decides no bail at this point. it sounded like there was no way he was getting back out on the street. >> but he did get out, in spite of all that. how did that happen? >> well, this is where it gets really controversial. the documents we've attained show the court in washington dismissed the arkansas fugitive case because the prosecutors said arkansas didn't have him listed as wanted any longer. so the no bail hold goes away and the judge says "the warning signs are all over the place." but on july 24, clemmons posts bail, $190,000, back out on the streets. less than a month later, rearrested for violating conditions of bail and once again the judge sets a $190,000 bail. clemmons remains in jail until he's able to post that. that's about november 23rd, last monday, when he's out again, you know what happened after that. when you add it all up, keeping them honest, maurice clemmons posted a total of about $420,000 in bail. >> where did he get all that money? >> went through bail bond companies. he only needed a fraction, as you know, in cash. one of those bond companies, interestingly enough, was called jail sucks bail bonds. they had a statement up on their website expressing sadness about the shootings but had no knowledge of his criminal convictions in arkansas. he had two co-signers for the bail and clemmons put up a piece of property as collateral. >> but by then it was clear to everybody he was trouble. why didn't they just keep him locked up instead of letting him go? >> it's the law. washington state court rules say all defendants are entitled to what they call a presumption of release unless accused of capital offenses are likely to commit a violent crime. his lawyer argued he wasn't a threat to the community. we now all know in hindsight that it was clearly dead wrong. >> not a threat to the community? he was throwing rocks at his neighbors, assaulting police officers. ultimately killing police officers. joe, appreciate the reporting from washington state. there's another twist to the story. the governor of washington state said today that her state is no longer going to accept convicted criminals on parole from arkansas until the system is reviewed and she's determined that arkansas lives up to its responsibilities. jeffrey toobin joins us. what do you make of this? >> parts of the story are complicated but one part is very simple. those four police officers would be alive today if mike huckabee did not pardon this guy. that is very simple. now, you can argue as huckabee has, that 100 year sentence is excessive for a 16-year-old kid. >> and that's what the judge who i interviewed the other night said as well. >> that's right. but given the facts and circumstances of his -- his nature, his violent nature in prison, it's very hard for me to understand why he was given a break when many other people didn't. >> the amount of clemencies that mike huckabee gave as governor is huge. i think more than a thousand, far more than just about any other governor in the region. i think more than like six states combined. >> his predecessor, bill clinton -- >> why do governors get to give clemency? >> clemency is one of those powers that has been part of a chief executive's power in angelo american law since before the american revolution. this is something that every governor has. the president has pardon power. it's considered a check on abuses by the court system. it's an opportunity to grant mercy. frankly, i think governors often don't exercise it enough. but to use it with someone who is violent, i mean, there were so many non-violent drug offenders in prison, so many people who do deserve a break. the idea that someone like this got it is shocking. >> and we've seen the results of what happened. jeff toobin, appreciate it. up next, one idea changing the world. ever wondered how much electricity you use in your home? also, susan boyle is shaking things up. we'll tell you how, ahead. all right, now that the economy has changed, let's fine-tune your business to take advantage of new opportunities. 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[ whirring ] [ female announcer ] the new community. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco. i don't think you can live the american lifestyle without energy. we have all this energy here in the u.s. we have wind. we have solar, obviously. we have lots of oil. i think natural gas is part of the energy mix of the future. i think we have the can-do. we have the capability. we have the technology. the solutions are here. we just need to find them here. into revolutionary performance. one word makes the difference between defining the mission and accomplishing the mission. one word makes the difference in defending our nation and the cause of freedom. how... is the word that makes all the difference. tonight one simple thing, showcasing ideas that change the world. we have no idea how many kill watts of energy we use everyday. if so we might be able to cut back. google took that idea and came up with a way to maybe help save the planet. >> reporter: google changed how we get information. now, it wants to change how we get energy. this is how it started on google's home page. >> it's instantaneous searches everyone has relied on. they actually require energy. we said to ourselves we want to get more efficient and greener in our own electricity. that was a starting point. >> reporter: dan heads up google's climate change and energy initiative. he came up with a simple thing that he hopes will save you money and save the planet along the way. it is google power meter. every time you flip on a light or toaster, it shows a spike. you can watch it on the computer or smartphone. >> we get a bill almost once a month we learn almost nothing from it, how much do i owe and where can i send the check. >> reporter: but google users can logon and see how much caused the consumption that day or month. and you can make changes to your bill. >> were you surprised to see what it was spitting out? >> i actually was. i knew it was the refrigerator but i had no idea how much it was using. >> reporter: watch what happens when dan's 14-year-old daughter, haley turns on the hair dryer. it shows the family using four cents an hour of energy. not to say haley should use a towel instead, just helps everyone become more aware of their energy use. >> it just begins to give you sense what it takes to run a house. the great thing is it's pretty painless. >> the google service is free. it's the company's way of giving back some of those billions and making a positive global impact to. make it work does require some hardware, a smart meter more and more utility companies are starting and google provided ten of them and comes with a complete with an ipod hand hold. >> the device is deep inside dan's breaker box inside his garage. if you end up getting one you probably want to have an electrician install it. >> it's great inexpensive way of dealing with global warming. >> reporter: according to reicher, if half of american householdins decrease energy consumption by 10%, it's the equivalent of taking 8 million cars off the road. information is power. an old expression with some new meaning, dan simon, cnn, san francisc francisco. coming up next, the white house crashers, leaked e-mails may prove the tv wannabes were never invited. 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