MEREDITH VIEIRA, co-host:
But let us begin with the change in command in
Afghanistan
.
Chuck Todd
is
NBC
's chief White House correspondent. Good morning,
Chuck
.
CHUCK TODD reporting:
Good morning,
Meredith
. Well, after a rare, swift set of personnel moves by this
White House
, the president is back focused on trying to make his complicated
Afghanistan
strategy work rather than fixated on who's going to implement it.
President BARACK OBAMA:
...say to the
American people
, this is a change in personnel but it is not a change in policy.
TODD:
With
General Petraeus
by his side and
General McChrystal
headed out a side door, the president signaled to his team no more firestorms like this one will be tolerated.
Pres. OBAMA:
I've just told my national security team that
now is the time
for all of us to come together. I welcome debate among my team, but I won't tolerate division.
TODD:
The president's aides don't expect there'll be much division in the
Senate
either, where some are predicting
Petraeus
will have the fastest confirmation in history and the praise is bipartisan.
Senator CARL LEVIN (Democrat, Michigan):
And I
admire him and others that respond to that kind of a call from the president. I don't even think he had a chance to talk to his wife.
Senator LINDSEY GRAHAM (Republican, South Carolina):
Dave Petraeus
is our best hope. If things don't change, nobody can pull it out in
Afghanistan
.
TODD:
But the hearings are expected to reignite the very divisive debate among the two parties about the question of a timetable for withdrawing troops from
Afghanistan
scheduled to begin next July.
Senator JOHN McCAIN (Republican, Arizona):
Whether that is, quote, "etched in stone," as the president's spokesperson
Mr. Gibbs
stated, or whether it will be conditions-based.
TODD:
Still, the swiftness of the president's action is a commander in chief moment at a time when the public is having doubts about his abilities. According to a new
NBC
/
Wall Street Journal
poll, just 45 percent approve of the job he's doing as president.
Forty-four
percent believe he's firm and decisive in his decision-making; that's down from 63 percent 18 months ago. And just under half the country, 49 percent, believe he has strong leadership qualities. That's down a whopping 21 points from the month he took office. And as the list of domestic problems like unemployment and the oil spill pile up on the president's desk, some say it was vitally important the president buy time on
Afghanistan
.
General BARRY McCAFFREY, Retired (NBC News Military Analyst):
It does give the president cover in the strategy and it does buy him time. He's putting a leader out there that will not be questioned.
TODD:
Today the focus stays on foreign affairs as the president meets with the president of another country who's familiar with a quagmirelike situation in
Afghanistan
; Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev
visits the
White House
today. The two will hold a joint press conference and
Afghanistan
is likely to come up,
Matt.
“ ”