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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports
Marines Prepare for Assault on Fallujah; Battle Over Arafat's Burial
Aired November 05, 2004 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now, there is no calm before the storm in Fallujah as U.S. marines prepare for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold, fighting already erupting. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Target, Fallujah. Ready for an assault and waiting for the go-ahead.
Yasser Arafat as he lies between life and death, there's already a battle over his burial.
Jobs, a sudden surge in hiring, but are the unemployment lines really any shorter.
And election expectations. We'll look at what didn't happen this week and what might happen in the next four years.
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, November 5, 2004.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: We begin with the build up to what may become an all- out U.S.-led assault on Fallujah.
As you can see and hear in this video just in from Iraq, U.S. forces are pounding the city. Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi put it very bluntly today, saying, and I'm quoting now, "we intend to liberate the people of Fallujah from the terrorists and the insurgents who have made the city their stronghold." U.S. marines would spearhead that effort. CNN's Karl Penhaul is embedded with the U.S. marines near Fallujah. Earlier, I spoke with him by telephone about what to expect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Preparations have been gathering pace at the camps in the desert near Fallujah. In the course of the day, in fact, we've seen U.S. marines continue to train in their urban warfare tactic and we've also seen a contingent of the Iraqi army, the new Iraqi army arrive at this place and they have begun to train with U.S. marines as well. They have been mounting and dismounting from armored vehicles. They've been also engaged in some of urban warfare tactics, such as clearing buildings.
The other thing we've hearing today are more briefings from U.S. military intelligence and they have been outlining to us the latest information they have on the scale of the insurgent threat inside the rebel-held city of Fallujah. They estimate at this point that about 3,000 hardcore insurgents are holed up there. Other estimates have ranged with numbers as high as 5,000.
Also, the estimate is currently there may be as many as 50,000 civilians inside the city. In normal times of peace, that city has a population of about 250,000. What the U.S. military intelligence also telling us is that the insurgents are expected to make ample use of non-conventional devices, they're talking in terms of car bombs, suicide attacks, improvised explosive devices embedded in the sidewalks and also in walls and they're also saying that a number of the buildings throughout this city could be rigged to explode as U.S. marines move in to clear them. In fact, U.S. marine commanders here are saying this is likely to be their toughest fight since Hue City. That was in Vietnam in 1968 -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Karl, the morale among the troops, the marines especially who are there, what, if anything, can you give us a little flavor, are they anxious, are they ready? How would you describe their mood?
PENHAUL: I would describe it as a sense of urgency at this stage. A lot of these marine infantry men are young fit guys, late teens, early twenties and sitting around, even though they are spending several hours a day training, but the rest of the time sitting around, cleaning weapons. That really doesn't suit them. They have a lot of energy and they really know that they're here to do a job and what they're now eager to do is get inside Fallujah and do that job. They know it's difficult (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and they know that urban warfare can get bloody and messy very quickly. In fact, in the course of this week, we did, of course, see that memorial service for a U.S. marine killed by a suicide car bomb. That did obviously make them think, that did create a sober atmosphere around here for a while, but certainly these marines are focused on the job ahead of them, even though they realize that may be a difficult street fight -- Wolf.
BLITZER: There have been reports, Karl, that among the insurgents, and I don't think the U.S. and Iraqi forces have a good idea exactly how many insurgents there are in Fallujah, but that some have been leaving in recent days. What, if anything, can you tell us about that?
PENHAUL: There have been reports that some of the insurgents may have filtered away, filtered out of the city, just simply laid down their arms and drifted out of the city disguised or dressed as civilians. But at the same time according to the latest U.S. military intelligence estimates, they do calculate that 3,000 insurgents are still in the city. That, the military intelligence analysts say, are the hardcore fighters, the ones that are expected to put their backs to the wall and literally fight to the death. The U.S. military intelligence analysts also expect that there are a number of other Iraqis inside that city who are generally sympathetic to the insurgents and may try to fight the U.S. forces for some while, but when they see the ferocity of the pan-U.S. advance then the U.S. forces expect some of those fighters will lay down their weapons. But certainly planning and expecting to face an insurgent force of at least 3,000 hardcore fighters -- Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: CNN's Karl Penhaul on the frontlines for us, embedded with U.S. marines just outside Fallujah. There's been a lot of planning and practice for an attack on Fallujah and there is certainly a lot at stake. Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the marines there near Fallujah know that any day now they can get the order from the Iraqi interim government to finish the job that their fellow marines were prevented from doing back in April, namely retaking Fallujah by force.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Days of air strikes and constant skirmishes have been paving the way for an assault force that sources say will be larger than the U.S. marines had during April's aborted offensive. It includes some American army units and importantly thousands of specially trained Iraqi soldiers, whose performance in the past has been spotty.
PFC. ABRAHAM AUGUSTIN, U.S ARMY: It's very unpredictable, but we have faith in them. Hopefully they won't let us down.
MCINTYRE: In fact, the Iraqi participation, along with local citizen support, is considered key to success.
SAMIR SUMAIDA'IE, IRAQI U.N. REPRESENTATIVE: The Fallujans have been subjected to a Taliban-like rule. Their houses have been commandeered, threatened and they, themselves, want the situation to be normalized.
MCINTYRE: While the timing is secret the showdown has been well telegraphed. More than half of Fallujah's 250,000 residents have already fled in anticipation of the offensive. Insurgents, believed to number in the thousands, have been busy preparing defenses, attacking U.S. troops and rigging booby traps. Located just west of Baghdad, Fallujah is not just the biggest hotbed of resistance in Iraq. It is also believed to be the base of operations for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant, who the U.S. hopes to capture or kill if he's there. And while victory in Fallujah is crucial, no one is predicting it will break the back of the insurgency.
MAJ. JIM WEST, U.S. MARINE CORPS: By taking it out does not mean the rest of the insurgency will fall. But it will be a big chip in that block.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MCINTYRE: In fact, after the smoke clears in Fallujah, the U.S. will do a reassessment to try to determine what happened to the insurgents, how many of them were defeated and how many of them might have slipped away to fight another day -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre, thanks very much.
Britain is mourning the deaths of three soldiers from its Black Watch regiment. They were killed by a suicide car bomber yesterday two days after taking up a former U.S. position to free up American troops for the Fallujah offensive. CNN's Diana Muriel reports from London. Mounting casualties are having an impact on public opinion in the U.K.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a damp November morning, the families and friends of the latest British casualties in Iraq came to pay their respects. Many of the people of Warminster, the town in southern England where the First Battalion of the Black Watch is based just want the soldiers to come home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's terrible. I think they should all come back. I think that poor lad over there getting killed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Enough is enough and I want them back and, you know, before Christmas. They should have been coming home this week.
MURIEL: Instead, the Black Watch, currently on its second deployment in Iraq, had its tour of duty extended. It took over an area to the southwest of Baghdad previously controlled by American forces who are now needed for the forthcoming assault on Fallujah. The decision met with a chorus of disapproval as analysts say support in Britain for the war in Iraq is waning.
MARK GILL, MOR: We've been finding now for at least a year that half the British public thought that the war in Iraq was the wrong thing to do rather than the right thing to do and, if anything, the latest events will just crystallize public opinion.
MURIEL: In Brussels, standing alongside Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his sympathy for the families of the soldiers who died and pride in the unit.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: ...gratitude to the Black Watch for the extraordinary and heroic job they're doing there which is of crucial importance to making sure democratic elections can go ahead in Iraq.
MURIEL: But opposition politicians have voiced their dismay.
ALEX SALMOND, SCOTTISH NATIONALISTS: There's going to be shock and grief, not just from the Black Watch area, but right across Scotland. I believe that will give way to anger as people contrast bravery of our soldiers with the duplicity of the politicians who sent them there.
MURIEL: The Black Watch was first formed in 1795, but is now due to be disbanded under the latest ministry of defense cuts. The deaths of these three soldiers brings to 73 the number of British troops killed since the start of the Iraq conflict in March last year. The Black Watch have been told they will be home in time for Christmas, but there is a growing feeling here in Britain that not all of them will make it. Diana Muriel, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remains comatose in a French military hospital. His exact condition is still shrouded in secrecy but as one U.S. official puts it, and I'm quoting now, no one thinks he will survive. Let's go live to Paris where CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney is joining us now with the latest -- Fionnuala.
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's 11:00 here in the evening just after that in Paris, there is a vigil taking place outside the hospital. It began last night of Palestinian supporters and well wishers who gathered here once they heard the news of Yasser Arafat's apparent deteriorating condition. We don't know anymore than we did actually yesterday. We waited all day for another statement from the hospital and when it finally emerged it was very short and did not really shed any further light on Yasser Arafat's condition than yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. CHRISTIAN ESTRIPEAU, HOSPITAL SPOKEMAN (through translator): Mr. Arafat's health has not deteriorated. It is considered stable in comparison to the last communication. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWEENEY: The hospital official there saying only that Yasser Arafat's condition remained the same as it had done yesterday. Yesterday, he said the situation had become more complicated. Now if we thought that we could get any more information from other sources, both inside and outside the hospital, a dampener was put on that tonight, a couple of hours ago, with the emergence from the hospital of the PLO foreign minister Farouk Kaddoumi. Now he spoke very animatedly to reporters and I'm quoting here for a statement. "In view of the contradictory declarations issued by various individuals and bodies in regard to President Arafat's health and in order to avoid any misinterpretations, they have agreed that the medical team supervising his treatment will be the only authorization. No other entity whatsoever has been authorized to give out any information on President Arafat's health."
So I'm afraid that we journalists here outside this hospital in west Paris are going to have to make do with the French military hospital spokesman's statements for some time to come -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Fionnuala Sweeney reporting for us. Thank you very much. Preparing, meanwhile, for Yasser Arafat's funeral. What type of burial is expected in the Muslim world? We'll take a closer look at the expectations and considerations that will influence the plan. Also, a report coming up from Ramallah. That's straight ahead.
More than 337,000 new jobs created for Americans. It's a surprising report out today. Does it mean the bulls are back?
Later, election pitfalls avoided after all the hype. Why the voting went off essentially without a hitch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: While Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat apparently lies near death, a dispute is raging over where to lay him to rest. CNN's John Vause reports from the West Bank city of Ramallah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Perhaps the most pressing problem for the Palestinian Authority right now, funeral arrangements for Yasser Arafat. Negotiations have been under way all day between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Arafat in the past has made it clear he wants to be buried in the old city of Jerusalem near the Al Aqsa Mosque. However the Israeli government has made it clear in no uncertain terms that simply won't happen.
YOSEF LAPIO, ISRAELI JUSTICE MINISTER: We don't know where he will be buried. They will choose where to bury him, but he will not be buried in Jerusalem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?
LAPIO: Because Jerusalem is the city where Jewish kings are buried, and not Arab terrorists.
VAUSE: One option being considered, a funeral in the Gaza Strip. The Arafat family has a plot near the town of Khan Unis (ph). Arafat's father and sister are both buried there. But the area has fallen into disrepair over the years and it is not considered suitable for the president of the Palestinian Authority. There is also concern, according to Palestinian sources, whether the Gaza Strip can handle what will effectively be a state funeral. Palestinian sources say one scenario, which is being looked at, possibly a funeral in the Jordanian capital of Amman and then flying Arafat's body for burial in Khan Unis (ph) or possibly to the village of Abu Dis on the outskirts of east Jerusalem. None of these plans are officials and nothing so far, we're told, has been put to the family. John Vause, CNN, Ramallah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: While questions swirl about a burial site, it's quite clear how the funeral rituals will be played out according to Islamic tradition. Our Zane Verjee is at the CNN Center in Atlanta with that part of the story -- Zane. ZANE VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Islamic tradition shapes the last rights in the burial process for all Muslims including Yasser Arafat. We spoke to New York City Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to help explain just what they are.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Palestinians pray for their leader at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Yasser Arafat has, in the past, asked to be buried there. Israel has rejected the idea. In critical, but apparently stable condition, Yasser Arafat may have days, even hours to live.
According to Islamic tradition, the last days of life are accompanied by important rituals.
IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, AL FARAH MOSQUE: We should certainly help the soul that is on its way to the next life. We recite recitations from the Koran especially the chapter of Yessim (ph) which (UNINTELLIGIBLE) teaches about prophet comforts the soul and is it is on the boundary between this life and the next.
VERJEE: Arafat is said to be in a coma. It's unclear whether he is on life support machines or not. There appears to be agreement among Islamic scholars on how far artificial means should be used to prolong life.
RAUF: The general consensus among scholars today is that when a person is brain dead, that is adequate proof of being actually dead. To go to a very long extent to extend life, which is not productive, is something that generally the majority of scholars have come down against.
VERJEE: Whether a king or commoner, a president or pauper, religious leaders say all Muslims must be buried within 24 hours, unless there are extreme circumstances preventing it.
RAUF: Islam teaches that the dead must be honored. And the prophet stated that honoring the dead means a speedy burial. The body is washed, it is shrouded and it is respectfully treated and placed in its burial place in a cemetery, in a grave usually on the right side facing the direction of Mecca.
VERJEE: But just where Yasser Arafat will be laid to rest seems open to argument. It is possible that he will generate controversy in death as he did for so much of his life. Imam Feisal hopes not.
RAUF: I would hope that both the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian authorities not make this a political football and something that would distant the communities. How about use it as a bridge to bring our faith communities together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Wolf, in addition to Gaza as a possible burial sight for Yasser Arafat, Egypt is also under consideration. Arafat was born there -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Zain Verjee reporting for us. Thank you, Zain, very much.
Urban combat, U.S. and Iraqi forces training to deal with the unexpected in Fallujah. I'll speak live with a retired U.S. Marine Corps major general about the challenges they face.
Big boost for American workers, an unexpected increase in jobs. How the numbers also impact your wallet.
First resignation: we'll tell you which senior official appointed by President Bush is calling it quits. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: A mixed message in today's job report. Is the glass half empty or half full? Let's check in with CNN's Kathleen Hays. She's joining us live from New York -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you know, job creation is the No. 1 barometer of the economy's health. So when job as much as they did in October, it's taken as a sign that the entire economy might be kicking into higher gear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAYS (voice-over): Spurred on by the rebuilding needed after 4 hurricanes hit the Southeast, the U.S. economy added 337,000 new jobs in October, the biggest jump in 7 months. and a hopeful sign the nation's businesses have finally decided it's time to beef up the worker ranks.
TIM KARE, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I think it's an amazing report, especially considering the head winds that were faced last month, high oil prices, a lot of uncertainty about the election. And there's no doubt about it, businesses were hiring.
HAYS: Health care, education, office work: these are some of the service industries where workers found jobs last month, 272,000 in all. Hurricane rebuilding added 71,000 in construction. But factories, where 2 million jobs were lost during President Bush's first term, cut 5,000 jobs, the second month of losses in a row.
As for the unemployment rate, it rose by a tenth of a percent to 5.5 percent. But economists say that may be happening because discouraged workers are coming back into the labor force to look for jobs again, a sign things are getting better, not worse.
The question for President Bush and his economic team is if jobs will keep growing now. If they do and people feel more confident, they may buy more gifts this holiday season and spend more money, good for retailers. And for Mr. Bush, it could mean he will not have the distinction of the only president since Herbert Hoover to score a net job lose during his first 4 years in office. JARED BERNSTEIN, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: That is an incredibly low benchmark, to simply get back to zero. I don't know that that would be much of an achievement. There's no way that President Bush is going to be able say I had a great jobs record on his first term. But you're right, another couple of months like this and he will beat Herbert Hoover.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAYS: And of course, this is small comfort to the nearly 10 million Americans who are still having difficulty finding a decent job. That's about one in ten out of the labor force. In fact, what they need now is for the economy to keep creating jobs as it did in October and, in fact, it's been created in the past 14 months, Wolf.
BLITZER: So Kathleen, do the math for us. How many jobs -- what's the new total? How many jobs have been lost since the president took office?
HAYS: Well, the loss is certainly shrinking. If measure, Wolf, from January 2001 to October 2004, the net loss now is just 371,000 jobs. Over the next couple of months, all the economy would have to do is create just about 200,000 jobs a month and the president would barely end up in positive territory.
HAYS: All right. Kathleen Hays, thanks very much for that arithmetic and for that report.
And to our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question is this. "Do you think the job market is improving?" You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.
An all out assault on an insurgent's stronghold in Iraq could come literally at any time. We'll check in with the U.S. Marine's amassing outside Fallujah.
Iraqi elections scheduled for January: Why democracy there could be delayed.
And dealing with drug risks: new government guidelines after some high profile problems.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
U.S. and Iraqi forces preparing for the major assault on Fallujah, what they may face on the front lines of this urban battle. We'll get to that.
First, though, a quick check of some other stories now in the news.
The federal Food and Drug Administration will overhaul its procedures for assessing the risks of new drugs. The FDA has outlined a new five-step program aimed at reviewing and improving process by which new drugs are approved.
The jury in the Scott Peterson double murder trial is in the third day of deliberations. The judge ruled today that cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom when the verdict is announced. Unless there is a verdict by the end of the day, the jury will spend the weekend sequestered in a hotel.
Cofer Black, a key architect of the Bush administration's international counterterrorism policies, is resigning. For the past two years, Black served as the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism. It's the first resignation of a senior administration official to be made public since Mr. Bush's reelection.
A soldier who sued the U.S. Army to block his deployment to Iraq has received an honorable discharge. Captain Jay Ferriola argued that he resigned from the Army Reserve several months before being ordered to report for active duty in Iraq.
Back now to our top story. As the Iraq's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, warns that the window is closing for a peaceful settlement in Fallujah, U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing for an all-out assault.
Once again, CNN's Karl Penhaul, embedded with the U.S. Marines near Fallujah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Today, some of the Iraqi soldiers have been training along U.S. Marines, because these Iraqi soldiers will also be heading into the battle into the battle for the fight of Fallujah.
What they have been doing here is training with some of the U.S. Marines, but also with some of the equipment, such as this amphibious armored vehicle. Now, while, for many of the U.S. Marines, Fallujah promises to be their first time in combat, some of the Iraqi soldiers about to join the fight have seen battle before.
Some of them, they tell us, were resistance fighters in the Peshmerga, the resistance unit that fought against Saddam Hussein in the Kurdish north. Others of these fighters tell me they're Shia fighters from the south of Iraq, some of them engaged against Saddam Hussein during his persecution of the Shia majority here in Iraq. Others also say that they were actually members of Saddam Hussein's army.
Some of them, in fact, say they were involved in the invasion of Kuwait, the incident that started off the whole of the first Gulf War.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, near Fallujah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The Marines have been rehearsing for urban combat, but are they ready for what could be a very bloody battle in the streets of Fallujah?
Joining us now, CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Marine Corps Major General Terry Murray. During three decades in the Marine Corps, he was a combat officer in Vietnam and he led an expeditionary unit in the Persian Gulf.
General, thanks very much for joining us here on CNN.
RETIRED MAJ. GEN. TERRENCE MURRAY, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you, Wolf.
BROWN: Talk a little bit about the challenges the Marine Corps is facing in Fallujah right now.
MURRAY: Very, very difficult environment.
I'm an infantryman. Probably, the toughest environment that an infantryman fights in is in urban combat. You have many challenges there. You can only see the enemy when he's close up. Your fields of fire are very limited. Your ability to engage the enemy at long range, again, very limited. And what we also know is that one of the biggest obstacles are the civilians, who -- we thought, in Vietnam, the bad guys were in and among the civilians.
And, consequently, they really complicate almost everything that you do.
BLITZER: When I went down to see where the Marines train, Camp Lejeune, they've got a whole warfare operation there. I'm sure you've been there. You have seen what they can do.
Did they ever envisage that there would be suicide bombers in this kind of -- because, in Vietnam, there weren't suicide bombers as we know them today.
MURRAY: No. This is a very different environment, this war against terror.
And my own experience, both in a training environment and in a combat environment in Vietnam, was lots of guerrillas, lots of snipers, many, many mines concealed and set off in many different ways, but we did not deal with the kind of terrorists that we're dealing with today.
BLITZER: Now, the big hope is that the Iraqi troops, the Iraqi National Guard troops, having been trained by the U.S., will go in and help and do some robust fighting. Is that realistic?
MURRAY: It's absolutely critical, in my view, Wolf.
What we hope is that the Iraqi self-defense force will be at the point when we cross the line of departure and enter Fallujah. We know that it's very likely we will be fighting street to street, house to house, block to block. What the Iraqis give us is, obviously, an ethnic identity at the point of the attack who can move civilians, talk to civilians and, in the best case, begin to become stronger as a fighting force themselves.
What I would assure you is that, if the Iraqi army that's in front of us cannot do the job, I am absolutely certain that the Marines who will be right on their heels -- this is one of the finest fighting forces in the world, if not the finest -- and they will be ready to do what's required if the Iraqis can't get it done.
BLITZER: In terms of softening up the battlefield, there have been airstrikes. Positions have been pounded away for days now, if not for weeks. But there's a limit to how much you can do from the air before you really have to go in on the ground and fight man to man, house to house.
MURRAY: There really is.
And beyond that, there are limitations in rules of engagement. There are probably locations that we were not allowed to bomb from long range with precision weapons. That said, an infantryman knows that, at the end of the day, the only way you know that you have won is by putting your boots on the ground. And that's what the infantrymen will do.
BLITZER: We know there are Marines there. We know there are soldiers, U.S. Rangers, there as well. How do they coordinate an operation, two different branches of the U.S. military?
MURRAY: The positive is, since Goldwater-Nichols, which was enacted in the late '80s, we have learned to fight jointly, Army and Navy, Navy and Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.
So we have been working on this for almost 20 years now. And I think it will be a very closely integrated operation between coalition forces, to include the Iraqis, although, if there is a weak link, obviously, it's this fledgling army that we have put together in the last year.
BLITZER: We'll see if they meet the first test, the real first test. They failed other preliminary tests, but we'll see how they do this time.
MURRAY: That's correct.
BLITZER: Major General Terry Murray, retired U.S. Marine Corps, you're going to be spending some time with us here at CNN. Thanks very much.
MURRAY: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Welcome.
The situation in Fallujah one of many factors that could impact and possibly delay Iraq's first post-Saddam election, scheduled for the end of January.
CNN Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf reports, the vote is a subject of high interest, but little agreement among Iraqis. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Along with the rice and sugar, Iraqis showing up for their monthly food rations are getting something revolutionary, voter registration ballots for a national assembly. Humralid (ph) said she was up late watching the U.S. election results and hopes to see the same in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's nice to see a democratic country, everyone giving their opinions.
ARRAF: Shia Muslims, the long oppressed majority in Iraq, have the most to gain from elections. Their leaders insist that the government stick to a timetable of holding a vote by the end of January.
But with security still shaky and the prospect of fierce battles in Fallujah, there could be key parts of the country, Sunni-Muslim areas in particular, where people don't feel safe to vote.
(on camera): Then there's the question of expatriate voting. There an estimated three to four million adult Iraqis abroad, most of them Shia. Iraqi officials say they want them to vote, but U.N. experts say it will be so hard to organize voting at embassies that it will make holding credible elections by the end of January increasingly difficult.
BARHAM SALIH, DEPUTY IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: At the end of the day, we want to have an environment in which every Iraqi citizen in every region of Iraq will have the chance to participate in election. Should that not be possible nearer the time, then these various elements of decision-making, the United Nations independent commission for elections and the government and the national assembly will have to come together and assess the situation.
ARRAF (voice-over): Political parties, a new concept for Iraq in recent decades, have just started applying to be registered. After three decades of being unable to say a word against Saddam Hussein, Iraqis have taken fast to political criticism.
"Should we vote for Al-Yawar, who hasn't done anything for us, or for Allawi, who every day is attacking Fallujah," said Amustafa (ph), referring to the Iraqi president and prime minister. Iraqis say they have no idea how the voting will work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We don't know who the nominees are. The only thing we do know is that our religious leaders told us not to elect anyone who came here with the American tanks.
ARRAF: There are a lot of practical reasons to delay elections for at least a couple of months, but with such a hunger to vote, there are also powerful reasons for holding a vote, however flawed, on time.
Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER: The nightmares that never came to life, from terrorism to a repeat of the hanging chad, a look at what didn't happen on Election Day here in the United States and why.
Challenges and changes in a second time. Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge" on what we can expect from President Bush and his Cabinet.
And later, daredevils only, a heart-stopping competition. We'll show you what's going on.
First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Russia officially joined an international effort to reduce so-called greenhouse gas emissions. President Vladimir Putin signed legislation ratifying the Kyoto protocol on global warming, backed by 126 countries. That signature will allow the treaty to go into effect next year, even though it does not have the support of the United States.
Turtles rescued. Indonesian police say they arrested five smugglers after a dramatic sea pursuit and confiscated 51 turtles from their boat. The green turtle is a protected species under Indonesian law, but the turtle's meat remains a delicacy in upscale restaurants and its shell can be sold as a souvenir.
Up against the Wal-Mart. A controversial new Wal-Mart has opened outside Mexico City. Critics say the store, one mile from 2000-year- old pyramids, is an insult to Mexican culture. But first-day shoppers praised Wal-Mart for bringing jobs and lower prices to the area.
And that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Everyone knows what happened in Tuesday's election. Our Brian Todd has been looking into what didn't happen -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot didn't happen, Wolf.
And it's amazing. There's now so much attention being made to the next Bush administration that it's hard to believe that, just a few days ago, we were hearing some frightening predictions about what would happen this week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Brace yourselves, we were told. It's coming. It could have applied to any of those dire predictions we had heard leading up to the election. A terrorist attack, always a threat in the post-9/11 climate, seemed to many a more ominous possibility during election week. A U.S. senator even closed his Capitol Hill office, citing what he called top-secret intelligence.
SEN. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: I would not bring my two sons to Capitol Hill between now and the election. So I'm not going to put other people's sons and daughters at a risk that I'm not there to share myself.
TODD: No attack near Election Day. And Senator Dayton reopened his office the very next day.
BRUCE HOFFMAN, RAND CORPORATION: It could be that because we were vigilant, because we were on guard, because of the warnings that we issued, it deterred the terrorists.
TODD: Another expert who has tracked al Qaeda for years tells us, he doesn't think the group had the personnel in the U.S. to pull it off.
We also geared up for voting nightmares on and after Election Day, a deadlocked race that wouldn't be decided for weeks, provisional ballot battles, electronic machines going haywire, lingering stress over hanging chads, armies of attorneys roaming the land.
DAVID BOIES, AUTHOR, "COURTING JUSTICE": I think, when you have as many lawyers that are involved on both sides, there is a danger that they all try to find something to do.
TODD: They may still be trying.
SCHNEIDER: And nothing happened. Why not? Well, 2000, that's why not. Because they were prepared, knowing what happened in Florida.
TODD: Another political analyst tells us it boiled down to the fact that both the popular vote and the Electoral College, while close, did fall clearly to President Bush. It just wasn't close enough to warrant a fight.
Before Tuesday, many believed the youth vote would dominate. Rock the Vote and P. Diddy's Vote or Die campaigns generated huge publicity.
SEAN "P. DIDDY" COMBS, MUSICIAN: We are going to decide the next president of the United States of America.
TODD: More young people did vote this year, but there were increases in turnout all over the demographic map. And the youth bloc comprised only 17 percent of all voters, the same percentage as in 2000. Political analysts say young voters typically aren't very partisan and many young people of voting age simply have other things on their minds.
Then there was the Nader factor. SCHNEIDER: People thought the election still might be so close that he could make a decisive difference in some states. And he very nearly did, but the states weren't quite that close, the way Florida and New Hampshire were in 2000.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: So, should terrorism experts, political observers and, of course, the media be blamed for those pre-election jitters? Well, on terrorism, one expert says,after the attacks in Madrid this year, it was credible to think al Qaeda might time something around an election for symbolic value.
On the political front, there were simply too many things that went wrong in 2000 not to be concerned. All that, coupled with the fact that emotions surrounding this election ran so high, many say it was understandable to think we would be in a maelstrom right now and we're lucky to have avoided it -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, I'll take that. Thanks very much, Brian Todd. Appreciate it.
Second-term challenges. Will President Bush unite the international community? Our Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge" on what to expect from the White House. He's standing by to join all of us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: So now that the election is history, what is next?
CNN's political analyst Carlos Watson joining us live with "The Inside Edge" on President Bush's second-term challenges.
First of all, Carlos, what do you take away from this election?
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I take away a couple of things.
One, it's clear to me, Wolf, that you've got to consider George W. Bush to be one of the three or four most talented politicians in the last half-century. If you take a look back over the last 10 years, he's won three incredible races that few would have predicted, his first race for governor, winning against a sitting vice president during peace and prosperity, and now this latest victory.
Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, you have got to take your hat off to him. This is a talented politician. And not just to Karl Rove, by the way. And, secondly, I think we're poised to see maybe the most consequential, most impactful presidency since LBJ some 40 years ago. And why do I say that? I say that, in part, because President Bush comes with a lot of political capital.
He comes with some big issues already on the table in front of him he comes and with a proven ability to drive legislation through Congress. So I wouldn't be surprised to see not just small changes, but really some of the most significant policy changes in areas like education and Social Security in the last 40 or 50 years.
BLITZER: All right, talk a little bit more about -- what else do you expect in this 21st century policy of his?
WATSON: Well, you remember that President Reagan said that the government was the problem, and Bill Clinton came along a couple of years later to say the era of big government was over, but no one has stepped forward really to define what the new public policy framework is, what an everyday citizen in Iowa or Montana come expect from their government.
And I think you're about to hear that from President Bush in his second term. What he calls the opportunity society frankly says that whether it comes from getting a college education or whether it's Social Security or whether it's what kind of highways are put up in your neighborhood, the government is frankly going to do less, but they're going to involve you more.
So what do I mean? There's a little more risk. There's a little more reward. You have got the opportunity to spend your Social Security money how you like. You've got the opportunity to handle your education, whether it's through vouchers or charter schools, in the way that you want. And a lot of people are going to see this as a radical and poor departure from where we are. But make no mistake about it. It's likely to set the overall framework for the early 21st century.
BLITZER: All right, we've spoken about the president and his challenges.
What about the Democrats? Where do they go from here?
WATSON: Well, it's worth just a taking a step back and taking your hat off to John Kerry and saying that, you know, if 80,000 votes in Ohio had gone differently, we would be having a radically different conversation here. So, for the all the criticism that is likely to be heaped upon him, it's worth remembering that 80,000 out of 115 million votes going a different way and we would be saying something different.
Putting that aside, though, you're going to hear a lot of criticism about Democrats on message, whether or not they have got a culturally attuned message. You're going to hear a lot of criticism about their campaigns, whether or not their grassroots efforts are as strong as they need to be, given Republican increasing strength.
But I think the real quiet issue may be around the candidates themselves. Do you have candidates who not only have a populist and kind of personal feel, but do you have people who really love policy and can talk about economic policy, can talk about health care in a way that gets people excited? And, frankly, that often comes not from senators, but from governors.
And so maybe the biggest issue for Democrats as you look ahead to John Edwards, to Hillary Clinton, to Evan Bayh and others, is, do they have enough governors on their bench and do they have governors who, again, bring not only charisma and a personal touch, but also a real comfort with policy that you saw in Bill Clinton and, frankly, you see in George W. Bush?
BLITZER: Bill Clinton was a governor. And he certainly loved talking about policy, certainly loved to do that. And he could relate to the issues that people were concerned about most.
Carlos Watson with "The Inside Edge," have a great weekend, Carlos.
WATSON: You too. Take care.
BLITZER: Thanks for all the excellent work Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Our viewers were watching.
WATSON: It was a pleasure. Thank you.
BLITZER: Thank you, Carlos.
And we'll have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Do you think the job market is improving? Forty-seven percent of you say yes; 53 percent of you say no. This is not, though, a scientific poll.
Now for our picture of the day. We go to what is known as slickrock county of the desert Southwest. The best free-ride mountain bikers gathered to show their stuff, but just watch this wipeout. It was all part of the fourth annual Red Bull Rampage in Virgin, Utah. But enjoy it while you can. Red Bull announced that this is the last competition.
A reminder, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS airs weekdays, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Tune in this Sunday for "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk, noon Eastern. I'll see you then.
Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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Aired November 5, 2004 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST: Happening now, there is no calm before the storm in Fallujah as U.S. marines prepare for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold, fighting already erupting. Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Target, Fallujah. Ready for an assault and waiting for the go-ahead.
Yasser Arafat as he lies between life and death, there's already a battle over his burial.
Jobs, a sudden surge in hiring, but are the unemployment lines really any shorter.
And election expectations. We'll look at what didn't happen this week and what might happen in the next four years.
ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Friday, November 5, 2004.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: We begin with the build up to what may become an all- out U.S.-led assault on Fallujah.
As you can see and hear in this video just in from Iraq, U.S. forces are pounding the city. Iraq's interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi put it very bluntly today, saying, and I'm quoting now, "we intend to liberate the people of Fallujah from the terrorists and the insurgents who have made the city their stronghold." U.S. marines would spearhead that effort. CNN's Karl Penhaul is embedded with the U.S. marines near Fallujah. Earlier, I spoke with him by telephone about what to expect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Preparations have been gathering pace at the camps in the desert near Fallujah. In the course of the day, in fact, we've seen U.S. marines continue to train in their urban warfare tactic and we've also seen a contingent of the Iraqi army, the new Iraqi army arrive at this place and they have begun to train with U.S. marines as well. They have been mounting and dismounting from armored vehicles. They've been also engaged in some of urban warfare tactics, such as clearing buildings.
The other thing we've hearing today are more briefings from U.S. military intelligence and they have been outlining to us the latest information they have on the scale of the insurgent threat inside the rebel-held city of Fallujah. They estimate at this point that about 3,000 hardcore insurgents are holed up there. Other estimates have ranged with numbers as high as 5,000.
Also, the estimate is currently there may be as many as 50,000 civilians inside the city. In normal times of peace, that city has a population of about 250,000. What the U.S. military intelligence also telling us is that the insurgents are expected to make ample use of non-conventional devices, they're talking in terms of car bombs, suicide attacks, improvised explosive devices embedded in the sidewalks and also in walls and they're also saying that a number of the buildings throughout this city could be rigged to explode as U.S. marines move in to clear them. In fact, U.S. marine commanders here are saying this is likely to be their toughest fight since Hue City. That was in Vietnam in 1968 -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Karl, the morale among the troops, the marines especially who are there, what, if anything, can you give us a little flavor, are they anxious, are they ready? How would you describe their mood?
PENHAUL: I would describe it as a sense of urgency at this stage. A lot of these marine infantry men are young fit guys, late teens, early twenties and sitting around, even though they are spending several hours a day training, but the rest of the time sitting around, cleaning weapons. That really doesn't suit them. They have a lot of energy and they really know that they're here to do a job and what they're now eager to do is get inside Fallujah and do that job. They know it's difficult (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and they know that urban warfare can get bloody and messy very quickly. In fact, in the course of this week, we did, of course, see that memorial service for a U.S. marine killed by a suicide car bomb. That did obviously make them think, that did create a sober atmosphere around here for a while, but certainly these marines are focused on the job ahead of them, even though they realize that may be a difficult street fight -- Wolf.
BLITZER: There have been reports, Karl, that among the insurgents, and I don't think the U.S. and Iraqi forces have a good idea exactly how many insurgents there are in Fallujah, but that some have been leaving in recent days. What, if anything, can you tell us about that?
PENHAUL: There have been reports that some of the insurgents may have filtered away, filtered out of the city, just simply laid down their arms and drifted out of the city disguised or dressed as civilians. But at the same time according to the latest U.S. military intelligence estimates, they do calculate that 3,000 insurgents are still in the city. That, the military intelligence analysts say, are the hardcore fighters, the ones that are expected to put their backs to the wall and literally fight to the death. The U.S. military intelligence analysts also expect that there are a number of other Iraqis inside that city who are generally sympathetic to the insurgents and may try to fight the U.S. forces for some while, but when they see the ferocity of the pan-U.S. advance then the U.S. forces expect some of those fighters will lay down their weapons. But certainly planning and expecting to face an insurgent force of at least 3,000 hardcore fighters -- Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: CNN's Karl Penhaul on the frontlines for us, embedded with U.S. marines just outside Fallujah. There's been a lot of planning and practice for an attack on Fallujah and there is certainly a lot at stake. Let's go live to our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the marines there near Fallujah know that any day now they can get the order from the Iraqi interim government to finish the job that their fellow marines were prevented from doing back in April, namely retaking Fallujah by force.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Days of air strikes and constant skirmishes have been paving the way for an assault force that sources say will be larger than the U.S. marines had during April's aborted offensive. It includes some American army units and importantly thousands of specially trained Iraqi soldiers, whose performance in the past has been spotty.
PFC. ABRAHAM AUGUSTIN, U.S ARMY: It's very unpredictable, but we have faith in them. Hopefully they won't let us down.
MCINTYRE: In fact, the Iraqi participation, along with local citizen support, is considered key to success.
SAMIR SUMAIDA'IE, IRAQI U.N. REPRESENTATIVE: The Fallujans have been subjected to a Taliban-like rule. Their houses have been commandeered, threatened and they, themselves, want the situation to be normalized.
MCINTYRE: While the timing is secret the showdown has been well telegraphed. More than half of Fallujah's 250,000 residents have already fled in anticipation of the offensive. Insurgents, believed to number in the thousands, have been busy preparing defenses, attacking U.S. troops and rigging booby traps. Located just west of Baghdad, Fallujah is not just the biggest hotbed of resistance in Iraq. It is also believed to be the base of operations for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant, who the U.S. hopes to capture or kill if he's there. And while victory in Fallujah is crucial, no one is predicting it will break the back of the insurgency.
MAJ. JIM WEST, U.S. MARINE CORPS: By taking it out does not mean the rest of the insurgency will fall. But it will be a big chip in that block.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MCINTYRE: In fact, after the smoke clears in Fallujah, the U.S. will do a reassessment to try to determine what happened to the insurgents, how many of them were defeated and how many of them might have slipped away to fight another day -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre, thanks very much.
Britain is mourning the deaths of three soldiers from its Black Watch regiment. They were killed by a suicide car bomber yesterday two days after taking up a former U.S. position to free up American troops for the Fallujah offensive. CNN's Diana Muriel reports from London. Mounting casualties are having an impact on public opinion in the U.K.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a damp November morning, the families and friends of the latest British casualties in Iraq came to pay their respects. Many of the people of Warminster, the town in southern England where the First Battalion of the Black Watch is based just want the soldiers to come home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's terrible. I think they should all come back. I think that poor lad over there getting killed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Enough is enough and I want them back and, you know, before Christmas. They should have been coming home this week.
MURIEL: Instead, the Black Watch, currently on its second deployment in Iraq, had its tour of duty extended. It took over an area to the southwest of Baghdad previously controlled by American forces who are now needed for the forthcoming assault on Fallujah. The decision met with a chorus of disapproval as analysts say support in Britain for the war in Iraq is waning.
MARK GILL, MOR: We've been finding now for at least a year that half the British public thought that the war in Iraq was the wrong thing to do rather than the right thing to do and, if anything, the latest events will just crystallize public opinion.
MURIEL: In Brussels, standing alongside Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his sympathy for the families of the soldiers who died and pride in the unit.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: ...gratitude to the Black Watch for the extraordinary and heroic job they're doing there which is of crucial importance to making sure democratic elections can go ahead in Iraq.
MURIEL: But opposition politicians have voiced their dismay.
ALEX SALMOND, SCOTTISH NATIONALISTS: There's going to be shock and grief, not just from the Black Watch area, but right across Scotland. I believe that will give way to anger as people contrast bravery of our soldiers with the duplicity of the politicians who sent them there.
MURIEL: The Black Watch was first formed in 1795, but is now due to be disbanded under the latest ministry of defense cuts. The deaths of these three soldiers brings to 73 the number of British troops killed since the start of the Iraq conflict in March last year. The Black Watch have been told they will be home in time for Christmas, but there is a growing feeling here in Britain that not all of them will make it. Diana Muriel, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remains comatose in a French military hospital. His exact condition is still shrouded in secrecy but as one U.S. official puts it, and I'm quoting now, no one thinks he will survive. Let's go live to Paris where CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney is joining us now with the latest -- Fionnuala.
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's 11:00 here in the evening just after that in Paris, there is a vigil taking place outside the hospital. It began last night of Palestinian supporters and well wishers who gathered here once they heard the news of Yasser Arafat's apparent deteriorating condition. We don't know anymore than we did actually yesterday. We waited all day for another statement from the hospital and when it finally emerged it was very short and did not really shed any further light on Yasser Arafat's condition than yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. CHRISTIAN ESTRIPEAU, HOSPITAL SPOKEMAN (through translator): Mr. Arafat's health has not deteriorated. It is considered stable in comparison to the last communication. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SWEENEY: The hospital official there saying only that Yasser Arafat's condition remained the same as it had done yesterday. Yesterday, he said the situation had become more complicated. Now if we thought that we could get any more information from other sources, both inside and outside the hospital, a dampener was put on that tonight, a couple of hours ago, with the emergence from the hospital of the PLO foreign minister Farouk Kaddoumi. Now he spoke very animatedly to reporters and I'm quoting here for a statement. "In view of the contradictory declarations issued by various individuals and bodies in regard to President Arafat's health and in order to avoid any misinterpretations, they have agreed that the medical team supervising his treatment will be the only authorization. No other entity whatsoever has been authorized to give out any information on President Arafat's health."
So I'm afraid that we journalists here outside this hospital in west Paris are going to have to make do with the French military hospital spokesman's statements for some time to come -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Fionnuala Sweeney reporting for us. Thank you very much. Preparing, meanwhile, for Yasser Arafat's funeral. What type of burial is expected in the Muslim world? We'll take a closer look at the expectations and considerations that will influence the plan. Also, a report coming up from Ramallah. That's straight ahead.
More than 337,000 new jobs created for Americans. It's a surprising report out today. Does it mean the bulls are back?
Later, election pitfalls avoided after all the hype. Why the voting went off essentially without a hitch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: While Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat apparently lies near death, a dispute is raging over where to lay him to rest. CNN's John Vause reports from the West Bank city of Ramallah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Perhaps the most pressing problem for the Palestinian Authority right now, funeral arrangements for Yasser Arafat. Negotiations have been under way all day between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Arafat in the past has made it clear he wants to be buried in the old city of Jerusalem near the Al Aqsa Mosque. However the Israeli government has made it clear in no uncertain terms that simply won't happen.
YOSEF LAPIO, ISRAELI JUSTICE MINISTER: We don't know where he will be buried. They will choose where to bury him, but he will not be buried in Jerusalem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?
LAPIO: Because Jerusalem is the city where Jewish kings are buried, and not Arab terrorists.
VAUSE: One option being considered, a funeral in the Gaza Strip. The Arafat family has a plot near the town of Khan Unis (ph). Arafat's father and sister are both buried there. But the area has fallen into disrepair over the years and it is not considered suitable for the president of the Palestinian Authority. There is also concern, according to Palestinian sources, whether the Gaza Strip can handle what will effectively be a state funeral. Palestinian sources say one scenario, which is being looked at, possibly a funeral in the Jordanian capital of Amman and then flying Arafat's body for burial in Khan Unis (ph) or possibly to the village of Abu Dis on the outskirts of east Jerusalem. None of these plans are officials and nothing so far, we're told, has been put to the family. John Vause, CNN, Ramallah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: While questions swirl about a burial site, it's quite clear how the funeral rituals will be played out according to Islamic tradition. Our Zane Verjee is at the CNN Center in Atlanta with that part of the story -- Zane. ZANE VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Islamic tradition shapes the last rights in the burial process for all Muslims including Yasser Arafat. We spoke to New York City Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to help explain just what they are.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Palestinians pray for their leader at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Yasser Arafat has, in the past, asked to be buried there. Israel has rejected the idea. In critical, but apparently stable condition, Yasser Arafat may have days, even hours to live.
According to Islamic tradition, the last days of life are accompanied by important rituals.
IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, AL FARAH MOSQUE: We should certainly help the soul that is on its way to the next life. We recite recitations from the Koran especially the chapter of Yessim (ph) which (UNINTELLIGIBLE) teaches about prophet comforts the soul and is it is on the boundary between this life and the next.
VERJEE: Arafat is said to be in a coma. It's unclear whether he is on life support machines or not. There appears to be agreement among Islamic scholars on how far artificial means should be used to prolong life.
RAUF: The general consensus among scholars today is that when a person is brain dead, that is adequate proof of being actually dead. To go to a very long extent to extend life, which is not productive, is something that generally the majority of scholars have come down against.
VERJEE: Whether a king or commoner, a president or pauper, religious leaders say all Muslims must be buried within 24 hours, unless there are extreme circumstances preventing it.
RAUF: Islam teaches that the dead must be honored. And the prophet stated that honoring the dead means a speedy burial. The body is washed, it is shrouded and it is respectfully treated and placed in its burial place in a cemetery, in a grave usually on the right side facing the direction of Mecca.
VERJEE: But just where Yasser Arafat will be laid to rest seems open to argument. It is possible that he will generate controversy in death as he did for so much of his life. Imam Feisal hopes not.
RAUF: I would hope that both the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian authorities not make this a political football and something that would distant the communities. How about use it as a bridge to bring our faith communities together.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Wolf, in addition to Gaza as a possible burial sight for Yasser Arafat, Egypt is also under consideration. Arafat was born there -- Wolf.
BLITZER: CNN's Zain Verjee reporting for us. Thank you, Zain, very much.
Urban combat, U.S. and Iraqi forces training to deal with the unexpected in Fallujah. I'll speak live with a retired U.S. Marine Corps major general about the challenges they face.
Big boost for American workers, an unexpected increase in jobs. How the numbers also impact your wallet.
First resignation: we'll tell you which senior official appointed by President Bush is calling it quits. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: A mixed message in today's job report. Is the glass half empty or half full? Let's check in with CNN's Kathleen Hays. She's joining us live from New York -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you know, job creation is the No. 1 barometer of the economy's health. So when job as much as they did in October, it's taken as a sign that the entire economy might be kicking into higher gear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAYS (voice-over): Spurred on by the rebuilding needed after 4 hurricanes hit the Southeast, the U.S. economy added 337,000 new jobs in October, the biggest jump in 7 months. and a hopeful sign the nation's businesses have finally decided it's time to beef up the worker ranks.
TIM KARE, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I think it's an amazing report, especially considering the head winds that were faced last month, high oil prices, a lot of uncertainty about the election. And there's no doubt about it, businesses were hiring.
HAYS: Health care, education, office work: these are some of the service industries where workers found jobs last month, 272,000 in all. Hurricane rebuilding added 71,000 in construction. But factories, where 2 million jobs were lost during President Bush's first term, cut 5,000 jobs, the second month of losses in a row.
As for the unemployment rate, it rose by a tenth of a percent to 5.5 percent. But economists say that may be happening because discouraged workers are coming back into the labor force to look for jobs again, a sign things are getting better, not worse.
The question for President Bush and his economic team is if jobs will keep growing now. If they do and people feel more confident, they may buy more gifts this holiday season and spend more money, good for retailers. And for Mr. Bush, it could mean he will not have the distinction of the only president since Herbert Hoover to score a net job lose during his first 4 years in office. JARED BERNSTEIN, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: That is an incredibly low benchmark, to simply get back to zero. I don't know that that would be much of an achievement. There's no way that President Bush is going to be able say I had a great jobs record on his first term. But you're right, another couple of months like this and he will beat Herbert Hoover.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAYS: And of course, this is small comfort to the nearly 10 million Americans who are still having difficulty finding a decent job. That's about one in ten out of the labor force. In fact, what they need now is for the economy to keep creating jobs as it did in October and, in fact, it's been created in the past 14 months, Wolf.
BLITZER: So Kathleen, do the math for us. How many jobs -- what's the new total? How many jobs have been lost since the president took office?
HAYS: Well, the loss is certainly shrinking. If measure, Wolf, from January 2001 to October 2004, the net loss now is just 371,000 jobs. Over the next couple of months, all the economy would have to do is create just about 200,000 jobs a month and the president would barely end up in positive territory.
HAYS: All right. Kathleen Hays, thanks very much for that arithmetic and for that report.
And to our viewers, here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our Web question is this. "Do you think the job market is improving?" You can vote right now. Go to CNN.com/wolf. We'll have the results for you later in this broadcast.
An all out assault on an insurgent's stronghold in Iraq could come literally at any time. We'll check in with the U.S. Marine's amassing outside Fallujah.
Iraqi elections scheduled for January: Why democracy there could be delayed.
And dealing with drug risks: new government guidelines after some high profile problems.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
U.S. and Iraqi forces preparing for the major assault on Fallujah, what they may face on the front lines of this urban battle. We'll get to that.
First, though, a quick check of some other stories now in the news.
The federal Food and Drug Administration will overhaul its procedures for assessing the risks of new drugs. The FDA has outlined a new five-step program aimed at reviewing and improving process by which new drugs are approved.
The jury in the Scott Peterson double murder trial is in the third day of deliberations. The judge ruled today that cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom when the verdict is announced. Unless there is a verdict by the end of the day, the jury will spend the weekend sequestered in a hotel.
Cofer Black, a key architect of the Bush administration's international counterterrorism policies, is resigning. For the past two years, Black served as the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism. It's the first resignation of a senior administration official to be made public since Mr. Bush's reelection.
A soldier who sued the U.S. Army to block his deployment to Iraq has received an honorable discharge. Captain Jay Ferriola argued that he resigned from the Army Reserve several months before being ordered to report for active duty in Iraq.
Back now to our top story. As the Iraq's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, warns that the window is closing for a peaceful settlement in Fallujah, U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing for an all-out assault.
Once again, CNN's Karl Penhaul, embedded with the U.S. Marines near Fallujah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Today, some of the Iraqi soldiers have been training along U.S. Marines, because these Iraqi soldiers will also be heading into the battle into the battle for the fight of Fallujah.
What they have been doing here is training with some of the U.S. Marines, but also with some of the equipment, such as this amphibious armored vehicle. Now, while, for many of the U.S. Marines, Fallujah promises to be their first time in combat, some of the Iraqi soldiers about to join the fight have seen battle before.
Some of them, they tell us, were resistance fighters in the Peshmerga, the resistance unit that fought against Saddam Hussein in the Kurdish north. Others of these fighters tell me they're Shia fighters from the south of Iraq, some of them engaged against Saddam Hussein during his persecution of the Shia majority here in Iraq. Others also say that they were actually members of Saddam Hussein's army.
Some of them, in fact, say they were involved in the invasion of Kuwait, the incident that started off the whole of the first Gulf War.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, near Fallujah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: The Marines have been rehearsing for urban combat, but are they ready for what could be a very bloody battle in the streets of Fallujah?
Joining us now, CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Marine Corps Major General Terry Murray. During three decades in the Marine Corps, he was a combat officer in Vietnam and he led an expeditionary unit in the Persian Gulf.
General, thanks very much for joining us here on CNN.
RETIRED MAJ. GEN. TERRENCE MURRAY, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you, Wolf.
BROWN: Talk a little bit about the challenges the Marine Corps is facing in Fallujah right now.
MURRAY: Very, very difficult environment.
I'm an infantryman. Probably, the toughest environment that an infantryman fights in is in urban combat. You have many challenges there. You can only see the enemy when he's close up. Your fields of fire are very limited. Your ability to engage the enemy at long range, again, very limited. And what we also know is that one of the biggest obstacles are the civilians, who -- we thought, in Vietnam, the bad guys were in and among the civilians.
And, consequently, they really complicate almost everything that you do.
BLITZER: When I went down to see where the Marines train, Camp Lejeune, they've got a whole warfare operation there. I'm sure you've been there. You have seen what they can do.
Did they ever envisage that there would be suicide bombers in this kind of -- because, in Vietnam, there weren't suicide bombers as we know them today.
MURRAY: No. This is a very different environment, this war against terror.
And my own experience, both in a training environment and in a combat environment in Vietnam, was lots of guerrillas, lots of snipers, many, many mines concealed and set off in many different ways, but we did not deal with the kind of terrorists that we're dealing with today.
BLITZER: Now, the big hope is that the Iraqi troops, the Iraqi National Guard troops, having been trained by the U.S., will go in and help and do some robust fighting. Is that realistic?
MURRAY: It's absolutely critical, in my view, Wolf.
What we hope is that the Iraqi self-defense force will be at the point when we cross the line of departure and enter Fallujah. We know that it's very likely we will be fighting street to street, house to house, block to block. What the Iraqis give us is, obviously, an ethnic identity at the point of the attack who can move civilians, talk to civilians and, in the best case, begin to become stronger as a fighting force themselves.
What I would assure you is that, if the Iraqi army that's in front of us cannot do the job, I am absolutely certain that the Marines who will be right on their heels -- this is one of the finest fighting forces in the world, if not the finest -- and they will be ready to do what's required if the Iraqis can't get it done.
BLITZER: In terms of softening up the battlefield, there have been airstrikes. Positions have been pounded away for days now, if not for weeks. But there's a limit to how much you can do from the air before you really have to go in on the ground and fight man to man, house to house.
MURRAY: There really is.
And beyond that, there are limitations in rules of engagement. There are probably locations that we were not allowed to bomb from long range with precision weapons. That said, an infantryman knows that, at the end of the day, the only way you know that you have won is by putting your boots on the ground. And that's what the infantrymen will do.
BLITZER: We know there are Marines there. We know there are soldiers, U.S. Rangers, there as well. How do they coordinate an operation, two different branches of the U.S. military?
MURRAY: The positive is, since Goldwater-Nichols, which was enacted in the late '80s, we have learned to fight jointly, Army and Navy, Navy and Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.
So we have been working on this for almost 20 years now. And I think it will be a very closely integrated operation between coalition forces, to include the Iraqis, although, if there is a weak link, obviously, it's this fledgling army that we have put together in the last year.
BLITZER: We'll see if they meet the first test, the real first test. They failed other preliminary tests, but we'll see how they do this time.
MURRAY: That's correct.
BLITZER: Major General Terry Murray, retired U.S. Marine Corps, you're going to be spending some time with us here at CNN. Thanks very much.
MURRAY: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Welcome.
The situation in Fallujah one of many factors that could impact and possibly delay Iraq's first post-Saddam election, scheduled for the end of January.
CNN Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf reports, the vote is a subject of high interest, but little agreement among Iraqis. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Along with the rice and sugar, Iraqis showing up for their monthly food rations are getting something revolutionary, voter registration ballots for a national assembly. Humralid (ph) said she was up late watching the U.S. election results and hopes to see the same in Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It's nice to see a democratic country, everyone giving their opinions.
ARRAF: Shia Muslims, the long oppressed majority in Iraq, have the most to gain from elections. Their leaders insist that the government stick to a timetable of holding a vote by the end of January.
But with security still shaky and the prospect of fierce battles in Fallujah, there could be key parts of the country, Sunni-Muslim areas in particular, where people don't feel safe to vote.
(on camera): Then there's the question of expatriate voting. There an estimated three to four million adult Iraqis abroad, most of them Shia. Iraqi officials say they want them to vote, but U.N. experts say it will be so hard to organize voting at embassies that it will make holding credible elections by the end of January increasingly difficult.
BARHAM SALIH, DEPUTY IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: At the end of the day, we want to have an environment in which every Iraqi citizen in every region of Iraq will have the chance to participate in election. Should that not be possible nearer the time, then these various elements of decision-making, the United Nations independent commission for elections and the government and the national assembly will have to come together and assess the situation.
ARRAF (voice-over): Political parties, a new concept for Iraq in recent decades, have just started applying to be registered. After three decades of being unable to say a word against Saddam Hussein, Iraqis have taken fast to political criticism.
"Should we vote for Al-Yawar, who hasn't done anything for us, or for Allawi, who every day is attacking Fallujah," said Amustafa (ph), referring to the Iraqi president and prime minister. Iraqis say they have no idea how the voting will work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We don't know who the nominees are. The only thing we do know is that our religious leaders told us not to elect anyone who came here with the American tanks.
ARRAF: There are a lot of practical reasons to delay elections for at least a couple of months, but with such a hunger to vote, there are also powerful reasons for holding a vote, however flawed, on time.
Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BLITZER: The nightmares that never came to life, from terrorism to a repeat of the hanging chad, a look at what didn't happen on Election Day here in the United States and why.
Challenges and changes in a second time. Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge" on what we can expect from President Bush and his Cabinet.
And later, daredevils only, a heart-stopping competition. We'll show you what's going on.
First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER (voice-over): Russia officially joined an international effort to reduce so-called greenhouse gas emissions. President Vladimir Putin signed legislation ratifying the Kyoto protocol on global warming, backed by 126 countries. That signature will allow the treaty to go into effect next year, even though it does not have the support of the United States.
Turtles rescued. Indonesian police say they arrested five smugglers after a dramatic sea pursuit and confiscated 51 turtles from their boat. The green turtle is a protected species under Indonesian law, but the turtle's meat remains a delicacy in upscale restaurants and its shell can be sold as a souvenir.
Up against the Wal-Mart. A controversial new Wal-Mart has opened outside Mexico City. Critics say the store, one mile from 2000-year- old pyramids, is an insult to Mexican culture. But first-day shoppers praised Wal-Mart for bringing jobs and lower prices to the area.
And that's our look around the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Everyone knows what happened in Tuesday's election. Our Brian Todd has been looking into what didn't happen -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot didn't happen, Wolf.
And it's amazing. There's now so much attention being made to the next Bush administration that it's hard to believe that, just a few days ago, we were hearing some frightening predictions about what would happen this week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Brace yourselves, we were told. It's coming. It could have applied to any of those dire predictions we had heard leading up to the election. A terrorist attack, always a threat in the post-9/11 climate, seemed to many a more ominous possibility during election week. A U.S. senator even closed his Capitol Hill office, citing what he called top-secret intelligence.
SEN. MARK DAYTON (D), MINNESOTA: I would not bring my two sons to Capitol Hill between now and the election. So I'm not going to put other people's sons and daughters at a risk that I'm not there to share myself.
TODD: No attack near Election Day. And Senator Dayton reopened his office the very next day.
BRUCE HOFFMAN, RAND CORPORATION: It could be that because we were vigilant, because we were on guard, because of the warnings that we issued, it deterred the terrorists.
TODD: Another expert who has tracked al Qaeda for years tells us, he doesn't think the group had the personnel in the U.S. to pull it off.
We also geared up for voting nightmares on and after Election Day, a deadlocked race that wouldn't be decided for weeks, provisional ballot battles, electronic machines going haywire, lingering stress over hanging chads, armies of attorneys roaming the land.
DAVID BOIES, AUTHOR, "COURTING JUSTICE": I think, when you have as many lawyers that are involved on both sides, there is a danger that they all try to find something to do.
TODD: They may still be trying.
SCHNEIDER: And nothing happened. Why not? Well, 2000, that's why not. Because they were prepared, knowing what happened in Florida.
TODD: Another political analyst tells us it boiled down to the fact that both the popular vote and the Electoral College, while close, did fall clearly to President Bush. It just wasn't close enough to warrant a fight.
Before Tuesday, many believed the youth vote would dominate. Rock the Vote and P. Diddy's Vote or Die campaigns generated huge publicity.
SEAN "P. DIDDY" COMBS, MUSICIAN: We are going to decide the next president of the United States of America.
TODD: More young people did vote this year, but there were increases in turnout all over the demographic map. And the youth bloc comprised only 17 percent of all voters, the same percentage as in 2000. Political analysts say young voters typically aren't very partisan and many young people of voting age simply have other things on their minds.
Then there was the Nader factor. SCHNEIDER: People thought the election still might be so close that he could make a decisive difference in some states. And he very nearly did, but the states weren't quite that close, the way Florida and New Hampshire were in 2000.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: So, should terrorism experts, political observers and, of course, the media be blamed for those pre-election jitters? Well, on terrorism, one expert says,after the attacks in Madrid this year, it was credible to think al Qaeda might time something around an election for symbolic value.
On the political front, there were simply too many things that went wrong in 2000 not to be concerned. All that, coupled with the fact that emotions surrounding this election ran so high, many say it was understandable to think we would be in a maelstrom right now and we're lucky to have avoided it -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, I'll take that. Thanks very much, Brian Todd. Appreciate it.
Second-term challenges. Will President Bush unite the international community? Our Carlos Watson has "The Inside Edge" on what to expect from the White House. He's standing by to join all of us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: So now that the election is history, what is next?
CNN's political analyst Carlos Watson joining us live with "The Inside Edge" on President Bush's second-term challenges.
First of all, Carlos, what do you take away from this election?
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I take away a couple of things.
One, it's clear to me, Wolf, that you've got to consider George W. Bush to be one of the three or four most talented politicians in the last half-century. If you take a look back over the last 10 years, he's won three incredible races that few would have predicted, his first race for governor, winning against a sitting vice president during peace and prosperity, and now this latest victory.
Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, you have got to take your hat off to him. This is a talented politician. And not just to Karl Rove, by the way. And, secondly, I think we're poised to see maybe the most consequential, most impactful presidency since LBJ some 40 years ago. And why do I say that? I say that, in part, because President Bush comes with a lot of political capital.
He comes with some big issues already on the table in front of him he comes and with a proven ability to drive legislation through Congress. So I wouldn't be surprised to see not just small changes, but really some of the most significant policy changes in areas like education and Social Security in the last 40 or 50 years.
BLITZER: All right, talk a little bit more about -- what else do you expect in this 21st century policy of his?
WATSON: Well, you remember that President Reagan said that the government was the problem, and Bill Clinton came along a couple of years later to say the era of big government was over, but no one has stepped forward really to define what the new public policy framework is, what an everyday citizen in Iowa or Montana come expect from their government.
And I think you're about to hear that from President Bush in his second term. What he calls the opportunity society frankly says that whether it comes from getting a college education or whether it's Social Security or whether it's what kind of highways are put up in your neighborhood, the government is frankly going to do less, but they're going to involve you more.
So what do I mean? There's a little more risk. There's a little more reward. You have got the opportunity to spend your Social Security money how you like. You've got the opportunity to handle your education, whether it's through vouchers or charter schools, in the way that you want. And a lot of people are going to see this as a radical and poor departure from where we are. But make no mistake about it. It's likely to set the overall framework for the early 21st century.
BLITZER: All right, we've spoken about the president and his challenges.
What about the Democrats? Where do they go from here?
WATSON: Well, it's worth just a taking a step back and taking your hat off to John Kerry and saying that, you know, if 80,000 votes in Ohio had gone differently, we would be having a radically different conversation here. So, for the all the criticism that is likely to be heaped upon him, it's worth remembering that 80,000 out of 115 million votes going a different way and we would be saying something different.
Putting that aside, though, you're going to hear a lot of criticism about Democrats on message, whether or not they have got a culturally attuned message. You're going to hear a lot of criticism about their campaigns, whether or not their grassroots efforts are as strong as they need to be, given Republican increasing strength.
But I think the real quiet issue may be around the candidates themselves. Do you have candidates who not only have a populist and kind of personal feel, but do you have people who really love policy and can talk about economic policy, can talk about health care in a way that gets people excited? And, frankly, that often comes not from senators, but from governors.
And so maybe the biggest issue for Democrats as you look ahead to John Edwards, to Hillary Clinton, to Evan Bayh and others, is, do they have enough governors on their bench and do they have governors who, again, bring not only charisma and a personal touch, but also a real comfort with policy that you saw in Bill Clinton and, frankly, you see in George W. Bush?
BLITZER: Bill Clinton was a governor. And he certainly loved talking about policy, certainly loved to do that. And he could relate to the issues that people were concerned about most.
Carlos Watson with "The Inside Edge," have a great weekend, Carlos.
WATSON: You too. Take care.
BLITZER: Thanks for all the excellent work Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Our viewers were watching.
WATSON: It was a pleasure. Thank you.
BLITZER: Thank you, Carlos.
And we'll have the results of our Web question of the day. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our Web question of the day. Take a look at this. Do you think the job market is improving? Forty-seven percent of you say yes; 53 percent of you say no. This is not, though, a scientific poll.
Now for our picture of the day. We go to what is known as slickrock county of the desert Southwest. The best free-ride mountain bikers gathered to show their stuff, but just watch this wipeout. It was all part of the fourth annual Red Bull Rampage in Virgin, Utah. But enjoy it while you can. Red Bull announced that this is the last competition.
A reminder, WOLF BLITZER REPORTS airs weekdays, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Tune in this Sunday for "LATE EDITION," the last word in Sunday talk, noon Eastern. I'll see you then.
Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
"LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.
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