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Rumsfeld's Surprise Visit to Iraq; 200 Soldiers Return to U.S. for Holidays
Aired December 24, 2004 - 06:00 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, the defense chief makes a surprise visit to the troops in Iraq. More and more and even more, people are expected on the roads this holiday season. We've got some travel tips from AAA.
And some not so good news for the very rich, whose Christmas dinner includes truffles and caviar and such.
It's Christmas Eve.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, a Christmas Eve surprise. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visits troops in Iraq. He went to the military base in Mosul where U.S. troops were killed by a suicide bomber and also to Tikrit in Falluja.
More troops needed in Iraq. That's reportedly Secretary of State Colin Powell's advice to President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The "Washington Post" reports Powell's warning came when the leaders met last month in Washington.
Does Washington State finally have a governor elect? Maybe. A statewide hand recount puts Democrat Christine Gregoire ahead of Republican Dino Rossi. The margin this time, 130 votes. But the Republicans say the fight is not over yet.
President Bush says he'll try again. The White House plans to renominate a group of judicial nominees who were blocked by Senate Democrats during the team's first term.
To the forecast center and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
You know, it's a lot easier doing weather than it is reading those e-mails.
COSTELLO: Oh, it's tough.
MYERS: Man, oh man. (WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: We start this hour with that surprise visit by Donald Rumsfeld to Iraq. Already he's been to Mosul, Tikrit and Falluja, where he met with American troops.
Karl Penhaul live in Baghdad has this report on the defense secretary's visit.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is fast turning into a tour of Iraq's major trouble spots for Mr. Rumsfeld. We've heard that over the last few minutes, he has visited the city of Falluja to visit Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force there. It's not known how long he was on the ground at the base, nor if he had chance to over fly the city of Falluja itself, much of which was destroyed in the November assault there by Marines against insurgent holdouts there.
Fallujan refugees have begun returning to the city now, little by little. We're told that yesterday 900 returned. But that was amid continued firefighters between insurgent cells there and Marine forces.
Marines said that three Marines were killed in Al Anbar Province in fighting yesterday. Not known whether that was in Falluja itself, but certainly in the province that Mr. Rumsfeld is now visiting.
The day began, though, well before dawn for Mr. Rumsfeld. He landed at Camp Merez in Mosul, the scene of Tuesday's blast. We're told that he visited staff at the combat support hospital there, where injuries from Tuesday's blast were treated. He met with troops and shook a lot of hands, listened to Christmas carols.
From there, it was on to Tikrit to meet soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division.
But little of real substance in terms of announcements so far coming out of this trip, but an important time of year to come to Iraq and try to boost troop morale. One might also suggest that it's important for Mr. Rumsfeld's own political image since his stewardship of this war in Iraq has come under political criticism in Washington of late.
We're expecting to see Mr. Rumsfeld some time later in Baghdad. We do understand that in the course of his meetings today, he has said that there are now 151,000 U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq. That would indicate that the planned troop buildup ahead of the January 30th elections is now complete.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And we will have moving pictures of Donald Rumsfeld in Baghdad, or, actually, in Iraq, soon. Hopefully we'll be able to pass those along to you within a couple of minutes. West of Baghdad, refugees are returning home to Falluja. About 500 of them are being allowed back to their bombed out city and they're finding there's very little left to go back to. About 250,000 Iraqis fled Falluja before the U.S.-led assault and now as they begin to return, six weeks later, guerrilla fighters holed up in houses are taking aim again at U.S. troops. The American forces remain focused on their objective, though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had not been in the Marine Corps for 12 years -- I came back because I want to see this work. I mean I want to make sure that, you know, Iraq works. You know, nobody's here to change cultures. We want to see it work. I felt personally strongly enough about it that, you know, I left my family. I left my law practice in the United States to come over and do my small part so that we fix it, we get it right and we go back to our families and everybody here in Iraq gets to go back to their families, no more, no less.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now to a very different homecoming just in time for Christmas. Uncle Sam outdid Saint Nick by delivering nearly 200 soldiers home for the holidays. They got a hero's welcome at Fort Lewis, Washington after spending the past year in Iraq. Needless to say, the Army families could not wait to wrap their arms around these presents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPEC. WEASLEY EATON, U.S. ARMY: It goes good. It's -- especially for the holidays. I mean this is the time that everyone wants to be back and we actually made it back.
It feels good to know that, you know, that I did something for my country in a big way. You know, a lot of people go through the Army for four to six years and don't really get to do anything. But, you know, I'm proud to say that I served my country and, you know, and I did it well.
BONNIE HARRIS, ARMY WIFE: The feeling, I had an upset stomach since I got up this morning. I'm shaky. I don't know whether to cry or be happy. You know, it's just, it's just so exciting. It feels like I have butterflies in my stomach. I haven't seen him in so long, it's like, you know, when you first start dating somebody. It's just an awesome feeling.
KIER'N HARRIS, DAUGHTER: I want to give him a kiss and a hug because I wanted to see him really bad for a long time. And like one week, one year we haven't seen him. I like him for a Christmas present, a really good Christmas present.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The returning troops are from the 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion.
Across America this morning, another 175,000 gallons of fuel are believed to have spilled into the Bering Sea from a grounded tanker. The tanker split in half after running aground a couple of weeks ago off Alaska. Now, the bow section of the tanker has sunk. Bad weather has hampered cleanup and recovery efforts. A total of 321,000 gallons of fuel have spilled into the water from this ruptured tanker.
Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland could face more than a year in prison after pleading guilty to a federal felony charge of corruption. He resigned back in July after the corruption allegations surfaced. Sentencing is set for March 11.
Bill Clinton returned to the Westchester New York Medical Center, but under better circumstances than the first time. It was in Westchester where the tests founds problems with his heart that led to quadruple bypass surgery. President Clinton returned to help open a new cardiac center this time.
It is the time for giving and receiving. Major Bush contributors pony up thousands and the presidential inaugural committee reaps big rewards. The figures in three minutes.
In five minutes, Daniel Sieberg concludes his video game series with a trip to another world.
And if you're driving a G.M. minivan, the auto maker may want it back. Details in 32 minutes.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 6:11 Eastern time.
As promised, we do have moving picture of Donald Rumsfeld's surprise visit to Iraq. You're looking at Donald Rumsfeld in Mosul at this point, I believe. He's been visiting a combat surgical hospital where wounded soldiers are recovering from that suicide attack in the mess tent.
We understand Donald Rumsfeld started out in Mosul after, what, that would be a 13 hour flight from Washington. He flew there under cover of darkness. He did have reporters on board that plane. They're traveling with him. So there were questions posed to him. And as you can see, he is greeting the soldiers and he also took some, well, you can see the soldiers taking pictures of him, but he also answered their questions, and pointed questions they were.
Karl Penhaul live in Baghdad to help me out with this.
Donald Rumsfeld, this was a surprise visit.
I'm wondering if this was planned. PENHAUL: Well, first of all, looking at the security measures, there was obviously a lot of pre-planning going into this. Certainly it was unannounced, though, particularly because of the types of places that Mr. Rumsfeld is visiting. This isn't just a typical visit to Baghdad International Airport, where previously both Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Bush, in fact, have visited. This is a tour, really, of Iraq's most troublesome hot spots.
Yes, he was in Mosul this morning. But then after that, he flew on to Saddam Hussein's hometown in Tikrit and then over the last few moments we're told he's been in the city of Falluja visiting Marines there. So certainly some of these critical points, some of the points that have seen major combat, in fact, in the last few days.
Of course, that Tuesday explosion in Mosul, but only yesterday in Falluja there was combat between Marines and insurgents there, and we're told that in the Al Anbar region, which is home to Falluja, that at least three Marines were killed there. So certainly little forward and advanced announcement of this trip. Certainly a lot of planning has gone into it to make it work -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, we're looking at these pictures. And I want to tell our audience, these are not edited pictures. We just wanted to get this on as quickly as possible. So that's why the camera work looks, oh, kind of a little strange.
Judging by the soldiers' faces here, Karl, the reception seemed warm.
PENHAUL: That's what we're told. We're told that he did get a cheery welcome from the troops, even in Mosul, where obviously a lot of the soldiers there are under great pressure following Tuesday's bombing, not only because they may have lost friends to either death or to injury, but also because of the ongoing investigations there to try and track down how this happened.
But we are told that he did get a cheery welcome there. He also did go on to answer a couple of questions from troops. None of those questions so pointed as the ones he had to face a couple of weeks ago in Kuwait. Unsure whether these questions here from the troops were vetted before they were put to Mr. Rumsfeld, but certainly we've seen there also a lot of handshakes, a lot of smiles all around. The troops very keen to get a picture alongside Mr. Rumsfeld. And we're told that at one point he did pose alongside the insignia of Task Force Olympia, the U.S. unit there, and listened to some Christmas carols, as well -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, this seems like a different kind of visit. Usually you see the soldiers, oh, you know, in a big huge mass at a meeting, sitting on chairs, and then Donald Rumsfeld makes some remarks from a podium. This seems very casual to me.
PENHAUL: It does look very casual from what we've heard and what we've seen from some of the still photographs, as well. I would guess, looking at the size or the estimated size of some of the groups of soldiers there, probably 100 or so in Mosul, we're told. In Falluja, we're told that he met with about 250 soldiers. I would guess that after Tuesday's incidents, that efforts are being made to keep down concentrations of troops on the ground because although Tuesday's incident in Mosul, a suicide bomber inside the camp, may have been seen as a one off to date, nevertheless, a lot of these bases, especially in those forward positions where Mr. Rumsfeld is today...
COSTELLO: Let me interrupt you.
PENHAUL: ... come in for frequent attack by rocket and mortars.
COSTELLO: Let me interrupt you just for a second, because I told our audience this is unedited video. So what we're seeing is as much a surprise to us as to the viewers.
We just saw the defense secretary giving a Purple Heart to one of the wounded soldiers in this surgical hospital -- Karl, how many soldiers are in this hospital that are wounded that are staying in Iraq?
PENHAUL: Well, this hospital not only treats those soldiers wounded from Tuesday's incident, obviously. We're told that about 25 of the 72 or so that were wounded in Tuesday's blast returned to active duty in the Mosul area. And then most of the others that needed more serious treatment were flown out to Germany and some later on back to the States, as well.
So not clear to me at this stage whether that man who received the Purple Heart was one of those who was wounded in Tuesday's incident. I've also seen pool press reports that may have been a soldier that was wounded the following day, on Wednesday, or possibly even on Thursday, in some of the offensive operations that have been going on in the city of Mosul to try and track down the perpetrators of Tuesday's incident -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Do you have any word on the latest in the investigation into the suicide attack in Mosul?
PENHAUL: There is no real latest. Those investigations are obviously rumbling on. But what U.S. military commanders on the ground have told us so far is yes, it was a suicide bomb. They suspect the suicide bomb was strapped to the chest of a man dressed in an Iraqi Army uniform. It's not known whether this may have been an Iraqi uniform that had been seized somewhere in the city of Mosul and then somebody came in that day posing as an Iraqi soldier or whether this was perhaps an insurgent who was recruited into the Iraqi security forces some time ago and was just biding his time.
Those kinds of things are the focus of the investigation right now -- Carol.
COSTELLO: In light of this attack, Karl, and I don't know how many soldiers or troops that you were able to speak to, but what has morale been like after that attack?
PENHAUL: I think certainly after an attack of that type, the troops would be thinking what really could they have done more to prevent that type of thing? Yes, they have their drills for incoming mortar and rocket attacks. Even after Tuesday's blast, we're told that in the immediate aftermath, some of those troops did follow that drill and run to hardened bunkers.
But a lot of them must be asking themselves and saying to themselves that these kind of things may happen from time to time and there's very little way to prevent them because one of their missions here is to help prepare the Iraqi security forces so that they can stand on their own two feet and so coalition troops can go home.
So very little way of avoiding contact with Iraqi people themselves. That's part of the mission, at the end of the day. I think they'll be a lot of scratching heads and saying what else could we have done to stop this -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Karl, can you see the same video I'm seeing?
PENHAUL: Not at this time, Carol. We...
COSTELLO: OK, well...
PENHAUL: We're in a technology void.
COSTELLO: I understand. I want you to help me with this. We see Donald Rumsfeld. He seems to be in quite an ornate place.
PENHAUL: That, we understand, is Camp Freedom, also in Mosul. That's one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. Camp Merez, that is the target of Tuesday's attack, is just a very short distance from there. What we're told is that Mr. Rumsfeld arrived aboard this c17 transporter at an air base, went on to Camp Merez, which is very close to the air base, and then went on to this very...
COSTELLO: I'm going to interrupt you...
PENHAUL: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) one of Saddam's palaces...
COSTELLO: Karl, Karl, I'm going to interrupt you.
This is General Hamm. He's speaking out. He's the commander, you know, in charge of the troops in Mosul. Let's listen to what he has to say.
BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAMM, COMMANDER, U.S. ARMY: And I just, for all of us, to say thank you to all those who have taken the time to share with us. It gives us great strength and courage to know that so many Americans are supportive of all that we're trying to do. So thank you to all of the Americans that have done that.
But mostly today, I'd like to say thank you to Secretary Rumsfeld for taking the time out of an extraordinarily hectic schedule, as you all know, to come spend a few moments here with us in Task Force Olympia and the soldiers of Multinational Brigade Northwest.
Mr. Secretary, thank you, sir, for coming, very much. It is very appreciated.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Thank you.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) and have a chance to look you in the eye and in a few minutes maybe shake your hand and tell you personally how much I and the American people appreciate and value and respect what you're doing. What you're doing is enormously important. It is, it is, of course, in recent days, you've had a terrible attack and tragedy. And the world has watched and seen the speed with which those wounded have been taken care of and taken off to Germany.
Yesterday, I guess the day before, I was out at Walter Reed visiting with the families and the troops that are wounded there. None of the folks from here yet have arrived. They'll be arriving, I suppose, over the next three or four days, and I'll see them when I get back. But the amazing thing to me is to go into the hospitals -- Bethesda, Walter Reed and Brookes or wherever -- and talk to the wounded folks and their families, their loved ones and see the strength that they have. It is truly extraordinary. It's amazing to see the -- what they say and how they feel about the work that's being done out here, how much respect they have for their sons and their daughters and their loved ones and how proud they are.
I never fail to come away but what I've been strengthened and encouraged and inspired for the tasks that we all face.
I, when you see an attack like we saw here so recently, we think it's tough and difficult and one has to ask the question, what's going to happen here in this country of Iraq, 25 million people who've been liberated? And yet we see this insurgency pressing on and on, month after month.
There is no doubt in my mind but that this is achievable. Why would I say that?
Earlier this month, I was in Afghanistan. And if you think about it, three years ago in Afghanistan, the al Qaeda and the Taliban were training terrorists and attacking the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the aircraft that crashed in Pennsylvania. That was just three years ago.
Shortly after we attacked Afghanistan, it was described as a quagmire. The Soviet Union had been in there for years. They had lost tens of thousands of people. They had 200,000 to 250,000 people in the country and another 50,000 to 100,000 people in neighboring countries and they lost.
And three years later, Afghanistan is not a quagmire. Afghanistan is a country of 25 million people liberated that has had their first free and fair election in 500 years, in the history of the country. People said the Afghan people weren't ready for democracy, they weren't ready for freedom and liberation. They had suffered terrible droughts, a terrible civil war. They had warlords. They had drugs being grown. They were occupied by the Soviets for years. And here we are, three years later. They have an elected president, Hamid Karzai. They have a cabinet of very responsible individuals. Their women voted. Over 41 percent of the people who voted were women, unheard of. At the inauguration, they had kids up on the stage, little boys and little girls dancing and singing and doing things. And, of course, that was illegal in that country. You weren't allowed to fly a kite or whistle or sing on the street. Women weren't allowed out alone. And there they were at the inauguration of Karzai on the stage.
It was a breathtaking experience. I've never been prouder to be an American. I think I brought along what President Karzai said, if I can find it here. He stopped -- here it is. If you think about how little noted what happened in Afghanistan is on television and in the press -- we don't see a lot of it. We see the explosions here. We see the problems. But shortly before he took office, Karzai met with Vice President Cheney and me and the members of our delegation. And then he spoke to all the American people. And he said to all of us, to you and to your families and to everyone across our country: "Whatever we have achieved in Afghanistan is from the help that the United States of America gave us."
He went on to say that, "Without that help, Afghanistan would be in the hands of terrorists, destroyed, poverty stricken, without its children going to school or getting an education. We are very grateful. To put it in the simple words we know," he said, "to the people of the United States of America for bringing us that day."
The people who helped in Afghanistan, the people working here, each of you, even you up there, who I keep forgetting to look at and I want to include because I'm deeply grateful to all of you, will look back in 10, 20 or 30 years and know that you have been part of something enormously important. The -- when it looks bleak, when one worries about how it's going to come out, when one reads and hears the naysayers and the doubters who say it can't be done and that we're in a quagmire here now, the fact is there have always been people, throughout every conflict in the history of the world, who said it couldn't be done. And people will be able to look back and know that they've been involved. Each of you will be able to look back and know that you've been involved in something truly historic, something truly important.
And I take great heart from the fact that if one looks through history and sees all the difficulties that occurred in major conflicts, in major battles, in major struggles and there are always some people who show resolution and determination. And that's been the hallmark of our country. There were doubters throughout the World War 2. We lost battle after battle in the early years. There were people in the cold war who wanted to toss in the towel and say it just can't be won. For a period, Euro communism was popular.
That's always been the way. But the great sweep of human history is for freedom. And that is powerful. And that is the side we are on. And the thought of turning over this country to the people who behead people on television and videos, to the people who consciously, purposefully kill innocent men, women and children, would turn this part of the world and this country back to darkness. And we simply can't let that happen.
So I am grateful to you. I respect you. I wish you all a Merry Christmas. It's -- and the very best of holidays. I know that you've got loved ones that -- it's not easy being away from loved ones during the holiday season. But know that they're strong and know that they love you and know that they're proud of you.
So god bless you, each of you, and your families, and god bless our country.
Thank you very much.
COSTELLO: And you've been listening to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld talking to troops in Mosul, near where the place that suicide bombing took place that killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. soldiers.
Keep in mind, too, viewers, that this is unedited video that we're just getting in from Iraq and that's why you see the crazy camera angles sometimes. So I am watching this for the first time along with you.
We have Karl Penhaul in Baghdad.
We also have our political analyst, Ron Brownstein, on the phone.
Karl, I want to talk with you because Donald Rumsfeld was very much giving a pep talk to troops.
Is that what they needed to hear?
Karl, I'm going to interrupt you once this second, because Donald Rumsfeld is still talking.
Let's listen in once again.
RUMSFELD: ... will require some modest extensions or some overlaps. We try to -- we spend a lot of time on deployments and trying to figure out how to do it right. The Army's trying to get out of a shoebox with three by five cards and get a set of systems where we can really manage it in a way that is respectful of units, respectful of individuals. And Pete Schoomaker and the new secretary of the Army, Fran Harvey, are determined to get a system where we have the mechanisms that we can be -- really treat people right and see that they have some heads up as to what's going to happen in their lives beforehand.
We've, during the initial deployments, we found on some of the Reserve units we were notifying them five days in advance and not 30. And that's not fair to the families. It's not fair to their employers.
So we've just got to do it better.
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Aired December 24, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead on DAYBREAK, the defense chief makes a surprise visit to the troops in Iraq. More and more and even more, people are expected on the roads this holiday season. We've got some travel tips from AAA.
And some not so good news for the very rich, whose Christmas dinner includes truffles and caviar and such.
It's Christmas Eve.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, a Christmas Eve surprise. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visits troops in Iraq. He went to the military base in Mosul where U.S. troops were killed by a suicide bomber and also to Tikrit in Falluja.
More troops needed in Iraq. That's reportedly Secretary of State Colin Powell's advice to President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The "Washington Post" reports Powell's warning came when the leaders met last month in Washington.
Does Washington State finally have a governor elect? Maybe. A statewide hand recount puts Democrat Christine Gregoire ahead of Republican Dino Rossi. The margin this time, 130 votes. But the Republicans say the fight is not over yet.
President Bush says he'll try again. The White House plans to renominate a group of judicial nominees who were blocked by Senate Democrats during the team's first term.
To the forecast center and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
You know, it's a lot easier doing weather than it is reading those e-mails.
COSTELLO: Oh, it's tough.
MYERS: Man, oh man. (WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: We start this hour with that surprise visit by Donald Rumsfeld to Iraq. Already he's been to Mosul, Tikrit and Falluja, where he met with American troops.
Karl Penhaul live in Baghdad has this report on the defense secretary's visit.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is fast turning into a tour of Iraq's major trouble spots for Mr. Rumsfeld. We've heard that over the last few minutes, he has visited the city of Falluja to visit Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force there. It's not known how long he was on the ground at the base, nor if he had chance to over fly the city of Falluja itself, much of which was destroyed in the November assault there by Marines against insurgent holdouts there.
Fallujan refugees have begun returning to the city now, little by little. We're told that yesterday 900 returned. But that was amid continued firefighters between insurgent cells there and Marine forces.
Marines said that three Marines were killed in Al Anbar Province in fighting yesterday. Not known whether that was in Falluja itself, but certainly in the province that Mr. Rumsfeld is now visiting.
The day began, though, well before dawn for Mr. Rumsfeld. He landed at Camp Merez in Mosul, the scene of Tuesday's blast. We're told that he visited staff at the combat support hospital there, where injuries from Tuesday's blast were treated. He met with troops and shook a lot of hands, listened to Christmas carols.
From there, it was on to Tikrit to meet soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division.
But little of real substance in terms of announcements so far coming out of this trip, but an important time of year to come to Iraq and try to boost troop morale. One might also suggest that it's important for Mr. Rumsfeld's own political image since his stewardship of this war in Iraq has come under political criticism in Washington of late.
We're expecting to see Mr. Rumsfeld some time later in Baghdad. We do understand that in the course of his meetings today, he has said that there are now 151,000 U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq. That would indicate that the planned troop buildup ahead of the January 30th elections is now complete.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: And we will have moving pictures of Donald Rumsfeld in Baghdad, or, actually, in Iraq, soon. Hopefully we'll be able to pass those along to you within a couple of minutes. West of Baghdad, refugees are returning home to Falluja. About 500 of them are being allowed back to their bombed out city and they're finding there's very little left to go back to. About 250,000 Iraqis fled Falluja before the U.S.-led assault and now as they begin to return, six weeks later, guerrilla fighters holed up in houses are taking aim again at U.S. troops. The American forces remain focused on their objective, though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had not been in the Marine Corps for 12 years -- I came back because I want to see this work. I mean I want to make sure that, you know, Iraq works. You know, nobody's here to change cultures. We want to see it work. I felt personally strongly enough about it that, you know, I left my family. I left my law practice in the United States to come over and do my small part so that we fix it, we get it right and we go back to our families and everybody here in Iraq gets to go back to their families, no more, no less.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Now to a very different homecoming just in time for Christmas. Uncle Sam outdid Saint Nick by delivering nearly 200 soldiers home for the holidays. They got a hero's welcome at Fort Lewis, Washington after spending the past year in Iraq. Needless to say, the Army families could not wait to wrap their arms around these presents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPEC. WEASLEY EATON, U.S. ARMY: It goes good. It's -- especially for the holidays. I mean this is the time that everyone wants to be back and we actually made it back.
It feels good to know that, you know, that I did something for my country in a big way. You know, a lot of people go through the Army for four to six years and don't really get to do anything. But, you know, I'm proud to say that I served my country and, you know, and I did it well.
BONNIE HARRIS, ARMY WIFE: The feeling, I had an upset stomach since I got up this morning. I'm shaky. I don't know whether to cry or be happy. You know, it's just, it's just so exciting. It feels like I have butterflies in my stomach. I haven't seen him in so long, it's like, you know, when you first start dating somebody. It's just an awesome feeling.
KIER'N HARRIS, DAUGHTER: I want to give him a kiss and a hug because I wanted to see him really bad for a long time. And like one week, one year we haven't seen him. I like him for a Christmas present, a really good Christmas present.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The returning troops are from the 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion.
Across America this morning, another 175,000 gallons of fuel are believed to have spilled into the Bering Sea from a grounded tanker. The tanker split in half after running aground a couple of weeks ago off Alaska. Now, the bow section of the tanker has sunk. Bad weather has hampered cleanup and recovery efforts. A total of 321,000 gallons of fuel have spilled into the water from this ruptured tanker.
Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland could face more than a year in prison after pleading guilty to a federal felony charge of corruption. He resigned back in July after the corruption allegations surfaced. Sentencing is set for March 11.
Bill Clinton returned to the Westchester New York Medical Center, but under better circumstances than the first time. It was in Westchester where the tests founds problems with his heart that led to quadruple bypass surgery. President Clinton returned to help open a new cardiac center this time.
It is the time for giving and receiving. Major Bush contributors pony up thousands and the presidential inaugural committee reaps big rewards. The figures in three minutes.
In five minutes, Daniel Sieberg concludes his video game series with a trip to another world.
And if you're driving a G.M. minivan, the auto maker may want it back. Details in 32 minutes.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 6:11 Eastern time.
As promised, we do have moving picture of Donald Rumsfeld's surprise visit to Iraq. You're looking at Donald Rumsfeld in Mosul at this point, I believe. He's been visiting a combat surgical hospital where wounded soldiers are recovering from that suicide attack in the mess tent.
We understand Donald Rumsfeld started out in Mosul after, what, that would be a 13 hour flight from Washington. He flew there under cover of darkness. He did have reporters on board that plane. They're traveling with him. So there were questions posed to him. And as you can see, he is greeting the soldiers and he also took some, well, you can see the soldiers taking pictures of him, but he also answered their questions, and pointed questions they were.
Karl Penhaul live in Baghdad to help me out with this.
Donald Rumsfeld, this was a surprise visit.
I'm wondering if this was planned. PENHAUL: Well, first of all, looking at the security measures, there was obviously a lot of pre-planning going into this. Certainly it was unannounced, though, particularly because of the types of places that Mr. Rumsfeld is visiting. This isn't just a typical visit to Baghdad International Airport, where previously both Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Bush, in fact, have visited. This is a tour, really, of Iraq's most troublesome hot spots.
Yes, he was in Mosul this morning. But then after that, he flew on to Saddam Hussein's hometown in Tikrit and then over the last few moments we're told he's been in the city of Falluja visiting Marines there. So certainly some of these critical points, some of the points that have seen major combat, in fact, in the last few days.
Of course, that Tuesday explosion in Mosul, but only yesterday in Falluja there was combat between Marines and insurgents there, and we're told that in the Al Anbar region, which is home to Falluja, that at least three Marines were killed there. So certainly little forward and advanced announcement of this trip. Certainly a lot of planning has gone into it to make it work -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, we're looking at these pictures. And I want to tell our audience, these are not edited pictures. We just wanted to get this on as quickly as possible. So that's why the camera work looks, oh, kind of a little strange.
Judging by the soldiers' faces here, Karl, the reception seemed warm.
PENHAUL: That's what we're told. We're told that he did get a cheery welcome from the troops, even in Mosul, where obviously a lot of the soldiers there are under great pressure following Tuesday's bombing, not only because they may have lost friends to either death or to injury, but also because of the ongoing investigations there to try and track down how this happened.
But we are told that he did get a cheery welcome there. He also did go on to answer a couple of questions from troops. None of those questions so pointed as the ones he had to face a couple of weeks ago in Kuwait. Unsure whether these questions here from the troops were vetted before they were put to Mr. Rumsfeld, but certainly we've seen there also a lot of handshakes, a lot of smiles all around. The troops very keen to get a picture alongside Mr. Rumsfeld. And we're told that at one point he did pose alongside the insignia of Task Force Olympia, the U.S. unit there, and listened to some Christmas carols, as well -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, this seems like a different kind of visit. Usually you see the soldiers, oh, you know, in a big huge mass at a meeting, sitting on chairs, and then Donald Rumsfeld makes some remarks from a podium. This seems very casual to me.
PENHAUL: It does look very casual from what we've heard and what we've seen from some of the still photographs, as well. I would guess, looking at the size or the estimated size of some of the groups of soldiers there, probably 100 or so in Mosul, we're told. In Falluja, we're told that he met with about 250 soldiers. I would guess that after Tuesday's incidents, that efforts are being made to keep down concentrations of troops on the ground because although Tuesday's incident in Mosul, a suicide bomber inside the camp, may have been seen as a one off to date, nevertheless, a lot of these bases, especially in those forward positions where Mr. Rumsfeld is today...
COSTELLO: Let me interrupt you.
PENHAUL: ... come in for frequent attack by rocket and mortars.
COSTELLO: Let me interrupt you just for a second, because I told our audience this is unedited video. So what we're seeing is as much a surprise to us as to the viewers.
We just saw the defense secretary giving a Purple Heart to one of the wounded soldiers in this surgical hospital -- Karl, how many soldiers are in this hospital that are wounded that are staying in Iraq?
PENHAUL: Well, this hospital not only treats those soldiers wounded from Tuesday's incident, obviously. We're told that about 25 of the 72 or so that were wounded in Tuesday's blast returned to active duty in the Mosul area. And then most of the others that needed more serious treatment were flown out to Germany and some later on back to the States, as well.
So not clear to me at this stage whether that man who received the Purple Heart was one of those who was wounded in Tuesday's incident. I've also seen pool press reports that may have been a soldier that was wounded the following day, on Wednesday, or possibly even on Thursday, in some of the offensive operations that have been going on in the city of Mosul to try and track down the perpetrators of Tuesday's incident -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Do you have any word on the latest in the investigation into the suicide attack in Mosul?
PENHAUL: There is no real latest. Those investigations are obviously rumbling on. But what U.S. military commanders on the ground have told us so far is yes, it was a suicide bomb. They suspect the suicide bomb was strapped to the chest of a man dressed in an Iraqi Army uniform. It's not known whether this may have been an Iraqi uniform that had been seized somewhere in the city of Mosul and then somebody came in that day posing as an Iraqi soldier or whether this was perhaps an insurgent who was recruited into the Iraqi security forces some time ago and was just biding his time.
Those kinds of things are the focus of the investigation right now -- Carol.
COSTELLO: In light of this attack, Karl, and I don't know how many soldiers or troops that you were able to speak to, but what has morale been like after that attack?
PENHAUL: I think certainly after an attack of that type, the troops would be thinking what really could they have done more to prevent that type of thing? Yes, they have their drills for incoming mortar and rocket attacks. Even after Tuesday's blast, we're told that in the immediate aftermath, some of those troops did follow that drill and run to hardened bunkers.
But a lot of them must be asking themselves and saying to themselves that these kind of things may happen from time to time and there's very little way to prevent them because one of their missions here is to help prepare the Iraqi security forces so that they can stand on their own two feet and so coalition troops can go home.
So very little way of avoiding contact with Iraqi people themselves. That's part of the mission, at the end of the day. I think they'll be a lot of scratching heads and saying what else could we have done to stop this -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Karl, can you see the same video I'm seeing?
PENHAUL: Not at this time, Carol. We...
COSTELLO: OK, well...
PENHAUL: We're in a technology void.
COSTELLO: I understand. I want you to help me with this. We see Donald Rumsfeld. He seems to be in quite an ornate place.
PENHAUL: That, we understand, is Camp Freedom, also in Mosul. That's one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. Camp Merez, that is the target of Tuesday's attack, is just a very short distance from there. What we're told is that Mr. Rumsfeld arrived aboard this c17 transporter at an air base, went on to Camp Merez, which is very close to the air base, and then went on to this very...
COSTELLO: I'm going to interrupt you...
PENHAUL: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE) one of Saddam's palaces...
COSTELLO: Karl, Karl, I'm going to interrupt you.
This is General Hamm. He's speaking out. He's the commander, you know, in charge of the troops in Mosul. Let's listen to what he has to say.
BRIG. GEN. CARTER HAMM, COMMANDER, U.S. ARMY: And I just, for all of us, to say thank you to all those who have taken the time to share with us. It gives us great strength and courage to know that so many Americans are supportive of all that we're trying to do. So thank you to all of the Americans that have done that.
But mostly today, I'd like to say thank you to Secretary Rumsfeld for taking the time out of an extraordinarily hectic schedule, as you all know, to come spend a few moments here with us in Task Force Olympia and the soldiers of Multinational Brigade Northwest.
Mr. Secretary, thank you, sir, for coming, very much. It is very appreciated.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Thank you.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) and have a chance to look you in the eye and in a few minutes maybe shake your hand and tell you personally how much I and the American people appreciate and value and respect what you're doing. What you're doing is enormously important. It is, it is, of course, in recent days, you've had a terrible attack and tragedy. And the world has watched and seen the speed with which those wounded have been taken care of and taken off to Germany.
Yesterday, I guess the day before, I was out at Walter Reed visiting with the families and the troops that are wounded there. None of the folks from here yet have arrived. They'll be arriving, I suppose, over the next three or four days, and I'll see them when I get back. But the amazing thing to me is to go into the hospitals -- Bethesda, Walter Reed and Brookes or wherever -- and talk to the wounded folks and their families, their loved ones and see the strength that they have. It is truly extraordinary. It's amazing to see the -- what they say and how they feel about the work that's being done out here, how much respect they have for their sons and their daughters and their loved ones and how proud they are.
I never fail to come away but what I've been strengthened and encouraged and inspired for the tasks that we all face.
I, when you see an attack like we saw here so recently, we think it's tough and difficult and one has to ask the question, what's going to happen here in this country of Iraq, 25 million people who've been liberated? And yet we see this insurgency pressing on and on, month after month.
There is no doubt in my mind but that this is achievable. Why would I say that?
Earlier this month, I was in Afghanistan. And if you think about it, three years ago in Afghanistan, the al Qaeda and the Taliban were training terrorists and attacking the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the aircraft that crashed in Pennsylvania. That was just three years ago.
Shortly after we attacked Afghanistan, it was described as a quagmire. The Soviet Union had been in there for years. They had lost tens of thousands of people. They had 200,000 to 250,000 people in the country and another 50,000 to 100,000 people in neighboring countries and they lost.
And three years later, Afghanistan is not a quagmire. Afghanistan is a country of 25 million people liberated that has had their first free and fair election in 500 years, in the history of the country. People said the Afghan people weren't ready for democracy, they weren't ready for freedom and liberation. They had suffered terrible droughts, a terrible civil war. They had warlords. They had drugs being grown. They were occupied by the Soviets for years. And here we are, three years later. They have an elected president, Hamid Karzai. They have a cabinet of very responsible individuals. Their women voted. Over 41 percent of the people who voted were women, unheard of. At the inauguration, they had kids up on the stage, little boys and little girls dancing and singing and doing things. And, of course, that was illegal in that country. You weren't allowed to fly a kite or whistle or sing on the street. Women weren't allowed out alone. And there they were at the inauguration of Karzai on the stage.
It was a breathtaking experience. I've never been prouder to be an American. I think I brought along what President Karzai said, if I can find it here. He stopped -- here it is. If you think about how little noted what happened in Afghanistan is on television and in the press -- we don't see a lot of it. We see the explosions here. We see the problems. But shortly before he took office, Karzai met with Vice President Cheney and me and the members of our delegation. And then he spoke to all the American people. And he said to all of us, to you and to your families and to everyone across our country: "Whatever we have achieved in Afghanistan is from the help that the United States of America gave us."
He went on to say that, "Without that help, Afghanistan would be in the hands of terrorists, destroyed, poverty stricken, without its children going to school or getting an education. We are very grateful. To put it in the simple words we know," he said, "to the people of the United States of America for bringing us that day."
The people who helped in Afghanistan, the people working here, each of you, even you up there, who I keep forgetting to look at and I want to include because I'm deeply grateful to all of you, will look back in 10, 20 or 30 years and know that you have been part of something enormously important. The -- when it looks bleak, when one worries about how it's going to come out, when one reads and hears the naysayers and the doubters who say it can't be done and that we're in a quagmire here now, the fact is there have always been people, throughout every conflict in the history of the world, who said it couldn't be done. And people will be able to look back and know that they've been involved. Each of you will be able to look back and know that you've been involved in something truly historic, something truly important.
And I take great heart from the fact that if one looks through history and sees all the difficulties that occurred in major conflicts, in major battles, in major struggles and there are always some people who show resolution and determination. And that's been the hallmark of our country. There were doubters throughout the World War 2. We lost battle after battle in the early years. There were people in the cold war who wanted to toss in the towel and say it just can't be won. For a period, Euro communism was popular.
That's always been the way. But the great sweep of human history is for freedom. And that is powerful. And that is the side we are on. And the thought of turning over this country to the people who behead people on television and videos, to the people who consciously, purposefully kill innocent men, women and children, would turn this part of the world and this country back to darkness. And we simply can't let that happen.
So I am grateful to you. I respect you. I wish you all a Merry Christmas. It's -- and the very best of holidays. I know that you've got loved ones that -- it's not easy being away from loved ones during the holiday season. But know that they're strong and know that they love you and know that they're proud of you.
So god bless you, each of you, and your families, and god bless our country.
Thank you very much.
COSTELLO: And you've been listening to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld talking to troops in Mosul, near where the place that suicide bombing took place that killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. soldiers.
Keep in mind, too, viewers, that this is unedited video that we're just getting in from Iraq and that's why you see the crazy camera angles sometimes. So I am watching this for the first time along with you.
We have Karl Penhaul in Baghdad.
We also have our political analyst, Ron Brownstein, on the phone.
Karl, I want to talk with you because Donald Rumsfeld was very much giving a pep talk to troops.
Is that what they needed to hear?
Karl, I'm going to interrupt you once this second, because Donald Rumsfeld is still talking.
Let's listen in once again.
RUMSFELD: ... will require some modest extensions or some overlaps. We try to -- we spend a lot of time on deployments and trying to figure out how to do it right. The Army's trying to get out of a shoebox with three by five cards and get a set of systems where we can really manage it in a way that is respectful of units, respectful of individuals. And Pete Schoomaker and the new secretary of the Army, Fran Harvey, are determined to get a system where we have the mechanisms that we can be -- really treat people right and see that they have some heads up as to what's going to happen in their lives beforehand.
We've, during the initial deployments, we found on some of the Reserve units we were notifying them five days in advance and not 30. And that's not fair to the families. It's not fair to their employers.
So we've just got to do it better.
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