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Pentagon Briefing; Immediate Medical Plans for Former President Bill Clinton
Aired March 08, 2005 - 11:31 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.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go, checking some of the stories that we're following for you right now.
We learned a few minutes ago that former president Bill Clinton is going to undergo surgery this week. Doctors plan to remove scar tissue and fluid around the heart. He has been having discomfort lately. Mr. Clinton, as you know, underwent a quadruple bypass, that was six months ago. It's obviously a story we'll stay on top of throughout the day.
President Bush is trying to keep the pressure on Syria this morning. He says freedom will prevail in Lebanon. The President says Syria's plan to redeploy troops in Lebanon falls short. He insists that Syria get out of Lebanon before the elections there, sometime this spring.
Also, the U.S. military says it may leave Abu Ghraib prison, home of the prisoner abuse scandal. The facility is under constant attack by insurgents. Officials are considering a new prison near the Baghdad airport complex.
Two-hundred terror experts are at a summit in Madrid today. The conference comes just days before the anniversary of the Madrid train attack that killed 191 people. Around two dozen presidents and prime ministers will be attending. The Bush administration sent the Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to represent the U.S.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A couple big stories we're following on this Tuesday morning, including immediate medical plans for former president Bill Clinton. For more on that, let's go to Capitol Hill, and our Ed Henry.
Ed, good morning.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Across town right now the former president is at the State Department taping a public service announcement with former president George Herbert Walker Bush about tsunami relief. On his way in, you saw those pictures, he was heading in, a snow-covered Washington. He was asked about his health. He said, quote, "I feel great." When pressed for details he added, I'll talk about it later. He was referring to an event we're expecting about 1:40 p.m. Eastern time today at the White House where the former -- two former presidents will be briefing the current President Bush about their efforts to bring tsunami relief to Asia. That was already on the schedule. We're understanding, from former president Clinton's office he will be going ahead with that event.
This procedure that he will need will take place on Thursday, at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Six months after quadruple heart bypass surgery the former president now needs to remove fluid and scar tissue from his left chest cavity, according to his office. They say he's been experiencing some discomfort in recent weeks. They want to take care of it on Thursday in New York and then he's expected to be in the hospital and not moving forward with the rest of his schedule for three to ten days as he recuperates but his office is also saying that they believe that former president Clinton, after this procedure, will be going back to a relatively normal schedule, that he will be getting back to business as quickly as possible.
Also, this morning we heard from Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein on CNN saying, perhaps half-jokingly, that she that hopes that Senator Hillary Clinton starts pulling back the former president's schedule. He has obviously been very active traveling around the world on tsunami relief, but also on his global HIV/AIDS initiative, many other private sector initiatives he's been involved in, his Clinton Library, the Clinton Foundation. He has a very busy, active schedule. Some of his friends obviously wondering if he needs to cut back a little bit.
We're expecting first to hear in the noon hour Eastern time today a briefing from the former president's doctors to give the media and the public an idea about exactly what he will be facing later this week and then again at about 1:40 Eastern time the former president himself will be at the White House. We're expecting comments there, as well -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Yes, you had to smile at Senator Feinstein's comments. Senator Clinton has been able to do a lot on Capitol Hill but that would be a little bit more powerful than perhaps anybody can do to pull back on the former president's schedule.
Now, he did keep today's engagement -- and we saw him at the State Department, he's going to the White House -- but he did cancel a trip to Madrid, Spain.
HENRY: Well, that's because he was supposed to be in Spain later this week, I believe on Thursday, and in fact on Thursday is when he's going to now be in the hospital. That's when the procedure is going to be taking place at New York Presbyterian Hospital. That is very the hospital where he had heart surgery, you will remember, back in September. Right after the Republican National Convention in New York, he had that surgery. It's now six months later. He needs this procedure. He'll be at the very same hospital, so of course his travel plans around the United States, and also around the world will be on hold for at least 10 days now -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, Ed Henry on Capitol Hill. Ed, thank you.
SANCHEZ: And on this day of sudden news stories and developments, we may still have more. We're being told that any moment now we'll be getting a Pentagon briefing, obviously from the Pentagon. It will be General George Casey who will be addressing reporters there. As soon as that happens, we're going to be taking you to that, and likely to be mentioned Iraq. New details today about the shooting that killed an Italian intelligence agent and wounded a journalist. That's a big story that we've been following for you throughout the last course of the last couple of days now.
And as we look at this picture from the Pentagon, we should tell you that there is some information on that scenario. A senior U.S. official says the checkpoint where American soldiers opened fire was set up for the American ambassador to pass. Troops shot at the convoy carrying the agent and the just-freed Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena. The U.S. says that the car was speeding and ignored warnings to stop. Sgrena herself says that is not true. Sgrena suggests is that she was deliberately attacked, in fact. She says the U.S. is angry that Italy negotiated with her hostage takers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIULIANA SGRENA (through translator): It is not up to me to say it wasn't an ambush; it is up to those who did this action. You can call it anyway you like until we have elements to define it. They have to demonstrate that there were valid reasons to do what they did. I don't have to explain what happened; it is up to those who did it, or those who gave the orders. There were people there who shot at us. I saw them when they came to open the car and pull me out of it wounded, so the inquiry could start from there. They have to say why they fired. I don't have to explain why they fired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The White House, by the way, is calling Sgrena's version of this incident, specially details that the United States may have done this on purpose absurd, is the word that's being used by White House officials. Let's go back, speaking of the White House, to the White House now.
Our White House correspondent Dana Bash is ready to go, to bring us up to date on this meeting scheduled for today at 1:40 between former President Bush, former President Clinton and President Bush on the situation with the tsunami. But of course, of interest now, for those of you just joining us is former president's condition.
Dana, take it away.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, here at the White House they are saying, just as we hear from former President Clinton's staff, that this meeting is certainly going to go on. We saw President Clinton smiling and waving going into the State Department which is where he is right now. But as you mentioned, he along with former President Bush should be here in a couple hours to meet in the Oval Office with the current President Bush. And the goal of this meeting is essentially to try to capitalize on what this White House really takes credit for as a novel idea, which is tapping these two former presidents, two former rivals, to go out and raise money for the tsunami.
It has certainly been some time, more than two months since they were tapped, since they put out one public service announcement to raise money, since they traveled to the region to continue their efforts. Today, we understand that they are taping another public service announcement before coming here to meet with the president. The White House says this is a simply chance for the current President Bush to thank them for their efforts and get an update on what they are doing. But as you can imagine, we are expecting to hear from them in the Oval Office, and we will perhaps hear from President Clinton about how he's feeling.
SANCHEZ: And given that this is really more newsworthy now, the former president's condition, one wonders what kind of venue this will be, or whether they'll change, whether they'll allow reporters to ask questions of the former president. Do we know anything about the way this thing is going to be handled or setup?
BUSH: There aren't any changes scheduled right now. The plan is for the three presidents to be in the Oval Office, to have a meeting, and to invite reporters in at the end. They were always planning on giving some remarks to reporters, and certainly the reporters who are in there are very likely, expected to try to ask some questions of all presidents, but particularly President Clinton -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Yes, we certainly expect that. Dana Bash, following things there for us at the White House. We thank you. We'll be checking back with you.
Daryn, over that to you.
KAGAN: Well, before that appearance, President Bush right now at this minute, he's at the State Department, and we have some cameras trained outside the State Department with some microphone there. It's possible that when the former president comes out, he may stop and make some comments and answer questions there. Perhaps not. When he got out of the car, he pretty much ran in the building, but we're ready to go if President Clinton does make comments.
We have more ahead on the former president's health and other news of the day after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Let's take you to the Pentagon, where we're going to hear the first major assessment of the situation in Iraq. This is General George Casey.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
GENERAL GEORGE W. CASEY JR., COMMANDING GENERAL, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: And I can tell you that, following that very successful election on the 30th of January, I'm even more convinced that that's the case, that our objectives in Iraq are both realistic and achievable. The 30th of January was a great day for the Iraqi people, for the Iraqi security forces, and for the coalition. You all know, more than 8 million Iraqis exercised their right to choose their government, many of them for the first time in their lives. The insurgents tried their best to cause the elections to fail, but were unable to crack the indomitable spirit of the Iraqi people or the cordons of the Iraqi security forces.
Stories and pictures from that day tell the story of Iraqis determined to change their future after more than 30 years of oppression. One story, that my command sergeant major was out, saw as gentleman coming, a 73-year-old gentleman coming out of a polling station. They were talking. The man said to him, "Today, for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm alive." And there were stories like that from all across Iraq.
The second point I'd like to make with you today, in December I also said that the insurgency we were fighting wasn't 10 feet tall. I said they were a tough, aggressive enemy and that they were the same thugs who have oppressed the Iraqi people for the last three decades.
And while they continue to murder innocent people and attack Iraqi and coalition forces, they also continue to offer no positive vision for Iraq. They offer only intimidation and subjugation -- messages that are resonating less and less with the Iraqi people.
On the 30th of January, a day that the insurgents vowed to disrupt, they were defeated in their aim by well-prepared Iraqi and coalition forces.
We took away their options and relegated them to drive-by shootings, ineffective indirect fire, and a few suicide attacks, none of which breached the polling center. The Iraqi security forces did a magnificent job.
Another story that didn't get as much attention as the election day, but I think it speaks both to the capabilities of the Iraqis and the ineffectiveness of the insurgents, is the movement of the ballot material. Three million kilos of ballot material came into Iraq from three different countries, went through four regional airports, down to some 20 other places, into warehouses, and out to 5200 polling sites.
It was then recovered, brought all the way back through that same process, and it was not disrupted by the insurgents at all. Across the country.
Again, I think that speaks fairly highly for what the Iraqis were able to do that day.
So we couldn't be prouder of the Iraqi and coalition forces' performance, and we couldn't be prouder of the strength demonstrated by the Iraqi people.
On the election day, the coalition forces set it up and then stepped back and only came forward when needed, making the 30th an Iraqi day.
The 30th, as I said, was a great step forward.
Today, I should also note that three of the four U.S. units that were extended to help ensure successful elections have been redeployed. And the other units will leave Iraq on schedule here at the end of the month.
CASEY: And the contributions of those units was invaluable.
Third point, I mentioned the Iraqi security forces. They continue to get stronger every day.
And the election's success was a great boost not only to their own self-confidence, but to the Iraqi people's confidence in them.
Today, we have just over 140,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security forces, about 80,000 in the ministry of interior and about 60,000 in the ministry of defense.
And today, Iraq has more than 90 operational combat battalions, men in both military and special police. And these battalions are engaged in combat across Iraq, both with coalition forces and even in some cases independently without our support, and they are performing generally very well.
We will continue to build Iraqi divisions and brigades that are capable of independent counterinsurgency operations so that the Iraqi armed forces themselves can take the leading role in fighting the insurgency and the coalition forces can move to a supporting role.
That will be our main effort here over the course of this year.
Fourth point, we continue to make good progress on reconstruction.
When we started back in June, we had just over 200 projects turning dirt. That's -- our standard is someone is out putting the shovel in the ground and actually building something. And those projects at that time were valued at about a billion dollars. We just went over 2,000 projects now with a total value of about $5 billion.
So, in a tough environment, the reconstruction continues to go forward.
Now, that said, there remains much work to be done to build a constitution accepted by all Iraqis, to prepare for the constitution elections and to continue to attack and defeat the terrorists and insurgents who intend to unhinge Iraq's march to democracy.
We're in a good position following the elections, but we have a lot of work ahead to get to our final objective in Iraq.
Lastly, just a short word to the home audience here in the United States.
You can take great pride in the performance of your service men and women in the months leading up to the elections and on election day itself.
CASEY: They performed brilliantly in Fallujah, north Babil, Mosul, Salahuddin and Baghdad -- all difficult places where Iraqis took advantage of the security they provided to go out and vote. These opportunities were provided both by the Iraqi security forces and by coalition forces.
To the families of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice, your loved ones were part of something profound on the 30th of January, something that has the potential to change the political face not only of Iraq, but of the Middle East. We thank them for the sacrifices. They made a difference.
So to wrap up, we remain broadly on track in meeting our objectives. To be sure the insurgency is still a force to be reckoned with, but it was not able to achieve its stated objectives on election day, nor was it able to hold its safe haven in Fallujah.
We have lots more to do with both our embassy and Iraqi counterparts, but things in Iraq are heading in the right direction.
I'll take your questions.
QUESTION: General, I realize that you're investigating the shooting incident involving the Italian journalist, recent shooting incident in the airport, but I wonder if you could tell us a couple of things.
Number one, who is heading that and how is that being structured, how is it being handled?
And number two, are there any preliminary indications that the Italians had communicated with the United States and the U.S. military that she had been freed and was on her way to the airport?
CASEY: We are still working through the modalities of the investigation. Brigadier General Dave Van Gell (ph) will head our investigation. He is the coratori (ph) commander for the Multinational Corps.
And we are working closely with the Italians on their participation in the investigation.
Given that that's happening, I wouldn't want to go beyond that. And I have nothing concrete that I could tell you about the second part of your question. QUESTION: Because the Italians have indicated that there was communication. I was just asking if there was any preliminary indication?
CASEY: I have no preliminary indication that that's true.
QUESTION: And is this investigation a joint investigation with the Italians or are you having separate investigations and simple working together?
CASEY: As I said, we're still working with them on the modalities. The way it stands right now, my expectation is that it will be a joint investigation.
QUESTION: I'm from Italian public TV area. And obvious my question is following the first question.
You are going on with the investigation. How long time do you think will be needed? And what they risk, what the military, that should risking now in front of the justice?
CASEY: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: What is the risk? What is the possible condemn that the military are going to face?
QUESTION: What kind of punishment could the Americans face?
QUESTION: Yes, what kind of punishment?
QUESTION: Who were involved in the incident.
CASEY: Oh, OK.
The first part of it, normally these investigations normally take three to four weeks to complete.
And then, secondly, I wouldn't want to comment on what the nature of the charges could be because I don't have any specifics on what those might be.
QUESTION: I'm sorry, General Casey, you said in answer to Charlie at the very end there, "I have no preliminary that is true."
To be very clear and precise, sir, what exactly are you referring to?
CASEY: Charlie, calibrate me here.
CASEY: You said something to the effect, did I have any indication that -- preliminary indication that the Iraqis had communicated...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Excuse me, sir, the Italians.
CASEY: I'm sorry.
The Italians had communicated something to us about the rescue, and I said I personally do not have any indication of that even on a preliminary basis.
QUESTION: So your current information, understanding it's under investigation, understanding it's a first report and it could change, with all of those caveats, at this point what you are saying if I understand you correctly is you have no information that any Italian authorities communicated with the United States about that travel that night?
CASEY: I, George Casey, have no information about that.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... because as everyone has said, the Italian government has said that they did.
CASEY: Right. And I'm saying I personally have no information that, that is the case, OK?
QUESTION: Would it have come to you if there was information? Would you know?
CASEY: I would hope so.
QUESTION: General, the plane was at the airport, so someone knew that the Italians were coming to the airport to spirit out this journalist and the security agents. Who was aware that, that plane was at the airport?
CASEY: I think that's something that the investigation will sort out.
QUESTION: You don't know who communicated the details?
CASEY: As I said, I don't. I don't have that information.
QUESTION: So you basically have no information at all about what happened here, about the airplane being at the airport, about the route?
CASEY: I have some information about what took place at the checkpoint.
QUESTION: Can you elaborate, please, what information you have that maybe we don't have?
CASEY: No, I prefer just to leave that to the investigating officer to put all this thing in perspective for you.
QUESTION: Well, again, do you have a better sense of what's going on? I mean, do you know the answer to these questions and you can't tell us, or do you have to wait for the investigation?
CASEY: In these cases, it's -- we normally give the investigating officer the job and he goes out and sorts through all these findings.
I'm sure you're hearing bits from all over the place, and that's why we do an investigation, to sort through all those things and tell us what happening.
QUESTION: Can you talk about generally at these checkpoints and patrols that may set up tactical checkpoints if there's a consistent procedure and policy beyond the rules of engagement to let Iraqis know what to do at these checkpoints, or tactical checkpoints? And again, is it consistent throughout the country? How do you, in effect, educate Iraqis or others who may be traveling on those roads on what they are supposed to do? I mean, it's a chaotic situation on those roads.
CASEY: The basic set-up of the checkpoint is something that is -- that we have in our technical manuals and they train -- the soldiers train on those procedures prior to coming over to Iraq.
I would suspect that at the local levels they adjust what they get in the manuals to their local circumstances.
Over time, both through mass media and through just roadside signs and word of mouth, they communicate to the Iraqi people in the different areas about what the expected conduct is as they approach these checkpoints. If you drive around there, you can see Iraqis when they see a checkpoint or they see one of our convoys, they tend to -- they react to it.
QUESTION: General, in the three or four weeks it will take you to do this investigation, the reputation of the young soldiers who were on that checkpoint are dangling in the wind. And I wonder if you could explain to us why it is that an officer of your rank who is the commander of all the forces there can't pick up the phone and in two minutes find out what the heck happened?
CASEY: I can. But here's the deal. I can get someone's perception of what happened. That's the problem. What you need to do, is you need to appoint an investigating officer to go out and talk to everyone that's involved in that and then give you a recommendation on what in fact did happen.
But what you get is what you are seeing right now. A lot of people have opinions about what they think they know. They are talking about it. They don't necessarily know. They know their piece of it. That's why we do the investigation. I know it is a pain in the neck, but we just need to wait this out.
QUESTION: General, aside from that (inaudible) item, the shooting incident at the checkpoint, did the U.S. have any information, evidence, were they aware that the Italians were, in fact, negotiating, in contact, whatever you call it, with those that were holding the Italian journalist? And is there any evidence or information to indicate that the Italians paid a ransom for her release?
CASEY: You say the U.S. What do you mean?
QUESTION: The U.S. military, the embassy, anybody in Iraq, anybody within the diplomatic circles, anybody in the U.S. government, did they have any information that the Italians were in fact negotiating and/or talking to those holding the Italian journalist? And is there any evidence whatsoever that the Italians paid a ransom for her release?
CASEY: On the first part, as I said to earlier questions, I don't have any information about the Italians coming in here to do something with respect to the hostage. And I have no concrete information about whether there was a ransom paid or not.
QUESTION: If I could -- you said you had no concrete information, but you are hearing reports...
CASEY: I have no information that I would...
STAFF: Let me help out here. He's not going to talk about it. If there's confusion about that, let me say it again. It's a sensitive matter. It's a matter in which we all want to get to the facts. General Casey has his portion of what he understands happened and other people will have their portion.
I truly understand the desire to know more. There's an investigating officer. That investigating officer has been charged under statute and regulation to find out what happened. And we can spend all day with General Casey saying, "I don't know -- I, General Casey, don't know."
STAFF: And you will spend all day trying to say, "Does the United States know?" And then you'll say, "The United States, in the person of General Casey, knows." And it's just -- it's an exercise...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: General, have you not asked specific questions? Have you pretty much said, "I'm removing myself from this. I want the investigative officer to look into this. And I'm just not asking specific questions." Is that basically where we are here?
CASEY: I made some preliminary inquiries, right before I left Baghdad.
QUESTION: Which you can't specify?
CASEY: Which I'm not going to talk about, because they were preliminary inquiries. And right now we've appointed a brigadier general to take this on, and he's going to do it, and he'll get back with us, and we'll let you know when we find it out.
QUESTION: General, the Bulgarian incident. A soldier on Friday. Can you bring us up to date on that?
And did it give you, when you heard that report, about a possible -- another possible friendly fire incident with another ally of ours, did it cause you greater discomfort, given the timing?
CASEY: Obviously, the timing gave me cause for discomfort. I mean, it's another unfortunate incident. Again, both the Bulgarians and us are looking into exactly what happened up during that period, and we'll get to the bottom of it.
I mean, all of these -- every time there is an incident like this, we look at it, we look at the procedures that were followed, we use those to adapt our procedures, and we continually try to upgrade this so that these things don't happen. But, obviously, two things come right on the heels of each other was troublesome. QUESTION: General, talking about the Iraqi forces, you said, General, that 90 percent of the Iraqi forces are engaged in combat with the coalition forces, and sometimes they are engaged alone.
My question is, when do you think the Iraqi forces will be capable to work alone on the ground? Is there any timetable? CASEY: There's not a timetable. What I said was that there are 90- plus battalions that are operating with coalition forces. OK? And some of those battalions are good enough so that they can operate independently. But there's not many of them.
And over the period of the next year, we will work with them to build their brigade- and division-level command structures so that you can have truly independent Iraqi operations. But it's going to take some months for that to happen.
QUESTION: Did the multinational forces question the half-brother of Saddam Hussein, Sabawi Ibrahim?
CASEY: We did have the opportunity to question him after his capture.
QUESTION: What kind of information do you think he can give the MNFI or the Iraqi government?
CASEY: I wouldn't want to comment on that while the interrogations are still going on.
QUESTION: You talked about the Iraqi opposition on election day and said they were not successful in their objective. How would you characterize the change in the insurgency since then? And are you any closer to defeating it?
CASEY: The insurgency ebbs and flows.
We have sustained a very good level of pressure on the insurgency from Fallujah all the way up through the elections and we continue to put pressure on them in Mosul and out in the Ramadi area, between Haditha and Ramadi there.
The level of attacks, the level of violence has dropped off significantly since the elections. Last week was the lowest level of attacks since April. Now, there have just been some additional attacks today, so it ebbs and flows.
As I said, they still retain the capability to do damage and to do violence in the Sunni areas of the country.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... closer to defeating them though?
CASEY: I think so.
But, I mean, as you know, defeating insurgencies takes time. The average insurgency -- the average counterinsurgency in the 20th century was about nine years, so it takes time to snuff out the insurgency.
And also, I think, you know, most insurgencies are defeated by political means rather than necessarily by military means.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: General George Casey, the commander of U.S. and multi-national forces in Iraq, back at the Pentagon, briefing reporter, briefing all of us on the state of play in Iraq right now, giving an upbeat assessment of Iraqi troops beginning to start taking charge of their security. Basically refusing to answer many of the questions involving the wounding of an Italian journalist who had been held hostage, the killing of her intelligence officer who managed to get her free, saying there is now a full-scale U.S. military investigation into the circumstances leading to that tragic incident. Saying that the U.S. will get to the bottom of what is going on.
You heard that exchange. And Larry DiRita, the Pentagon spokesman, intervening, suggesting the general was not ready to answer additional questions, specific questions on that case. We'll continue to monitor this briefing for you.
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Aired March 8, 2005 - 11:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go, checking some of the stories that we're following for you right now.
We learned a few minutes ago that former president Bill Clinton is going to undergo surgery this week. Doctors plan to remove scar tissue and fluid around the heart. He has been having discomfort lately. Mr. Clinton, as you know, underwent a quadruple bypass, that was six months ago. It's obviously a story we'll stay on top of throughout the day.
President Bush is trying to keep the pressure on Syria this morning. He says freedom will prevail in Lebanon. The President says Syria's plan to redeploy troops in Lebanon falls short. He insists that Syria get out of Lebanon before the elections there, sometime this spring.
Also, the U.S. military says it may leave Abu Ghraib prison, home of the prisoner abuse scandal. The facility is under constant attack by insurgents. Officials are considering a new prison near the Baghdad airport complex.
Two-hundred terror experts are at a summit in Madrid today. The conference comes just days before the anniversary of the Madrid train attack that killed 191 people. Around two dozen presidents and prime ministers will be attending. The Bush administration sent the Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez to represent the U.S.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A couple big stories we're following on this Tuesday morning, including immediate medical plans for former president Bill Clinton. For more on that, let's go to Capitol Hill, and our Ed Henry.
Ed, good morning.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
Across town right now the former president is at the State Department taping a public service announcement with former president George Herbert Walker Bush about tsunami relief. On his way in, you saw those pictures, he was heading in, a snow-covered Washington. He was asked about his health. He said, quote, "I feel great." When pressed for details he added, I'll talk about it later. He was referring to an event we're expecting about 1:40 p.m. Eastern time today at the White House where the former -- two former presidents will be briefing the current President Bush about their efforts to bring tsunami relief to Asia. That was already on the schedule. We're understanding, from former president Clinton's office he will be going ahead with that event.
This procedure that he will need will take place on Thursday, at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Six months after quadruple heart bypass surgery the former president now needs to remove fluid and scar tissue from his left chest cavity, according to his office. They say he's been experiencing some discomfort in recent weeks. They want to take care of it on Thursday in New York and then he's expected to be in the hospital and not moving forward with the rest of his schedule for three to ten days as he recuperates but his office is also saying that they believe that former president Clinton, after this procedure, will be going back to a relatively normal schedule, that he will be getting back to business as quickly as possible.
Also, this morning we heard from Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein on CNN saying, perhaps half-jokingly, that she that hopes that Senator Hillary Clinton starts pulling back the former president's schedule. He has obviously been very active traveling around the world on tsunami relief, but also on his global HIV/AIDS initiative, many other private sector initiatives he's been involved in, his Clinton Library, the Clinton Foundation. He has a very busy, active schedule. Some of his friends obviously wondering if he needs to cut back a little bit.
We're expecting first to hear in the noon hour Eastern time today a briefing from the former president's doctors to give the media and the public an idea about exactly what he will be facing later this week and then again at about 1:40 Eastern time the former president himself will be at the White House. We're expecting comments there, as well -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Yes, you had to smile at Senator Feinstein's comments. Senator Clinton has been able to do a lot on Capitol Hill but that would be a little bit more powerful than perhaps anybody can do to pull back on the former president's schedule.
Now, he did keep today's engagement -- and we saw him at the State Department, he's going to the White House -- but he did cancel a trip to Madrid, Spain.
HENRY: Well, that's because he was supposed to be in Spain later this week, I believe on Thursday, and in fact on Thursday is when he's going to now be in the hospital. That's when the procedure is going to be taking place at New York Presbyterian Hospital. That is very the hospital where he had heart surgery, you will remember, back in September. Right after the Republican National Convention in New York, he had that surgery. It's now six months later. He needs this procedure. He'll be at the very same hospital, so of course his travel plans around the United States, and also around the world will be on hold for at least 10 days now -- Daryn.
KAGAN: All right, Ed Henry on Capitol Hill. Ed, thank you.
SANCHEZ: And on this day of sudden news stories and developments, we may still have more. We're being told that any moment now we'll be getting a Pentagon briefing, obviously from the Pentagon. It will be General George Casey who will be addressing reporters there. As soon as that happens, we're going to be taking you to that, and likely to be mentioned Iraq. New details today about the shooting that killed an Italian intelligence agent and wounded a journalist. That's a big story that we've been following for you throughout the last course of the last couple of days now.
And as we look at this picture from the Pentagon, we should tell you that there is some information on that scenario. A senior U.S. official says the checkpoint where American soldiers opened fire was set up for the American ambassador to pass. Troops shot at the convoy carrying the agent and the just-freed Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena. The U.S. says that the car was speeding and ignored warnings to stop. Sgrena herself says that is not true. Sgrena suggests is that she was deliberately attacked, in fact. She says the U.S. is angry that Italy negotiated with her hostage takers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIULIANA SGRENA (through translator): It is not up to me to say it wasn't an ambush; it is up to those who did this action. You can call it anyway you like until we have elements to define it. They have to demonstrate that there were valid reasons to do what they did. I don't have to explain what happened; it is up to those who did it, or those who gave the orders. There were people there who shot at us. I saw them when they came to open the car and pull me out of it wounded, so the inquiry could start from there. They have to say why they fired. I don't have to explain why they fired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The White House, by the way, is calling Sgrena's version of this incident, specially details that the United States may have done this on purpose absurd, is the word that's being used by White House officials. Let's go back, speaking of the White House, to the White House now.
Our White House correspondent Dana Bash is ready to go, to bring us up to date on this meeting scheduled for today at 1:40 between former President Bush, former President Clinton and President Bush on the situation with the tsunami. But of course, of interest now, for those of you just joining us is former president's condition.
Dana, take it away.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, here at the White House they are saying, just as we hear from former President Clinton's staff, that this meeting is certainly going to go on. We saw President Clinton smiling and waving going into the State Department which is where he is right now. But as you mentioned, he along with former President Bush should be here in a couple hours to meet in the Oval Office with the current President Bush. And the goal of this meeting is essentially to try to capitalize on what this White House really takes credit for as a novel idea, which is tapping these two former presidents, two former rivals, to go out and raise money for the tsunami.
It has certainly been some time, more than two months since they were tapped, since they put out one public service announcement to raise money, since they traveled to the region to continue their efforts. Today, we understand that they are taping another public service announcement before coming here to meet with the president. The White House says this is a simply chance for the current President Bush to thank them for their efforts and get an update on what they are doing. But as you can imagine, we are expecting to hear from them in the Oval Office, and we will perhaps hear from President Clinton about how he's feeling.
SANCHEZ: And given that this is really more newsworthy now, the former president's condition, one wonders what kind of venue this will be, or whether they'll change, whether they'll allow reporters to ask questions of the former president. Do we know anything about the way this thing is going to be handled or setup?
BUSH: There aren't any changes scheduled right now. The plan is for the three presidents to be in the Oval Office, to have a meeting, and to invite reporters in at the end. They were always planning on giving some remarks to reporters, and certainly the reporters who are in there are very likely, expected to try to ask some questions of all presidents, but particularly President Clinton -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Yes, we certainly expect that. Dana Bash, following things there for us at the White House. We thank you. We'll be checking back with you.
Daryn, over that to you.
KAGAN: Well, before that appearance, President Bush right now at this minute, he's at the State Department, and we have some cameras trained outside the State Department with some microphone there. It's possible that when the former president comes out, he may stop and make some comments and answer questions there. Perhaps not. When he got out of the car, he pretty much ran in the building, but we're ready to go if President Clinton does make comments.
We have more ahead on the former president's health and other news of the day after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Let's take you to the Pentagon, where we're going to hear the first major assessment of the situation in Iraq. This is General George Casey.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
GENERAL GEORGE W. CASEY JR., COMMANDING GENERAL, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: And I can tell you that, following that very successful election on the 30th of January, I'm even more convinced that that's the case, that our objectives in Iraq are both realistic and achievable. The 30th of January was a great day for the Iraqi people, for the Iraqi security forces, and for the coalition. You all know, more than 8 million Iraqis exercised their right to choose their government, many of them for the first time in their lives. The insurgents tried their best to cause the elections to fail, but were unable to crack the indomitable spirit of the Iraqi people or the cordons of the Iraqi security forces.
Stories and pictures from that day tell the story of Iraqis determined to change their future after more than 30 years of oppression. One story, that my command sergeant major was out, saw as gentleman coming, a 73-year-old gentleman coming out of a polling station. They were talking. The man said to him, "Today, for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm alive." And there were stories like that from all across Iraq.
The second point I'd like to make with you today, in December I also said that the insurgency we were fighting wasn't 10 feet tall. I said they were a tough, aggressive enemy and that they were the same thugs who have oppressed the Iraqi people for the last three decades.
And while they continue to murder innocent people and attack Iraqi and coalition forces, they also continue to offer no positive vision for Iraq. They offer only intimidation and subjugation -- messages that are resonating less and less with the Iraqi people.
On the 30th of January, a day that the insurgents vowed to disrupt, they were defeated in their aim by well-prepared Iraqi and coalition forces.
We took away their options and relegated them to drive-by shootings, ineffective indirect fire, and a few suicide attacks, none of which breached the polling center. The Iraqi security forces did a magnificent job.
Another story that didn't get as much attention as the election day, but I think it speaks both to the capabilities of the Iraqis and the ineffectiveness of the insurgents, is the movement of the ballot material. Three million kilos of ballot material came into Iraq from three different countries, went through four regional airports, down to some 20 other places, into warehouses, and out to 5200 polling sites.
It was then recovered, brought all the way back through that same process, and it was not disrupted by the insurgents at all. Across the country.
Again, I think that speaks fairly highly for what the Iraqis were able to do that day.
So we couldn't be prouder of the Iraqi and coalition forces' performance, and we couldn't be prouder of the strength demonstrated by the Iraqi people.
On the election day, the coalition forces set it up and then stepped back and only came forward when needed, making the 30th an Iraqi day.
The 30th, as I said, was a great step forward.
Today, I should also note that three of the four U.S. units that were extended to help ensure successful elections have been redeployed. And the other units will leave Iraq on schedule here at the end of the month.
CASEY: And the contributions of those units was invaluable.
Third point, I mentioned the Iraqi security forces. They continue to get stronger every day.
And the election's success was a great boost not only to their own self-confidence, but to the Iraqi people's confidence in them.
Today, we have just over 140,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security forces, about 80,000 in the ministry of interior and about 60,000 in the ministry of defense.
And today, Iraq has more than 90 operational combat battalions, men in both military and special police. And these battalions are engaged in combat across Iraq, both with coalition forces and even in some cases independently without our support, and they are performing generally very well.
We will continue to build Iraqi divisions and brigades that are capable of independent counterinsurgency operations so that the Iraqi armed forces themselves can take the leading role in fighting the insurgency and the coalition forces can move to a supporting role.
That will be our main effort here over the course of this year.
Fourth point, we continue to make good progress on reconstruction.
When we started back in June, we had just over 200 projects turning dirt. That's -- our standard is someone is out putting the shovel in the ground and actually building something. And those projects at that time were valued at about a billion dollars. We just went over 2,000 projects now with a total value of about $5 billion.
So, in a tough environment, the reconstruction continues to go forward.
Now, that said, there remains much work to be done to build a constitution accepted by all Iraqis, to prepare for the constitution elections and to continue to attack and defeat the terrorists and insurgents who intend to unhinge Iraq's march to democracy.
We're in a good position following the elections, but we have a lot of work ahead to get to our final objective in Iraq.
Lastly, just a short word to the home audience here in the United States.
You can take great pride in the performance of your service men and women in the months leading up to the elections and on election day itself.
CASEY: They performed brilliantly in Fallujah, north Babil, Mosul, Salahuddin and Baghdad -- all difficult places where Iraqis took advantage of the security they provided to go out and vote. These opportunities were provided both by the Iraqi security forces and by coalition forces.
To the families of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice, your loved ones were part of something profound on the 30th of January, something that has the potential to change the political face not only of Iraq, but of the Middle East. We thank them for the sacrifices. They made a difference.
So to wrap up, we remain broadly on track in meeting our objectives. To be sure the insurgency is still a force to be reckoned with, but it was not able to achieve its stated objectives on election day, nor was it able to hold its safe haven in Fallujah.
We have lots more to do with both our embassy and Iraqi counterparts, but things in Iraq are heading in the right direction.
I'll take your questions.
QUESTION: General, I realize that you're investigating the shooting incident involving the Italian journalist, recent shooting incident in the airport, but I wonder if you could tell us a couple of things.
Number one, who is heading that and how is that being structured, how is it being handled?
And number two, are there any preliminary indications that the Italians had communicated with the United States and the U.S. military that she had been freed and was on her way to the airport?
CASEY: We are still working through the modalities of the investigation. Brigadier General Dave Van Gell (ph) will head our investigation. He is the coratori (ph) commander for the Multinational Corps.
And we are working closely with the Italians on their participation in the investigation.
Given that that's happening, I wouldn't want to go beyond that. And I have nothing concrete that I could tell you about the second part of your question. QUESTION: Because the Italians have indicated that there was communication. I was just asking if there was any preliminary indication?
CASEY: I have no preliminary indication that that's true.
QUESTION: And is this investigation a joint investigation with the Italians or are you having separate investigations and simple working together?
CASEY: As I said, we're still working with them on the modalities. The way it stands right now, my expectation is that it will be a joint investigation.
QUESTION: I'm from Italian public TV area. And obvious my question is following the first question.
You are going on with the investigation. How long time do you think will be needed? And what they risk, what the military, that should risking now in front of the justice?
CASEY: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: What is the risk? What is the possible condemn that the military are going to face?
QUESTION: What kind of punishment could the Americans face?
QUESTION: Yes, what kind of punishment?
QUESTION: Who were involved in the incident.
CASEY: Oh, OK.
The first part of it, normally these investigations normally take three to four weeks to complete.
And then, secondly, I wouldn't want to comment on what the nature of the charges could be because I don't have any specifics on what those might be.
QUESTION: I'm sorry, General Casey, you said in answer to Charlie at the very end there, "I have no preliminary that is true."
To be very clear and precise, sir, what exactly are you referring to?
CASEY: Charlie, calibrate me here.
CASEY: You said something to the effect, did I have any indication that -- preliminary indication that the Iraqis had communicated...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Excuse me, sir, the Italians.
CASEY: I'm sorry.
The Italians had communicated something to us about the rescue, and I said I personally do not have any indication of that even on a preliminary basis.
QUESTION: So your current information, understanding it's under investigation, understanding it's a first report and it could change, with all of those caveats, at this point what you are saying if I understand you correctly is you have no information that any Italian authorities communicated with the United States about that travel that night?
CASEY: I, George Casey, have no information about that.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... because as everyone has said, the Italian government has said that they did.
CASEY: Right. And I'm saying I personally have no information that, that is the case, OK?
QUESTION: Would it have come to you if there was information? Would you know?
CASEY: I would hope so.
QUESTION: General, the plane was at the airport, so someone knew that the Italians were coming to the airport to spirit out this journalist and the security agents. Who was aware that, that plane was at the airport?
CASEY: I think that's something that the investigation will sort out.
QUESTION: You don't know who communicated the details?
CASEY: As I said, I don't. I don't have that information.
QUESTION: So you basically have no information at all about what happened here, about the airplane being at the airport, about the route?
CASEY: I have some information about what took place at the checkpoint.
QUESTION: Can you elaborate, please, what information you have that maybe we don't have?
CASEY: No, I prefer just to leave that to the investigating officer to put all this thing in perspective for you.
QUESTION: Well, again, do you have a better sense of what's going on? I mean, do you know the answer to these questions and you can't tell us, or do you have to wait for the investigation?
CASEY: In these cases, it's -- we normally give the investigating officer the job and he goes out and sorts through all these findings.
I'm sure you're hearing bits from all over the place, and that's why we do an investigation, to sort through all those things and tell us what happening.
QUESTION: Can you talk about generally at these checkpoints and patrols that may set up tactical checkpoints if there's a consistent procedure and policy beyond the rules of engagement to let Iraqis know what to do at these checkpoints, or tactical checkpoints? And again, is it consistent throughout the country? How do you, in effect, educate Iraqis or others who may be traveling on those roads on what they are supposed to do? I mean, it's a chaotic situation on those roads.
CASEY: The basic set-up of the checkpoint is something that is -- that we have in our technical manuals and they train -- the soldiers train on those procedures prior to coming over to Iraq.
I would suspect that at the local levels they adjust what they get in the manuals to their local circumstances.
Over time, both through mass media and through just roadside signs and word of mouth, they communicate to the Iraqi people in the different areas about what the expected conduct is as they approach these checkpoints. If you drive around there, you can see Iraqis when they see a checkpoint or they see one of our convoys, they tend to -- they react to it.
QUESTION: General, in the three or four weeks it will take you to do this investigation, the reputation of the young soldiers who were on that checkpoint are dangling in the wind. And I wonder if you could explain to us why it is that an officer of your rank who is the commander of all the forces there can't pick up the phone and in two minutes find out what the heck happened?
CASEY: I can. But here's the deal. I can get someone's perception of what happened. That's the problem. What you need to do, is you need to appoint an investigating officer to go out and talk to everyone that's involved in that and then give you a recommendation on what in fact did happen.
But what you get is what you are seeing right now. A lot of people have opinions about what they think they know. They are talking about it. They don't necessarily know. They know their piece of it. That's why we do the investigation. I know it is a pain in the neck, but we just need to wait this out.
QUESTION: General, aside from that (inaudible) item, the shooting incident at the checkpoint, did the U.S. have any information, evidence, were they aware that the Italians were, in fact, negotiating, in contact, whatever you call it, with those that were holding the Italian journalist? And is there any evidence or information to indicate that the Italians paid a ransom for her release?
CASEY: You say the U.S. What do you mean?
QUESTION: The U.S. military, the embassy, anybody in Iraq, anybody within the diplomatic circles, anybody in the U.S. government, did they have any information that the Italians were in fact negotiating and/or talking to those holding the Italian journalist? And is there any evidence whatsoever that the Italians paid a ransom for her release?
CASEY: On the first part, as I said to earlier questions, I don't have any information about the Italians coming in here to do something with respect to the hostage. And I have no concrete information about whether there was a ransom paid or not.
QUESTION: If I could -- you said you had no concrete information, but you are hearing reports...
CASEY: I have no information that I would...
STAFF: Let me help out here. He's not going to talk about it. If there's confusion about that, let me say it again. It's a sensitive matter. It's a matter in which we all want to get to the facts. General Casey has his portion of what he understands happened and other people will have their portion.
I truly understand the desire to know more. There's an investigating officer. That investigating officer has been charged under statute and regulation to find out what happened. And we can spend all day with General Casey saying, "I don't know -- I, General Casey, don't know."
STAFF: And you will spend all day trying to say, "Does the United States know?" And then you'll say, "The United States, in the person of General Casey, knows." And it's just -- it's an exercise...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: General, have you not asked specific questions? Have you pretty much said, "I'm removing myself from this. I want the investigative officer to look into this. And I'm just not asking specific questions." Is that basically where we are here?
CASEY: I made some preliminary inquiries, right before I left Baghdad.
QUESTION: Which you can't specify?
CASEY: Which I'm not going to talk about, because they were preliminary inquiries. And right now we've appointed a brigadier general to take this on, and he's going to do it, and he'll get back with us, and we'll let you know when we find it out.
QUESTION: General, the Bulgarian incident. A soldier on Friday. Can you bring us up to date on that?
And did it give you, when you heard that report, about a possible -- another possible friendly fire incident with another ally of ours, did it cause you greater discomfort, given the timing?
CASEY: Obviously, the timing gave me cause for discomfort. I mean, it's another unfortunate incident. Again, both the Bulgarians and us are looking into exactly what happened up during that period, and we'll get to the bottom of it.
I mean, all of these -- every time there is an incident like this, we look at it, we look at the procedures that were followed, we use those to adapt our procedures, and we continually try to upgrade this so that these things don't happen. But, obviously, two things come right on the heels of each other was troublesome. QUESTION: General, talking about the Iraqi forces, you said, General, that 90 percent of the Iraqi forces are engaged in combat with the coalition forces, and sometimes they are engaged alone.
My question is, when do you think the Iraqi forces will be capable to work alone on the ground? Is there any timetable? CASEY: There's not a timetable. What I said was that there are 90- plus battalions that are operating with coalition forces. OK? And some of those battalions are good enough so that they can operate independently. But there's not many of them.
And over the period of the next year, we will work with them to build their brigade- and division-level command structures so that you can have truly independent Iraqi operations. But it's going to take some months for that to happen.
QUESTION: Did the multinational forces question the half-brother of Saddam Hussein, Sabawi Ibrahim?
CASEY: We did have the opportunity to question him after his capture.
QUESTION: What kind of information do you think he can give the MNFI or the Iraqi government?
CASEY: I wouldn't want to comment on that while the interrogations are still going on.
QUESTION: You talked about the Iraqi opposition on election day and said they were not successful in their objective. How would you characterize the change in the insurgency since then? And are you any closer to defeating it?
CASEY: The insurgency ebbs and flows.
We have sustained a very good level of pressure on the insurgency from Fallujah all the way up through the elections and we continue to put pressure on them in Mosul and out in the Ramadi area, between Haditha and Ramadi there.
The level of attacks, the level of violence has dropped off significantly since the elections. Last week was the lowest level of attacks since April. Now, there have just been some additional attacks today, so it ebbs and flows.
As I said, they still retain the capability to do damage and to do violence in the Sunni areas of the country.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... closer to defeating them though?
CASEY: I think so.
But, I mean, as you know, defeating insurgencies takes time. The average insurgency -- the average counterinsurgency in the 20th century was about nine years, so it takes time to snuff out the insurgency.
And also, I think, you know, most insurgencies are defeated by political means rather than necessarily by military means.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: General George Casey, the commander of U.S. and multi-national forces in Iraq, back at the Pentagon, briefing reporter, briefing all of us on the state of play in Iraq right now, giving an upbeat assessment of Iraqi troops beginning to start taking charge of their security. Basically refusing to answer many of the questions involving the wounding of an Italian journalist who had been held hostage, the killing of her intelligence officer who managed to get her free, saying there is now a full-scale U.S. military investigation into the circumstances leading to that tragic incident. Saying that the U.S. will get to the bottom of what is going on.
You heard that exchange. And Larry DiRita, the Pentagon spokesman, intervening, suggesting the general was not ready to answer additional questions, specific questions on that case. We'll continue to monitor this briefing for you.
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