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Jordan Boiling With Anger; President Bush Taking on Critics Today

Aired November 11, 2005 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien. Has Al Qaeda gone too far? Jordan boiling with anger again this morning. Could this week's attack against Muslims there help turn the tide in the war on terror? A live report straight ahead.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien. Important health news for millions of within who use the birth-control patch. You're at greater risk for blood clots. A new warning's out today. We'll explain.

M. O'BRIEN: And the Reverend Pat Robertson at it again, embracing Darwin, ye sinners, he says, and you face the wrath of God, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Happy Veterans Day.

M. O'BRIEN: And happy Friday.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: We're glad we're here.

S. O'BRIEN: And to a long weekend, a tough week. We've been reporting on violence all week. And of course this morning, our top story that surprise visit overnight by the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Baghdad bureau chief Kevin Flower live for us this morning.

Kevin, good morning. Who exactly is the secretary of state going to be visiting?

KEVIN FLOWER, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, good morning, Soledad.

She started her trip this morning under heavy security, arriving in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where she met with local Iraqi officials and U.S. military members. Now she's in Baghdad where she's expected to meet with Prime Minister Jaafari and Sunni Arab leaders.

Now in these meetings that she's having, Rice is stressing the need for national unity in Iraq and touching on growing concerns that divisions between Iraqis main ethnic groups could spill into violence just five weeks ahead of the national elections.

Now, earlier in Mosul, Rice spoke to reporters about the importance of continuing the political process for both Iraq and the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECY. OF STATE: As we hope the Iraqi people secure their freedom, we, indeed, secure our own. Because if Iraq does not succeed and should Iraq become a place of despair, generations of Americans would also be condemned to fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLOWER: Which is a major reason why the Bush administration is pushing so hard for Iraqis to become invested in the political election scheduled in December -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much for the update. Kevin Flowers is the Baghdad bureau chief.

Kevin, thanks.

Near the northern city of Kirkuk, a U.S. convoy was hit by a roadside bomb today. Some people were taken away on stretchers. No word, though, yet on any American casualties -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Anger again this morning in Jordan. Hundreds of furious protesters taking to the streets of Amman over Wednesday's hotel bomb attacks. Fifty-seven were killed then, more than a hundred wounded. Hala Gorani live outside the Radisson Hotel, one of the targets of that attack in Amman.

Hala, there is this sense there may be a big backlash brewing against Al Qaeda and the terrorist threat.

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At least in Jordan, we've seen demonstrations where Jordanians and angry ordinary citizens are saying, enough is enough; this kind of terrorism is unacceptable. This is not Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, the Jordanian against the Jordanians. It's Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, the terrorist, against the Jordanians.

Now there's a bit of activity here behind me at the Radisson Hotel, and that's because Kofi Annan just about a minute ago pulled up. He's here to visit the site of the explosion at the Radisson that caused the most amount of casualties. That's where a suicide bomber, officials are saying, blew himself up in the middle of a wedding reception, killing 38 people just this that one wedding reception, according to the groom, who we spoke to yesterday. Kofi Annan here on an official visit, who met with the king, here to visit and inspect this the site where so much devastation was caused by one of the suicide bombers. One of three hotels. Of course the two other ones were the Grand Hyatt and the Days Inn.

Well, there has been reaction across the board, including from Queen Noor, who said this kind of terrorist attack is unjustifiable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) QUEEN NOOR OF JORDAN: It's a sin against Islam, what they have done. And I think those who compromise many of the either disaffected or those searching for the best way for their grievances, and frustrations and anger to be resolved or to be represented will look at this in horror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: All right, and there's a lot of security here, as you could imagine, with the United Nations secretary general visiting the Radisson SAS. It's Friday here in Jordan, and Friday in the rest of the Muslim world. Friday prayers are going on, and we're expecting more demonstrations in the streets of the Jordanian capital in a few hours -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Hala, kind of an extraordinary statement on an Al Qaeda-linked Web site, sort of explaining the attack. Why don't you tell us a little bit about that?

GORANI: Yes, this was the second statement that was purportedly made by Al Qaeda in Iraq. And it's interesting, as you say, because it's almost as though it's justifying the kind of target that this group chose as it claimed responsibility for the attack. Presumably, and if you ask some analysts, they'll tell you seeing the negative backlash, the PR effort coming from these groups is now to justify that these targets were chosen because they are associated with the West, because Jordan, according to these terrorist groups, is a backyard for these infidels and these U.S. allies.

I presume this is Kofi Annan driving out with an escort, and I'm not going to talk while these sirens are going off.

And this is the car. Let's see if this Koffi Annan.

I believe this was the United Nations secretary general driving back out. I cannot a hundred percent confirm that, but presumably, this is what is going on. In any case, yes, those Web site claims and messages that have posted perhaps a way of justifying the targets that were chosen that ended up killed so many local Jordanians -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Hala, thank you very much, and thank you. We know that Mr. Annan is on his way. Thank you very much.

President Bush taking on the critics today. He has a Veterans Day speech coming up, expected to offer a vigorous defense of intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq. Andrea Koppel live at the White House for us this morning.

Good morning, Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

On this Veterans Day, President Bush is expected to travel to Pennsylvania, to the Toby Hanna (ph) Army Depot to take his critics head-on. According to administration aides who are putting the finishing touches on Mr. Bush's speech late last night, the president is expected to hit on the broad theme, certainly one that Americans have heard repeatedly since September 11th, and that is the war on terror.

Earlier this week, senior White House officials had told CNN that they were working on a campaign-style strategy to respond to stepped- up Democratic criticism that the Bush administration had twisted intelligence in making the case for war in Iraq.

As one administration official put it, it is a legitimate to criticize decisions or the conduct of the war, but it's not legitimate to make false claims about how the war began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Some of the critics today believed themselves in 2002 that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, they stated that belief, and they voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, because they believed Saddam Hussein posed a dangerous threat to the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Miles, we can also look for the president to, again, address the bombings in Amman, Jordan, something that he spoke about on Wednesday, and on Thursday, considering the theme of this speech, one on this Veterans Day here in the United States -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Andrea Koppel at the White House, thank you very much.

President Bush will deliver his speech on the war on terror noon Eastern. CNN with live coverage of course -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, the president's top adviser, Karl Rove, going public. Got a standing ovation from the Federalist Society last night. It's the first time we've heard from Karl Rove since the Scooter Libby indictment. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken live in Washington this morning.

Hey, Bob, nothing like lack of a an indictment to get you right back on the speaker circuit, right?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lack of an indictment so far. As we know, that investigation is continuing. Karl Rove has been Karl who as of late, but certainly he was welcome last night to an adoring crowd at the Federalist Society, a group of legal conservatives, very happy with the president's judicial philosophy and appointment. It was formed by a group of conservative law students back when being a conservative law student wasn't cool. Well, these days being Karl Rove in many corners wasn't cool, but it certainly wasn't the case in these quarters last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL ROVE, DEP. WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: In America, conservatives are winning the battle of ideas on almost every front, and few are more important than the battle over our judiciary. The outcome of that debate will shape the course of human events.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Soledad, there were no comments about the CIA leaks investigation.

S. O'BRIEN: yes. Not surprised there, I think that's fair to say. Let's talk, though, about the judicial nomination, specifically Judge Alito's nomination. There's been a little bit of hubbub, I guess Democrats trying to raise some red flags, but it's kind on a minor issue. Do you think this is going to work?

FRANKEN: Well, it's on an issue that doesn't have to do with his performance as a lawyer or a judge. He's been pretty much flying under the radar, but now he has, as you point out, flown into some turbulence. And the turbulence has to do with some cases that he took on that suggest, in some quarters, that he really shouldn't have, cases involving a mutual fund in which he had done some investing, and a stockbroker who was his broker, and also a bank, but his sister's law firm represented on occasion.

Now, according to Judge Alito, the promises made to avoid this kind of thing were too restrictive. In response to a request from the Senate Judiciary Committee, he sent a letter which said, "To the best of my knowledge, I have not ruled on a case for which I had legal or ethical obligation to recuse myself during my 15 years on the federal bench."

And of course, Soledad, the issue here is the "Canon of Judicial Ethics," one of which reads, "A judge should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities. So the Democrats are going to see if they can make an issue out of this. They have not been able to really grab hold of him on the questions of his conservative philosophy -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to talk more about this, this morning.

Bob Franken for us. Thanks, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN ANCHOR: Some pretty strong words -- did you hear this? -- from Pat Robertson to Dover, Pennsylvania. He says, "God may not save them from disaster." On Tuesday, you'll recall, Dover voted out eight school board members because they supported teaching intelligent design. Well, the televangelist lashed out on his TV show on Thursday. Here's what he said. He said, "I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover, if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You've just rejected him from your city. God is tolerant, and loving, but we can't keep sticking our finger in his eye forever. If they have a future problem in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them."

Pat Robertson, obviously, makes many controversial remarks, including when he called recently for the assassination of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, when he also said they should blow up the State Department with a nuclear device. And you'll recall he said feminism encourages women to kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

M. O'BRIEN: Colorful, colorful comments, you might say.

S. O'BRIEN: He's certainly quotable, I think that's fair to day.

M. O'BRIEN: Gives us something to talk about here on AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: Don't want to stick a finger in God's eye.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you Reverend Robertson for the excellent grist for the mill here.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Boy, some frightening moments in Seoul. This is the tape of the morning. You'll be talking about this all day. Seoul, South Korea. is our dateline. OK, woman with stroller gets onto the train, or tries to. Stroller gets caught, OK? OK, oh geez, the train is going to go! Is the train going to go? You bet that trains going to go. She gets the baby out. Good work there. Now, OK, so I just want to make sure you see what is going on there. Baby is there. That's the mother.

Is that the mother or is that the bystander, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: The mother is in white. The bystander is now behind...

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: This is the bystander here, right?

OK, let's move the tape, Danny.

S. O'BRIEN: It looks like the wheel of the stroller is still caught.

M. O'BRIEN: It is -- right there is the key point, where it's cause in the door, so the conductor is obviously unaware of this.

S. O'BRIEN: Look at that. Now the baby is on the ground.

M. O'BRIEN: Stop it right now.

And here's what's interesting here. The bystander is now free, but the mother is caught. Part of her jacket is caught somehow in that tangled mess there on the stroller, right? And down she goes toward, you know, they had that thing...

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Just play it. It's amazing to see.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, yes, let's do it, and just watch it as it happens. S. O'BRIEN: And this is scary because this happens all the time in the New York City subway station, you know, because...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, hopefully people aren't dragged all the time.

S. O'BRIEN: No, but I mean your stroller gets caught in the doors. They close the doors as a way to get people...

M. O'BRIEN: Has this happened to you?

S. O'BRIEN: All of the time. All of the time.

M. O'BRIEN: That's a frightening thing.

S. O'BRIEN: They jam the doors, like they slam 'em closed to get people to come in or get out, and you get caught, either your handbag or the stroller or something, and six or seven people don't push the doors open and help you you're stuck. The same thing could happen.

M. O'BRIEN: Look at the bystander pick up the baby there.

S. O'BRIEN: No, that's the mom.

M. O'BRIEN: No, because I thought the mom was stuck still.

S. O'BRIEN: That's the bystander. You're right, you're right.

And that's the other bystander.

M. O'BRIEN: There is another bystander.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: So the point we're trying to make here is everybody is OK after all of this, but what a horrifying situation in Seoul.

S. O'BRIEN: You would think also that they would just check to make sure there is no one attached to the train.

M. O'BRIEN: You might want to look out the rearview mirror, Mr. Train Driver, just a thought.

S. O'BRIEN: Scary pictures.

Ahead this morning, the war on terror. Is it on the wrong track? The president has been hearing lots of criticism these days. We're going to talk this morning to an expert about what's going right and what's going wrong.

M. O'BRIEN: Plus we'll talk live with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Peter Pace. It's Veterans Day. When does he see U.S. troops coming home from Iraq?

S. O'BRIEN: And later, an alarming health warning for millions of women who use a popular birth control patch. That story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: On this Veterans Day, President Bush is going to be in Pennsylvania. The White House says that he will respond to some of the news lately about criticism over prewar intelligence. Ambassador Richard Haass is the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. He's also the author of a new book. It's called "The Opportunity: America's Moment to Alter History's Course."

Always nice to have you in person. Thanks for coming to talk to us.

AMB. RICHARD HAASS, PRESIDENT, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Thank you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: The timing, obviously, Veterans Day, the president talking about troops. Probably he is expected to take questions. What do you think he has to say to make a compelling argument for what he's telling the American people?

HAASS: He is probably going to do two things. One is to essentially say we have to stay the course in Iraq. We can't get faint of heart. He'll make the case that there's political progress ahead with the parliamentary elections in about a month.

But he's essentially going to say, yes, I know the sacrifices are costly and painful, but he will try to, again, justify it.

Secondly, he's going to talk about terrorism, given just what happened in Jordan. This is now part of modern life. I expect he'll talk about this open-ended struggle and what the United States needs to do about it.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, it's the first part, the "stay the course" part is sort of what people have heard many times now before. Is that going to work? Because you've got Democrats who are calling for withdrawal. You've got Senator John McCain, who says actually what we need are more troops so that these sort of sweep-and-run raids are effective, and not ineffective as he says they are.

HAASS: One of the problems is, if your policy is stay the course, it's hard to change your policy. So I think the president is pretty much stuck on that. And you're right, we've got a growing debate. You're going to have some people say, let's increase our forces. You've got some saying, let's reduce them, and you've got some saying, let's withdraw them altogether. And I think as we move into 2006, you're going to see this debate grow in intensity.

S. O'BRIEN: Kind of a surprise this morning when Condoleezza Rice showed up in Mosul, in Iraq. She was talking to some of the Iraqi leaders. And her message is, I guess, about unity, kind of a tough sell. What is she doing in Mosul? What's she trying to do here?

HAASS: The United States is showing support for the political process. The United States is trying to broker or promote cooperation, if you will, among the three principal ethnic groups in Iraq, in particular to increase Sunni participation. The problem is, even if you get that Sunni participation, you are still going to have several thousand disaffected Sunni-Iraqis, and these are the people that are causing most of the havoc inside Iraq.

S. O'BRIEN: She's holding Mosul up as sort of a model, an example of, here's where it's working. But because of the ethnic division, isn't that kind of a tough thing to model across the country?

HAASS: To some extent. It points to a large reality: Almost everything you say, and hear and read about Iraq is true. So there are examples where Iraq is working, where you do have political cooperation, where you do have economic reconstruction, where you do have security. Alas, there are places in Iraq where you have none of those things, and the problem facing the administration is that is not simply true today, but that could be true six months from today or a year from today.

S. O'BRIEN: As you say, the president's got to tackle terrorists. He makes his remarks today. What do you think he's done well? And what do you think he's done badly here?

HAASS: Well, the good news is over the last four years, since 9/11, the United States and the rest of the world have made significant progress against terrorism, or to put it another way, if you're a terrorist, your working environment has deteriorated over the last four years. There is much more intelligence aimed at you, much more homeland-security cooperation, much more law enforcement. That's the good news.

The bad news is, as we saw in Jordan, it doesn't take a lot for one individual or several individuals to cause tremendous damage. In some ways the odds favor the terrorists in that way.

Secondly, also on the downside, is Iraq has perhaps stimulated terrorism. It's certainly trained a whole new generation of terrorists, in some ways the same way that Afghanistan did a decade ago.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you see the president changing his focus on that? If part one is stay the course, any change in part two?

HAASS: No, I think on terrorism, you basically try to stop, if need be, through arresting or killing existing terrorists. And secondly, a big part of this administration's foreign policy is to try to persuade young men in particular not to become terrorists in the first place. And that's where the whole democracy initiative kicks in. Essentially what you want to do is reform these societies in that part of the world, so hopefully young men will see reason to live for their causes rather than die or kill for them.

S. O'BRIEN: Kind of a long-term project, though.

HAASS: It is. It's a generation one. S. O'BRIEN: Sure is. Ambassador Richard Haass. He is the author of "The Opportunity: America's Moment to Alter History's Course." Nice to see you, as always. Thanks for coming to talk to us.

HAASS: Thanks, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: President Bush, we should remind you, is going to deliver that speech on the war on terror today, noon Eastern time, and we're going to carry that for you live when it happens -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, Andy "Minding Your Business." He'll tell us why some Catholics are calling for a boycott of Wal-Mart. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Wal-Mart is in some hot water with Catholics, some Catholics, concerned about the way they -- well, it used to be Merry Christmas banners. Now it's Happy Holidays. Andy Serwer is here to explain as we mind your business.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, Here we go with this annual occurrence, annual debate. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. Wal-Mart, like so many other retailers and businesses, are struggling to figure out what is correct. And here;s the latest wrinkle. Recently, a woman complained to Wal-Mart they were getting rid of Merry Christmas as a greeting and replacing with Happy Holidays. She received an e-mail back from the store that said that Christmas was a multireligious holiday, including elements of Siberian -- I'm reading from this e-mail from Wal-Mart -- and elements from the Visigoths. Obviously, this is not true. She complained about this.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, the Visigoths don't get enough PR these days. You know...

SERWER: They really don't, or they don't get enough credit for our religious positions.

M. O'BRIEN: They don't get enough credit. We got to get them an agent. Anyway...

SERWER: So here, let me continue, because this, it gets better. Now she complained to an organization called the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. They took up her cause, and now they're up in arms, and they're calling for a boycott of Wal-Mart. They said that if you go to the Web site and you put in the word Hanukkah, you get 200 items listed, Kwanzaa, you get 77. You put in the word Christmas, and you go to the holiday page. Somehow, that's offensive.

A couple of things here. I think people should be thankful to be with their families. They should enjoy the holiday season. They should go out and shop, and help the economy, and they should also lighten up. It's really not that a big a deal.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Andy Serwer. SERWER: I mean, is that good stuff?

M. O'BRIEN: Please, lighten up. We're sort of missing the point of the season. Whatever holiday you enjoy, you're missing the point, OK?

SERWER: Just have fun, right.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for saying Visigoth, because it just doesn't come up enough in conversation.

SERWER: And we can actually get some Visigoth guests.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: What if the Visigoths think we're going to have that coming up in our next hour?

SERWER: Coming up next, Visigoths.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: They fired the kid -- sounds like a kid...

SERWER: They did.

S. O'BRIEN: ... who wrote that e-mail. It's a real e-mail, but I guess they canned him.

SERWER: Right, it really was wacky.

S. O'BRIEN: Some idiot 16-year-old went a little crazy on that.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.

Ahead, if you plan on flying this holiday season, and millions of us do, airfares are up over last year. You can still find some deals, though. We'll have money-saving tips for you, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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