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American Morning

Bush's Strategy For Iraq; Anger and Frustration in New Orleans; Teen Fights Assault; 'Minding Your Business'

Aired November 30, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, look at that.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my gosh. Is that an owl on top of ...

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: It's Pale Male or Lola, a red-tailed hawk.

MILES O'BRIEN: You think it is? It's a red-tailed hawk on top of Christopher Columbus.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: It definitely is. We have seen enough pictures of the red-tailed hawk to know one on the top of the head of Christopher Columbus in Columbus Circle . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, it wouldn't be an owl, it's daylight.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Right here on the corner of Central Park. What a beautiful shot.

MILES O'BRIEN: Wow.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's cool (ph).

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Wow. Whoever got that -- who was that? Brad? Fantastic.

Welcome back, everybody. If you're just joining us, hey, you have missed the first 90 minutes of the show. We now begin at 6 a.m. Eastern Time.

MILES O'BRIEN: So we'll see you tomorrow 6 a.m. Eastern.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, get up early with us because we sure do. How's that for a slogan for the show.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, there you go.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A big day today. Of course, the president's got his speech coming up at 9:50 a.m. Eastern Time. They released from the White House this big old document. It's called National Strategy for Victory in Iraq. At the end of the day, though, the truth is, public support for the war is eroding. I think the most recent Ipsus (ph) AP Poll says 62 percent of Americans disapprove of the war policy, the president's policy in Iraq. And, obviously, this, to some degree, is the answer to that criticism that's reckoned in those polls. COSTELLO: Yes, President Bush is hoping everything comes out positive because later this morning President Bush will tell us exactly what victory means in Iraq. There is that national plan. And in about two hours, the president will give a major address on the specifics of the plan. Now keep in mind, this plan was born in 2003, updated, and released to the media this morning. It had been classified. Now it's not. You can listen to the president's plan live. We'll be there for you at 9:45 this morning as the president takes to the podium at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

New Chief Justice John Roberts may get his first chance to rule on abortion before the court today. A New Hampshire law that requires a parent be notified at least 48 hours before a minor has an abortion is the first abortion case before the high court in the last five years.

Two men now in custody. They're accused of trashing a pair of liquor stores in Oakland, California. Police say the suspects entered the store and questioned why a Muslim-owned store would sell alcohol when it's against the Muslim religion. Authorities say more arrests may come soon.

And he may look like santa, but one Massachusetts mother says he's actually scrooge. Seems her four-year-old daughter wanted to sit on santa's lap but the mom was told she needed to buy a photo package. She says she couldn't afford one and the little girl never got to tell santa what she wanted for Christmas.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Merry Christmas. It's a very commercial holiday, honey.

MILES O'BRIEN: Wow.

COSTELLO: But the mall released a statement saying they are concerned. Bad PR, you know. That all children are welcome to visit santa for free. So this little gal . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: Why didn't she go get a stick of gum or something at the store. Wouldn't that be a purchase, right?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I think they wanted you to buy the photo.

COSTELLO: They had to buy the photo.

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, they had to buy the whole thing?

COSTELLO: Yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: It's not just any purchase, you had to do the whole drill?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Santa was hawking the package, actually.

COSTELLO: Yes, $21 for the photo package.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yikes. COSTELLO: So mom said, can't afford it, sorry, but can't my little girl tell you what she wants for Christmas? And there was a big no from santa.

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness gracious.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Luckily, there's a million santas all around and I'm sure you could find a nice santa -- representatives of santa everywhere.

MILES O'BRIEN: Don't tell the little girl that. Geez, tell us the real . . .

COSTELLO: No, that was not the real santa.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That wan not the real santa. Thank you.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, that's important.

All right. The president in about two hours is going -- two hours 20 minutes now, is going to release a document, make a speech. We've actually seen a preview of it. The National Strategy for Victory in Iraq is what it is called. It comes at a time with waning political support for the war, perhaps whether it is politically sustainable at all is a good question we could ask this morning. As a matter of fact, we have a round table of reporters. We're going to talk about those issues. Joining us from Washington, Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley, Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr, and from Boston, Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.

Candy, let's begin with you. The headline here, of course, a lot of questions as to whether the president would issue a timetable. I guess no one really thought he would issue a timetable. But there have been people calling for timetables. The report says no war is ever been won on a timetable. And" we expect, but cannot guarantee our forced posture will change over the next year, as the political process advances and Iraqi security forces grow and gain experience." Let's put this into the context of the political issue there and the concern within the GOP that the president has not communicated clearly the goals.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely. And that's what this is designed to address. Not even specifically the president's critics, but the people who would like to support him. That is, the Republicans on Capitol Hill who have increasingly become uneasy. Most of them have to run for reelection next year. They go home for the winter recess. What do they find but people going, when is this war going to end, when are we going to bring these troops home, watching the boy count, beginning to wonder, was this worth it and all the poll numbers that we heard Soledad talk about.

So this is the first of several speeches that the president plans to make to put out the plan. Now, anybody that's going to be looking for an exit strategy, as in a date certain, is going to be disappointed, as you pointed out, Miles, because the president's going to say, listen, we can't guarantee that because certain things a have to happen on the ground. They have, in this 35-page document that you talked about, laid out kind of in to what they've been saying in bits and pieces. Which is, look, here's what the economic situation is, here's what the security situation is, here's what the political situation is and here's what we need to do. So in that sense, it's all in one document.

But anyone looking for some new, grand plan that will say, listen, by April, it will all be over, is going to be disappointed by this speech. But the White House is hoping what they can do is sort of give Republicans and give the public something to hold on to. Say, oh this is where we're going, remind the public of what's been said in bits and pieces and continue to hammer it home week after week after week to try to hit at some of those falling poll numbers about the war.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: So it's a road map. The question is, are there clear directions inside this road map.

Let's go over to Barbara Starr here. Deep in an appendix, Barbara, they talk a little bit about the readiness of Iraqi security forces. And it's pretty vague, though. It say, increasingly capable Iraqi security forces are working with coalition forces to disrupt enemy operations by preventing the establishment of enemy safe havens. They don't -- beyond that, they don't get specific. Why don't you give us a little specificity, then. How ready are the Iraqis to protect their own country?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, no one can really say at this point and that is one of the key issue. The best military advice U.S. commanders have for the president, and that's a word you're going to hear a lot, best military advice, is that they're not there yet.

Progress is being made. Iraqi security forces have taken over in a number of areas. They now control a number of military bases. They are said to control a good portion of Baghdad. But U.S. military commanders have very great concerns about the security forces, about their fundamental loyalty, their long-term capabilities. They need still basic things like a long-term military pay structure put into place. That's what keeps a military force loyal in Iraq.

There is great concern you are going to hear about the police in Iraq. That they have been infiltrated by Shiite militia men, especially in the south. A lot of concern about the security forces that belong to the ministry of interior, the polices forces. So it is a mixed picture.

As far as U.S. forces go, absolutely no timetable. That is the commander's best advice. Their hope is that after the December elections they will be able to bring about 20,000 U.S. troops home, possibly come down to 100,000 U.S. troops by the end of next year. But this document we see today even still holds out the possibility if violence again goes on the rise, the number of U.S. troops could rise in Iraq as well. Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider, there is a section in here that borrows a title from a book by Gene Krantz, failure is not an option. And there are three points in here. Iraq would become the safe haven from which terrorists could plan attacks, middle east reformers would never again fully trust American assurances of support, and tribal and sectarian chaos would have major consequences. Those words seem clearly aimed probably not so much at Democrats but at nervous GOP folks and independents as well who may be turning against the war.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes. You said earlier that the war is having a problem being political unsustainable. It's becoming politically unsustainable. But for the reasons that you just mentioned, Americans are not in favor of an immediate withdrawal. You remember last week when John Murtha proposed what he called a timely redeployment. The Republicans put out the idea of an immediate withdrawal. It didn't get one single Democratic vote in the House of Representatives. The Senate, on the other hand, did vote to demand some kind of schedule.

The issue of a timetable is the biggest issue between Democrats and Republicans. Democrats keep requesting a schedule, a timetable, a date certain. Although there's no agreement among the various Democrats what that timetable should be. And some Democrats like Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and Joe Lieberman and Mark Warner of Virginia have said that they don't want to talk about any specific dates. Democrats are kind of all over the place.

You want a timetable, here is one, November 7, 2006. That's the date of the midterm election. By then, what must happen? American forces need to be on their way out so that Americans see the light at the end of the tunnel.

MILES O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider in Boston, proceeded by Barbara Starr and Candy Crowley in Washington. Thank you, all three, for joining us and stay with us throughout the morning, they will, as we bring you full coverage of the president's speech at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time. That's a five-minute difference than we've been telling you, but just stay with us and you'll see the speech right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Let's turn now to New Orleans. Frustrated and angry people there gave the mayor, Ray Nagin, an earful. Dozens of people spoke last night at a town hall meeting and one woman linked help for her city to the war in Iraq, telling the mayor if they can destroy a country and build it up again, why can't they fix this state? Let's listen to some more comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They praised you and I didn't. And I don't want to blame you. I don't feel that you're totally at fault for Katrina. But you're responsible for us. And we don't have nowhere to live here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a hard thing to believe that the United States of America is spending nearly $1 billion per week in Iraq and, here, in New Orleans, the United States, we're being neglected. Now why do we have to beg and plead with our president, our congressmen, our elected leaders to tell them that we need help when it's on the media every day?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does FEMA need to have to put those trailers where the requests were made? Where are they? What's wrong with ya? Does it mean that you're that incompetent? (END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A first-hand report now from CNN's Dan Lothian. No surprise there, Dan, that emotions running very high. Dan is in New Orleans this morning.

Dan, what was it like in person?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, there was standing room only. It was amazing how many people showed up. And as you mentioned, there was a lot of anger and a lot of frustration. People are really upset about what they believe is a slow pace of recovery here in New Orleans.

In talking about everything, their concerns, everything from, as you heard, not being able to get their hands on those FEMA trailers. They're concerned about not having power. They're concerned about the fact that the debris can't be removed. They're concerned about, you know, get the facts straight as to whether their house will have been to be razed or whether they can rebuild.

And there were even smaller issues. People who were concerned about the utility bills, like one woman who showed up with her electric bill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN, (voice over): Eloise Williams has been living in this New Orleans area home for almost four decades but was forced to evacuate for more than a month by Hurricane Katrina. Now she's upset that her electric company, Entergy, is forcing her to pay $77 for restored power during the time she claims to have been in Texas.

ELOISE WILLIAMS, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: I was not home. And nobody else was there because Katrina had made sure everybody had to evict, evacuate.

LOTHIAN: This community activist says she is not alone.

Other people have been complaining about the same?

WILLIAMS: To me about the same things.

LOTHIAN: Williams, like others on fixed incomes trying to rebuild, says the pressure to pay is overwhelming. WILLIAMS: I am so angry! I am so angry to think all we've been through, with the storm.

LOTHIAN: That's why Williams joined a long line at Tuesday's town hall meeting to vent and get answers.

WILLIAMS: I haven't been there but I got a bill.

LOTHIAN: Power officials admit the task of restoring electricity and getting up-to-date bills to customers has been challenging and, in some cases, frustrating.

PAT RICKS, ENTERGY NEW ORLEANS: There's been some confusion with regards to the bills that our customers received.

LOTHIAN: Entergy says most of the problems can be blamed on simply misreading the bill and may only now be catching up for power used prior to Katrina. But Williams says what she sees in her hand is very clear and she won't pay.

WILLIAMS: I'll show them. I just won't have lights.

LOTHIAN: But no one wants it to come to that.

RICKS: And we'll be happy to work with any customer to try and help them through this period.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LOTHIAN: Entergy says that it will offer deferments, will offer various payment plans and they will also steer some of their customers to areas where they can get financial assistance.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, it's so tough for the people there. Really. I mean, just never catching a break. Dan Lothian for us with an update three months after Hurricane Katrina. Dan, thanks.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's check the nation's weather. Jacqui Jeras bundled up at the Weather Center today. Wearing that turtleneck there. Thirty-four degrees there in Atlanta. It's warm here.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, "Minding Your Business." The idea of pay-per-channel cable TV. We just talked about this yesterday. Kind of like a la carte cable. Might be a little closer to fruition. Andy Serwer will define fruition for us after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A story this morning about fighting back. Fifteen-year-old Stephanie Quackenbush fought off an attempted rape last June. Now she's doing something that young victims really rarely do, she's facing her alleged attacker in court. Stephanie, her mother, Rhonda Quackenbush, and her lawyer, John Aretakis, are in Albany, New York, this morning.

Good morning.

RHONDA QUACKENBUSH, DAUGHTER FOUGHT ATTACKER: Good morning.

: Good morning.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Rhonda, let's begin with you, mom. The suspect, Darius Ashley, not only did he confess, there's a plea deal on the table that had been worked out. How surprised were you when, in fact, he came back and said I'm reneging. I didn't do it?

RHONDA QUACKENBUSH: I was really surprised. Really. I thought it was going to be over. He confessed to doing it and accepted his time in prison. I didn't expect that. It was the last thing I expected was for him to change his mind.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: John, what can the judge do now? I mean, he's admitted guilt and yet there's another hearing to figure out what the next step is.

JOHN ARETAKIS, QUACKENBUSH ATTORNEY: Well, you're right. A couple of months ago, he allocuted (ph) under oath that he committed the three crimes he's charged with and he was accepting the 25 years in prison. When he reversed that decision, the judge now can allow him to withdrawal his plea and let him go to trial very soon or the judge can overrule his objection and just sentence him to the 25 years in prison that he previously agreed to.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: All that's expected to happen sometime next week.

Let's turn to Stephanie now.

Stephanie, you're a minor and you certainly did not have to come forward with the details of what happened to you. Why did you choose to?

STEPHANIE QUACKENBUSH, FOUGHT OFF ATTACKER: Well, I thought it would be a good way to explain to young girls my age that if they ever do get attacked, that they definitely should fight back. And to face him, show him that I'm not afraid of him anymore.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: This new wrinkle must make it very tough. Everything I've read about you, by the way, describes how tough you are, what a tough young lady you are. But this has got to be a toughie to have something that you thought was going to proceed as you expected to kind of get yanked from underneath you.

STEPHANIE QUACKENBUSH: Uh-huh.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: You've had some tough experiences in your life, Stephanie. I know that your dad and your brother were killed. Has that changed or had an impact on how you decided to proceed in this particular case?

STEPHANIE QUACKENBUSH: Yes, it did change a lot.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: How so?

STEPHANIE QUACKENBUSH: It's had a lot of effect on me.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What do you think, Rhonda? Why don't you step in and help us out here. -- I mean, obviously, it has an impact on how a young girl grows up and the whole family, clearly. But in this particular case, in your efforts to have Stephanie, you know, face -- confront the man who attacked her, did that play a role?

RHONDA QUACKENBUSH: I think it did because it -- from what happened to our family years ago to her dad and her brother, she has a lot of sisters and I think it toughened us up in a way, in a sense that not want to be victims. And we've had a lot of battles to overcome and to face, you know, our fears and to fight back. And that's what I've taught, you know, my girls because we've been fighting a battle for a while now, you know, just struggling to survive and to have somebody like Darius Ashley try to, you know, just come along and put -- you know, somebody else put fear into our family and Stephanie did just what I taught her do, scream and fight back. And to go to court was her decision and face him, to let him know that she's not afraid anymore, she's not going to be his victim and she wanted to see him punished.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A fight during the attack and then fight in court, too, if that's what it takes.

RHONDA QUACKENBUSH: Yes.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Rhonda Quackenbush, thank you for talking with us this morning.

Stephanie, you, too. It's nice to get a chance to meet you in person.

RHONDA QUACKENBUSH: You're welcome.

STEPHANIE QUACKENBUSH: You're welcome.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And also John Aretakis, the attorney, joining us as well. I appreciate it.

MILES O'BRIEN: What a courageous young woman.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, what a tough story.

Her father and her brother were killed by a homeless man who they took in to help out and he murdered them. And she's got five other brothers and sisters and her mom.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, tragic. SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: They've just -- they have had it. Oh, such a tough time.

MILES O'BRIEN: What a story.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: So -- but, you know, I think that they think of testifying as a really important step for recovery.

SERWER: Yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: Andy is hear "Minding Your Business." What's going on?

SERWER: I am, Miles. I'm going to tell you more details on that plan to let you buy only the cable channels you watch. What a novel idea. How close is this to becoming reality? Stay tuned to AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: Cable a la carte. Could this be the wave of the future? Andy Serwer is here with that.

SERWER: We talked about this yesterday.

MILES O'BRIEN: We did.

SERWER: There were hints that the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, might endorse a plan which would let consumers only buy the cable channels that they watched. Now, in fact, they have endorsed the plan, the chairman of the commission, Kevin Martin, saying that reports that suggest this would increase consumers' cable bill is erroneous.

Average basic cable now, Miles, in this country is $40 a month. And the way this plan would work is, you would get a $10 basic package which would be the networks and, of course CNN, and a few other channels as well. Then after that, you would start picking and choosing. And this is -- would give you an idea of how it would cost. Now, the more people who subscribe, the lower the price.

MILES O'BRIEN: OK.

SERWER: This chart assumes that 50 percent of the people in a given area are subscribing to these specific extra channels, if you will. You can see MTV would be relatively cheap, $1.06. Disney a little bit more. ESPN would be pretty expensive. We've said that sports programming costs a lot. If only 25 percent of the people subscribe, the prices would go up. ESPN, for example, would be $15.

Now the FCC can't make the cable companies do this but they could encourage Congress to pass legislation that would force them to do it.

MILES O'BRIEN: So who's pushing it?

SERWER: Well, I think the consumer groups are pushing it to a large degree and they don't have as much power as the cable companies do, as we know.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, we know. Thank you very much, Andy Serwer.

SERWER: You're welcome.

MILES O'BRIEN: Coming up, our friend from dailycandy.com will join us again. More tips for online gift giving. Today she'll tell us about four simple sites that will help you take care of everyone on your list. Imagine that, four simple sites and your shopping will be done folks. You've got to stay with us, though. AMERICAN MORNING continues after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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