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American Morning

A Power Play by Iraq's Former President

Aired December 07, 2005 - 07:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
A power play by Iraq's former president. Testimony in the Saddam Hussein trial is on hold this morning. What's the judge going to do about it? We'll take you live to Baghdad with some answers.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

President Bush taking a second stab at spelling out his message on Iraq. We're live at the White House. Survivor stories on Capitol Hill. Katrina victims take center stage today as Congress tries to find out what really went wrong.

S. O'BRIEN: And hurricane-force winds in the West, lots of snow, old man winter messing with Texas, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning, everybody.

Jinx.

M. O'BRIEN: Good to have you with us. On this Wednesday morning, hump day.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, lots to talk about. Yesterday, I thought, boy, this trial can't get any weirder. We were talking about the Saddam Hussein trial, and yet I was wrong. It could get stranger. Lots of turmoil to talk about. A trial on hold now because Saddam Hussein has refused to come into the courtroom. Closed session just ended.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson live for us in Baghdad this morning.

Nic, bring us up to speed on the very latest in this.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, the very latest we're hearing is that the close session has just been completed. The journalists were just called up to the courtroom again for the second time in the last hour and a half. When they got up to the courtroom before the curtains were drawn, they were told that a session was set to continue. It wasn't clear if it was going to be closed or open, but we're literally just hearing in the last minute or so that a closed session has now been completed. It's not clear what the outcome is of that session. We are expecting, however, to get some kind of statement from the court, whether or not Saddam Hussein has decided to attend, how the judge is going to deal with him, if he doesn't decide to attend, what legally he can do. There are a lot of question marks still this morning -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, lots of questions. Interesting to see what the judge will decide.

Nic Robertson, thanks for the update. We'll check in with you again because, obviously, it's pretty changing minute to minute -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: President Bush still on the offensive, trying once again to sell his plan for victory in Iraq. Elaine Quijano at the White House with more.

Good morning, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

Last week, the president focused last week on the issue of security in Iraq. This week, White House officials say the president will focus on Iraq's economy, and infrastructure and rebuilding those two areas, and that means things like schools, hospitals, water and electricity. In just a few hours, Mr. Bush will deliver his speech before the Council on Foreign Relations. Expect him to lay out specific examples of progress in Iraqi cities like Mosul and Najaf. And as he said last week, the president is expected to once again say the U.S. has had to adapt its approach on the economy and reconstruction.

The speech, of course, is the second in a series of speeches the president will deliver before Iraq's elections next week. The goal really is to convince Americans that the administration has a plan for winning in Iraq, and that it's working.

Now yesterday, President Bush was asked about criticism this week from Democrat Howard Dean, who said, essentially, the idea the U.S. would win in Iraq is just plain wrong. Here is how President Bush responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And of course, they'll be some pessimists and some people playing politics with the issue, but by far, the vast majority of the people in this country stand squarely with the men and women who wear the nation's uniform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: One Democrat we can expect the president to mention today is Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman. Now, this specifically in regard to the administration's position that the U.S. does not feel a precipitous withdrawal is warranted in Iraq, that it would be an unwise move.

Now at the same time, the president, after today's speech, is set to deliver another speech on Monday, and White House officials, Miles, are saying that one will focus on political progress in Iraq -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Elaine, tell us about the audience today and the significance of it.

QUIJANO: Well, it's interesting to note. It's the Council on Foreign Relations, Miles. And Mr. Bush will only be the second sitting president to address this particular group. What's noteworthy about this is Mr. Bush has been criticized for appearing mostly before friendly audiences, often military audiences. Not so the Council on Foreign Relations. In fact it is widely regarded as one of the most high-profile, truly nonpartisan foreign policy think tanks, and so his appearance there certainly noteworthy -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thanks.

CNN will have live coverage of the president's speech. It's set for this morning, 10:45 a.m. Eastern Time -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: New comments on torture today from the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She's traveling in Europe, and at every stop she's been questioned about the U.S. interrogation policy.

Now up until now, she has not clearly stated what is allowed. Let's get right to Robin Oakley. He's following the story from London this morning.

Robin, good morning.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

As you say, wherever she goes, it was Germany yesterday, with new Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Romania today, in Kiev, in the Ukraine. In Germany, Condoleezza Rice under pressure said that the U.S. never condoned the use of torture on terrorist suspects, nor did it take people to countries where they were likely to face torture.

But she's been refusing to talk about whether there were any so- called secret prisons at black sites in Eastern Europe, as alleged across the European media, saying that would prejudice intelligence operations.

Today, in Kiev, a new revelation, explaining exactly where U.S. personnel may not use any kind of inhuman or degrading treatment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECY. OF STATE: As a matter of U.S. policy, the United States's obligations under the CAT, which prohibits, of course, cruel, and inhumane and degrading treatment, those obligations extend to U.S. personnel wherever they are, whether they are in the United States or outside of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OAKLEY: The CAT she referred to there, of course, is the United Nations Convention Against Torture, and this appeared to be a step forward, because previously, the Bush administration has suggested that CIA personnel abroad may be free from some of the restrictions, and able to use more degrading treatment against terrorist suspects. This made it clear, wherever they are, they're not allowed to do that kind of thing -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Robin Oakley's in our London bureau this morning. Robin, thank you -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In Chicago this morning, folks are waking up to a wind chill of about 10 below zero. It's so cold, insert joke there, right, that people are running to a public-warming centers actually. No joke there.

Julian Crews of our Chicago affiliate WGN is at the hotline where folks are dialing in with problems of heat and so forth.

Julian, busy place this morning?

JULIAN CREWS, WGN REPORTER: Miles, extremely busy. They've fielded more than 500 calls overnight. A lot of people in distress with these cold temperatures in Chicago. This city has a very specialized emergency-response system when it comes to cold weather. All residents have to do is dial 311, and they get one of these operators that you see standing behind me here. These are specially trained people ready to mobilize social workers or emergency-response people to deal with all kinds of situations, from landlords who won't turn up the heat to senior citizens who can't afford to turn up the thermostat.

We're used to cold weather here in Chicago, but not this early in the season. The subzero wind chills we're dealing with this morning create a lot of headaches for people. Of course, this is a city that depends on public transportation, so waiting for a bus or a train becomes a bone-chillingly cold experience.

And the early onset of these temperatures have caught folks a little bit off guard. You know, people just weren't quite ready for this, this early. The city's homeless population is not always tapped into the latest weather report, so Chicago has had to open up warming centers across the center, unusual this early in December.

Part of the problem is folks have nowhere to go in the daytime. The homeless shelters are equipped to provide a bed for people overnight, but the city is filling the gap in the daytime, opening up these warming centers all over the city of Chicago.

And, Miles, here's a scary thought. You know, we have already set a record, Con Ed releasing information that we have already reached a winter record, a peak, and we're still two weeks away from the official start of winter, so we're bracing ourselves for a cold winter here in Chicago.

Back to you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Julian Crews, of our Chicago affiliate WGN, thanks very much. (WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Let's take you right back to Baghdad now with an update on what's happening in the Saddam Hussein trial. You'll recall the main defendant said he wasn't coming to court, refused to go, and that brought proceedings to a halt, then they went into closed door sessions. Reporters left briefly.

Let's get right to Aneesh Raman. He's covering this trial for us, with an update on what's happening now.

Hey, Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning.

I've just come down from the courtroom. Session is under way without Saddam Hussein. The defendants were brought into the courtroom in reverse order as always. And after Awad Bandar was brought in, the second to last, the doors shut, the gates closed around the defendant docks and the judge proceeded ahead without Saddam Hussein present. The judge said that he wanted to -- then Saddam's chief lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, was allowed to speak. He thanked the head judge for continuing the procedures according to the law. The judge said that the court would continue. It would inform defendant, Saddam Hussein, who was not present, about the proceedings that take place during his absence. He said he would do that according to an article in the law.

He also said that the judges will have a special meeting with the defense team after today's session to discuss the security situations of the lawyers. At one point, Ramsey Clark, the former U.S. attorney general, stood up, seemingly prepared to speak. Instead he sat back down as the judge then called for the first witness.

So the court session is now under way. Notably absent, if not defiantly so, Saddam Hussein himself -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Any indication at this point -- and it may be too early to answer this, Aneesh -- that they're going to wire the area so that he could not necessarily be in the courtroom but still have the proceedings going on around him, and he could actually be witness to them, but from a distance?

Michael Scharf, who actually helped train some of the judges, was raising that as a real possibility with us a little bit earlier.

RAMAN: Yes, that was something that we assumed was part of the negotiations. Just to backtrack, we arrived in court, as we always do, early in the morning. For the past two days, court began at 11:00 a.m. local. By 11:30 or so, we hadn't seen any movement. We were told that negotiations were under way to try and figure out a way to resolve the fact that Saddam didn't want to go into court. That closed-circuit television option you mentioned war part, we assume, of the negotiations. it's unclear whether that's been worked out. They're just beginning the first mention, but no mention was really made of it. The only indication we have is the judge saying that the court will inform the defendant about the procedures. That would assume that he would unaware.

But I'm going to head back up to the courtroom and get a better sense. But clearly, this is a power struggle. Saddam Hussein not being present is clearly by his choice. You'll remember at the end of the last session, he said, quote, "I will not be into court without justice. Go to Hell, all of you agents of America." So this is a power struggle between Saddam and between this court, a power struggle of perception, if nothing else. And so Saddam Hussein defiantly refusing to appear in court, and it's unclear how that will play out in terms of the proceedings as we go forward -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, maybe a power struggle that it appears possibly Saddam Hussein was winning this morning. Looks like maybe it's handed back to the judges.

All right, Aneesh, run back to the court. Update us on what happens as these witnesses now start their testimony.

Thanks, Aneesh.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a new advertising campaign, and the goal here is to help Katrina victims who need mental help to get it, to make a phone call.

The question is, will it work?

S. O'BRIEN: Also ahead this morning, controversy over a little girl who is now on life support. Could the man who is accused of beating her to near death actually gain custody of this little girl? And then eventually decide whether she's going to live or die? Jeff Toobin has got that.

M. O'BRIEN: Plus, new numbers this morning on how high your home-heating bill will climb this winter. Andy's tracking the numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Venezuela is giving the cold shoulder to President Bush, offering, though, to help America's poor. Andy is following up on a story we told you about the other day.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.

And we're also talking about high heating bills, $200 more this winter. That's what the average American family will be paying to heat their homes. That's a 25 percent increase from last winter. We knew this was coming. It's actually a little bit less than anticipated a month or so ago.

People who are going to be using heating oil are paying the most, $1,454. Nat gas up to about $1,000. And electric, which used to be the most expensive way to heat your home is now $763 on average. Let's look at the average total American cost and see how it's climbed up. We don't have that screen. We don't have the screen. OK, well it's -- there it is! The magic of television, right? Nine- hundred and eight-nine dollars is what the average American family will be paying this year.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

SERWER: And you know, they talk about consumer spending hurting that. The real question here is that people may be freezing. Lower- income people, actually cold, freezing cold. And people resort to desperate measures. They'll turn on their stove, they'll light fires, fires occur. It's really kind of difficult stuff.

S. O'BRIEN: There's a big local story here in New York of a family that the Con Ed turned off their power, and they lit candles and the house burned down.

SERWER: Right.

And speaking of New York, Soledad, that first batch of Venezuelan oil arrived in the Bronx yesterday from Hugo Chavez, and Citgo, of course sparking controversy, but it's being pumped into apartment buildings. And then the landlords reduced the rent, one tenant saying it would reduce her rent by $100 dollars a month, which is real money back in her pocket. Congressman Jose Serrano saying, "To those folks who say this is a way for Hugo Chavez to score political points, I invite every American corporation that wants to score points in my community to start scoring points this afternoon." Which I thought was a very apt comment. Exxon, come on, score some points and deliver some cheap oil.

S. O'BRIEN: That's right, Hugo Chavez, come in. Interesting point.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry I'm being told we have some breaking news coming in from the White House. They've been sniffing around for a story. I believe -- yes, big news. Two members of the Bush family getting some special attention this time of year. Not him. Not the twins, Jen and Barbara. No, it's Barney and Miss Beasley! They're starring in their own Christmas film. Just into CNN moments ago. Take a look.

SERWER: Is this Jon Stewart?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: ... case of sibling rivalry. Both of you are an important part of our family. And you have to remember the true meaning of the holiday season.

Now, you two run on. I've got a lot of work to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: All right, after being urged to leave the Oval Office by the president, I guess that was a presidential order, you might say, executive order, of the dog nature, the pair of pooches set out to take a look at the Christmas tree, or the holiday tree, if that's what you must do.

And then they did what most normal dogs do. No, no, not that! Not that! They chased ornaments around the White House. I would think they would have a hard time with that slippery waxed floor.

SERWER: I think those are cute dogs.

M. O'BRIEN: They are cute.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, very cute dogs.

M. O'BRIEN: Scottish terriers, right?

SERWER: Scottish, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: They used to do the camera on the dog.

SERWER: The dog cam?

S. O'BRIEN: No Barney cam this year.

M. O'BRIEN: For a while we did Barney came. That was a couple of years past.

SERWER: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Someone who's got a little better camera handling shot this one, which was helpful.

Still ahead this morning, a Grammy-nominated musician -- easy for me say -- who really lost a lot in Hurricane Katrina. And now he's determined to help his city recover. We're going to take a look at his story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: This year's traumatic deadly hurricane season has set the stage for some serious mental-health issues for those affected by the storms. For many thousands of hurricane victims, the initial shock and all the adrenaline is now long gone. And what is left is a very bleak picture. Enter the U.S. government with a message to help them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When it rains, all my friends go away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God doesn't like me anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends don't know where to find me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can drown in your bed if you fall asleep. (END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Wow, that's pretty intense.

That's one of four public service announcements that the health and human services agency is putting out to try to get the word out to people that they should get help if they feel they need it.

The secretary of that agency, Michael Leavitt, joins us now.

Mr. Leavitt, these are very dramatic spots. What's the goal?

MICHAEL O. LEAVITT, U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: Good morning.

I believe the goal may have well been defined for me during a visit I made to a evacuee camp in Arkansas. I met a man named Frank who said to me, "I am a war veteran, and some months after I returned home from the war, I began to have post-traumatic stress syndrome." He said, "I'm worried about what of these children have experienced. I'm worried about myself."

Mental health professionals tell us that it's a normal part of a disaster, that some months after a disaster people begin to feel the full weight of it. And we think there may be as many as a half a million people who need help, particularly children and first responders and others who've lost their homes. It's the Christmas season. Everyone responded, the whole country was there, and then suddenly everyone moved on and they're left alone. And we want to make sure that there's someone there to help them when they need it.

M. O'BRIEN: We don't want to move on, do we, but that, unfortunately, with all the others things we have to contend with on daily life -- I guess that the perception in the Gulf area is that that's precisely what's happened, that kind of sense of abandonment.

But a real important question is, while these spots would encourage people to go seek help, in many cases, all that infrastructure, that mental health support network isn't even there. Where are they supposed to turn?

LEAVITT: The ads actually reference to 1-800-numbers that people can call. And there is a network of mental health professionals who we are rallying to help them -- people from all over the country.

M. O'BRIEN: Are they there locally, or where are they?

LEAVITT: Well, many of these people are not necessarily back in the region yet. Some of them are disbursed all over the country. And we are in a position where we're able to move mental health professionals in to help if we need to.

M. O'BRIEN: And so will that be done, do you think? What's the plan on that?

LEAVITT: We're going to do what we need to do to make certain people have help. That's the reason we're reaching out. The ad council has been an extraordinary partner in helping to reach out through the media to these people. They are at a point in time where very naturally they could and should expect to feel the trauma that they've experienced, particularly during the holiday season.

M. O'BRIEN: So how big an effort? How many mental health professionals are poised and ready? How many do you think might be needed given the fact you say a half million people might need counseling and might be depressed?

LEAVITT: Well, not all of those, of course, will have one-on-one direct counseling. They won't need, they won't want it. But we do have a network of literally thousands of mental health professionals that have been formalized through the department that can be deployed if necessary. We first of all need to know who they are. We need them to identify themselves. We want them to know we're there if they need us.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll keep you posted on this effort.

Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt.

Thanks for being with us this morning -- Soledad.

LEAVITT: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come, a heartbreaking story. The struggle over an 11-year-old girl who is now on life support. It's a case that is about much more than the right to die. Our legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, weighs in just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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